Summary: Americans have higher living standards and wages compared to Japanese people, despite Japan’s advantages in safety and health. Japanese workers face long hours and lower pay, with significant poverty affecting many. Although Japan offers some quality-of-life benefits, the overall economic situation is challenging for its residents.
Japan’s living standards have been growing only very slowly for decades, while America’s have improved significantly faster. (View Highlight)
safety is the most obvious huge difference between Japan and the U.S. America’s murder rate is about 25 times as high as Japan’s.2 Other violent crimes are far lower as well. As I pointed out in my last post, it’s not just murder and violence that are lower in Japan — it’s also public disorder. Japanese cities are so safe that kids can walk around in them alone at night. (View Highlight)
GDP only measures the value of things that actually get produced — the value of time you spend enjoying your life is not counted in GDP, even though it surely contributes to living standards. (View Highlight)
Japanese companies tend to pay based on seniority, while American companies tend to pay more based on performance, so Japanese full-time employees usually get to enjoy a more steady, predictable upward career path (View Highlight)
Japanese poverty is a quiet affair. There are almost no slums or shantytowns. The streets are generally clean and well-kept. Homeless people sleep out of sight. So-called evaporated people leave their homes and families and eke out meager, anonymous existences. (View Highlight)