It’s probably a good thing in the long run. Like how the plague in Europe actually gave the serfs more rights. Since it gave the workers more leverage since there was more demand for workers than they were in supply.

Japan is overcrowded. Sure villages are bleeding dry, but in the cities people live in tiny apartments that cost too much. And lots of people do very meaningless soul crushing jobs for little pay, jobs that are already automated in the rest of the world. Like even a job that can be replaced by a simple sign. Seriously when I was in Japan I saw people at the station that were just pointing passengers towards the exit. And it wasn’t even an emergency situation, just a regular workday.

Sure a shrinking population is bad for the economy, but for the people it will mean that housing prices will go down and pay will go up and they will have more rights in the long run.

[–] wandermind@sopuli.xyz 13 points 2 years ago

people at the station that were just pointing passengers towards the exit

This is actually one of the things I really like about Japan. It's so easy to miss a sign, or not be sure if this is the sign you should be following in your situation, or otherwise get confused in train stations, airports, etc.. Having an actual person there showing that yes, this is where you should be going, and even help you with questions if necessary, makes things that much simpler and more comfortable.

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