Japan woes

* A sharp article on what not everyone sees about increasing systemic poverty in Japan.
* As I was saying to Jonas when he visited Japan with his girlfriend, the veneer that Japan has the world's highest longevity rates, have a healthy diet, are much better off than they used to be, and treat their families well, will only stick true for the next 5-10 years. Poverty is visible in and around many train stations, divorce rates are not dissimilar to that of France, drastic changes in diet have led to spectacular increases in obesity and "convenience food" lifestyle sicknesses, in turn increasing the occurrence of disease and cutting longevity. To be honest, the only reason older Japanese live longer nowadays is due to the overhaul of the health system after the war, and an abundance of foodstuffs and nutrients across social strata.
* But the inverted baby-boomer pyramid is not going to be supported by a nation of workers who get nothing out of it themselves: already more than 1/2 of the Japanese working (contractual) population has not paid their pensions for 2 or more years, punching a gaping hole in the financing of this scheme. Furthermore, there is a lack of skilled knowledge/IT workers, no major workforce re-education schemes in place, extremely few lawyers to put your "knowledge-based" case to the courts if need be, and no easing on immigration/refugee restrictions as a stop-gap to keep the economy afloat. So the "knowledge-based economy" is exactly that: virtual, it's not there.
* There's been a lot of political hot air about all this but not many decisions, and the last thing Japanese do here is actually do something about it... I believe the mid-term future doesn't look too good for Japan. It will depend on how many systemic crises and decreases in real purchasing power people can take before they take up arms for their children, and rehash their failing socio-industrial system into something more sustainable.