The GaijinPot blog covers life in Japan for foreigners, including housing, food, culture, and language.
HN links it for the abandoned-house-in-Japan post, which prompts talk about renovation costs and conservation limits, and for broader comments on Japan's economy and Tokyo costs.
> To be fair, cashing out of a startup for $22 million and being educated are 2 completely different things. I suppose with his new found wealth, he has the means to pursue success in education as well as business ;-)
Or one could begin to the see the obvious lack of correlation between having a 'formal education' and that of being financially comfortable. Wasn't the paragon in Tech to be a successful drop out because of the opportunity in this Industry after all? It being a collective big middle finger to the soul crushing nature of the corporate World, and saying to the World their is a different/better way.
In my personal opinion, I think its more one of conformity at best, and signalling of an accepted cultural identity at worst when it comes to Asian culture and degrees. I worked in a lab with almost all of them being primarily of Asian countries (including India) and all of them showed a distinct lack of understanding of what they were doing day to day, or any awareness of or the implications of what their work/labour was doing other than earning money for the company that allowed them to be employed. It was really bizarre and made me feel isolated from work place interactions.
But I came to the conclusion back then that most of it was because they were overworked (we all were, really) and had to send money back home to their respective families in other countries, and that philosophizing about the Health Sciences was just a luxury they couldn't afford as the…
While its main point is interesting to think about, this article still has a view of "religion" that is (despite token mentions of Buddhism and, via perennial philosophy, Hinduism) very influenced by Abrahamic (monotheistic) conceptions: especially in putting beliefs/faith as central:
> One of the primary attributes of any religion is its creed. Each world religion professes a unique set of metaphysical beliefs, which is central to its identity. Anyone who contradicts or denies these beliefs is condemned or cast out as a heretic.
Consider also other aspects of religion (daily practices, restrictions on diet and behaviour, rituals, ceremonies, striving, seeking, penance, purity, community) — they support the central thesis and in other traditions are more central than creed. (See e.g. https://blog.gaijinpot.com/japan-religious-atheist-country/ and comments thereon.)
For that matter, the "scientism" mentioned in the article itself can be either monotheism-inspired (only believe scientific things, believing anything without proof is "unclean", we're better than the ones who came before), or focus more on other aspects (the attitude of discovery and humility, improvement of self and the world, …).
I had to look up this hand-written resume thing, and I found this: https://blog.gaijinpot.com/write-japanese-resume/
Some gems:
> There are plenty of photo booths, not unlike the popular purikura, that specialize in taking photos just the right size for resumes… The booths can be found on the streets of business districts or at most major train and subway stations. In fact, many machines let you pay with your train pass.
> Unlike most western resumes, you don’t need to elaborate on the duties and requirements of all your previous jobs or try to explain how it is useful for the job you are seeking.
> you should write any accomplishments that you have achieved over the years such as licenses or certificates. This even includes a driver’s license. In a city like Tokyo many people do not drive, however, some “paper drivers” get a license anyway just to appear more impressive on their resume.
> The final major section is for desires, hopes, and dreams which obviously will include for you to talk about the kind of salary that you want.
There's a couple of things not mentioned here.
Due to the more or less deflationary economy, Japanese wages have not increased for the better part of three decades. (Deflating prices mean that even with stagnant wages, you're still able to buy more.) Job hopping is unlikely to actually result in increased wages. (Inflation is now coming to Japan due to the general global inflation from the war in Ukraine, so that will be an interesting scenario to watch.)
Japan is a heavily reputation based society. In the way that US uses credit score to determine a lot of things, Japan uses this sort of reputation as a proxy to determine eligibility for many things. As a general example, finding in apartment in Japan requires a guarantor (essentially a cosigner who agrees to act as a fallback option in case you can't pay) and landlords want a Japanese national person or entity to do it most of the time. https://blog.gaijinpot.com/what-is-a-rental-guarantor/
Many of us have a vision of Japan from when we were younger. But in modern times their economy is much closer to a developing country. The median income in Japan is $25,313. [1] The median income in the US is $47,960. [2] If we consider only full time year-round employment (which is probably closer to what Japan is measuring), it's $60,070.
Ever inflating house prices are caused by high demand and ease of access of debt. It predictably leads to endless price appreciation until you fill the bubble up enough to burst it, then we simply repeat again. Same thing happened to education. It's a 'commodity' seen as priceless and the government ensured access to endless debt to purchase it. You'll never guess what happened next.
[1] - https://blog.gaijinpot.com/what-is-the-average-salary-in-japan/
[2] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_income_in_the_United_States
Although Tokyo ranks among the most expensive real estate markets, I’d argue it’s comparable to many mid-size American cities, and deals can often be found on the cheap side, whereas the US has seen the floor on rental prices skyrocket in the last decade. Places tend to be much smaller in Tokyo, but you can still find a studio for well under $1,000/month, which is not really possible where I live (Portland, OR). A studio in Shinjuku, one of the most central and popular wards, can be had for ~$1,000/month.
https://blog.gaijinpot.com/how-much-is-the-average-rent-in-tokyo-in-2019/