A respected Japan specialist, Eamonn Fingleton, wrote an interesting piece in the New York Times the other day.
While I do not disagree with many of his points, I think he has missed some very relevant issues in his overly optimistic assertion pertaining to Japan's future.
Take his view on life expectancy. Mr. Fingleton points to a longer life expectancy for Japanese than Americans as a sign that Japanese have a better quality of life than Americans, but he does not touch on important peripheral issues very much connected to lifestyle and happiness. Take, for instance, the financial and physical costs of work absenteeism and presenteeism related to chronic pain and mental illness in workplace in Japan. The American Chamber of Commerce in Japan estimates this costs the Japanese economy at least 3.3 trillion yen a year. (huffingtonpost.com)
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