By Thorsten J. Pattberg for the Saker Blog
| The author is a German writer and cultural critic. In this essay, he comments on a fairly stinky subject with accompanying visuals, so, some nose-holding may be in order |
A horrible coping strategy for the childless nation. And the sidewalks are not cleaning themselves, Tokyo learns
[Transcript, slightly modified]
Hello, Dr. Pattberg here, from the suburbs of Tokyo. Today with a presentation about Japan‘s dogs and cats infestation.
Dogs piss me off. Not generally as animals, but as substitutes for children and soulmates in the big cities. Tokyo is the largest city in the world with 30 million inhabitants. They have more pets here than children.
Our Korean neighbors first bought a noisy Shiba-Inu, and then another one, a mongrel – for the kids, of course!
That idiot. If you do have real children, then you don’t need a substitute child. Of course he had planned never to be around at home much. So the furry mutts were bought as playmates for his human brats.
That was 4 years ago. Of course the kids didn‘t care for the furry mutts. One was from a breeder for 5,000 euros, the other for 6,000 euros – so what?
The kids didn’t give a fuck. They prefer to watch YouTube videos or play Nintendo Switch.
He‘s in Okubo at the market all day long; she‘s somewhere as a teacher. The children are at school until 3pm. So he locks the furry mutts out on the inside balcony. There they exist now – for 4 years – sitting in their own feces and urine.
Barking psychotically every morning at 7. Whining in the scorching sun in summer at 12, and howling in the brutal cold in winter at 6. I went downstairs once and wanted to feed them sausages. But the two cunts are completely deranged. They ran into windows like crazy.
This is animal cruelty. Having a dog in your house in a big city is sadistic. It’s better to end the suffering quickly and drown the useless eaters.
A couple from Shanghai lives nearby at the canal around the corner. They married too late. They were both over 35 or something. So they only had one child. Then they got themselves 1, 3, 4 toy dogs to compensate. These tiny critters have never been outside. They are in-house dogs.
Guys, that’s not normal. I see feral substitute partners here every day. There are many old people in the suburbs. They push their ugly dogs in strollers in front of them. Eventually there will be more dog buggies than baby buggies in Kichijoji, mark my words.
The neurotic women folks dress their animated meat dolls in pretty clothes. Honestly true. Their poodles wear socks and knitted hats, panties or even pampers. It’s grotesque.
And then the many dog grooming schools here. Tokyo is so densely populated that hundreds of mutts share a street block – easily! And so their masters and mistresses inevitably bump into each other on the sidewalk with their four-legged friends.
Let’s say it’s 500 dogs from here to the supermarket over there, by the river canal. If every animal has to be walked 3 times a day, that’s 1,500 walks. That’s why you are bound to meet hundreds of creepers a day! You keep running into them! So their owners arrange appointments right away.
They always meet at this bridge in the evenings. Minimum 12 to 15 dog owners. There’s all kinds of fur: Chihuahuas, Poodles, Pomeranians, Terriers, awkward mongrels and even a British bulldog.
Other “dog schools” meet at the children’s playground. There is always this dogwalker among them. Some old fart who walks the dogs for an entire block of flats. Because he has nothing else to do. He always has 5 or 6 dogs on a leash.
There is little green here. No lawns or gardens. So the animals poop alongside the concreted river canal. Against concrete poles and wooden posts and iron bars. On dandelions at our house entrances. Against cars and children’s bicycles. The Japanese are said to be so hygienic. Well, they wear masks when they go for a dog walk.
As to the dog shit, well yes, they pick it up with plastic gloves or plastic bags, tie a knot, and hang the trophies on belt pouches or let them dangle in their hands.
Of course they don’t pick up the poop after 8pm when it’s dark. There are hundreds such owners in this area that walk their animals in the dark.
Dog owners carry water in plastic bottles with them; first for the dog to drink and then again to water down the piss. The streets just look miserable at noon and in the evening: every three to five meters on the street a wet, damp spot.
But these are just the average, cramped neighborhoods. Look at these buildings here: Thousands of public housing units, often 10 or more stories high. Tens of thousands of households per square kilometer. The children are the children of the underclass, prefab block children. But there are more underclass dogs, prefab block dogs.
Another Korean lives here that I once befriended. He is in his 30s and lives alone. Although he’s 175 cm tall and got a pretty face from his mom, he can’t find a wife. Dating and family? It’s all fucked up in modern Tokyo! The women are so entitled. Most relationships are short, anonymous, and precarious. Better to get a dog, man. The dog always loves you. Even if you are unemployed.
He had his mother’s two terriers flown in from Seoul. She wants to immigrate later, she says. I can hardly imagine that scenario. Living with my mom in a 1-room apartment? And then the two mutts in the kitchen? With in-house doggy toilets – because Hoochi and Poochi are too afraid of using the elevator? The stench in his apartment is repulsive. A mix of kimchi, soup, dog poop and jizz.
There has been a real pet boom here in Tokyo for about 7 years now. Don‘t know how else to put it. The numbers just exploded. Especially during the 3 years of [Corona] lockdown and self-isolation. There are now 1 or 2 animal dealerships in every shopping street here. This retail chain calls itself … Piss. P – Apostrophe – S. Supposed to mean Pets, but reads “Piss.”
The Japanese pronounce City as “Shitty”. So I always say “Shitty Piss Pets” here – retailers that literally sell miniature house slaves.
The business is seasonal. Reminds me of quick Italian ice cream parlors in Germany. They may pop up anywhere in springtime and summer. This shop wasn’t even there last winter! Could have been a sushi shop before. Or a toy store.
In no time at all, the latest puppies and kittens are showcased. Time flies quickly in this line of business… “Aw, look at how cute these pieces are!” But only for a few weeks. After a while, they are no longer fresh! And probably suffer from mental distress!
I think the suffering is intentional. You want to generate sympathy among the customers: ”If I don’t buy this poor animal now, buy its freedom, then it’s probably going to end up in… yes, where is it actually going to end up in?” An uncomfortable question that I‘d rather like to suppress.
The prices are fantastic. They steal the pensions from lonely old people and the mentally handicapped and socially disadvantaged, this is what I believe. The business with toy pets is predatory.
If you want my honest opinion from 12 years living here and seeing this scam, the focus of the pet retailers is on severely lonely and mentally disabled people.
Many Japanese hardly have any social contacts any more. They stumble past these shops in the pedestrian zone and see a speechless future life partner behind a glass window: “How nice would it be to have a true friend in my life now?”
Prices for inus and nekos – dogs, and cats – are often higher than that of used cars or housing. They often exceed at least 3 or up to 10 months’ rent. The insane prices in no way reflect the value of the animal, so the profit margins in the pet industry must be enormous. Their sales scheme consists of emotional blackmail, the fear of missing out a true friend, and artificially engineered demand and supply.
Because only the beauties from each litter make it into the showroom. The other 4 or 5 siblings are disposed of, processed into – what do I know? – animal food or fodder, or sold to farmers as fertilizer? In this way, the number of premium animals is kept artificially rare.
This little gray cat here – from America, if you believe it – is exactly 8 days old. He sells for 362,780 yen. The much lower price advertised above in red, 187,350 yen, is net only and excludes tax and fees and handling. 362,780 yen – that‘s about 2,650 euros or 2,851 dollars.
But no worries. You can also buy the Kitty on debt and loans. How about 80 euros a month to boot with? Without a deposit, it is 300 euros, but still doable, right? But what if the poor animal suddenly dies? Don’t worry, there is insurance: 250 euros in the first six months – great offer!
The animal should also be properly registered and get mandatory vaccinations. About 500 euros a year.
When Grandma finally gets her pure-bred Shih-Tzu, her pension is hardly enough to cover the high prices for animal products. Tokyo shopping malls have bigger pet food sections than baby food aisles or vegetables.
But the myriads of pet boutiques take the cake. There are toy department stores for your loved ones, massage parlors, gym goods, delis, and even plastic surgeons for our humanized surrogates. And if it says dog or cat on the label, this shit flies off the shelves for twice the price of human food.
Incidentally, just like in Germany, veterinarians are not (yet) covered by national health insurance. That means you have to pay the vets privately. The situation is obscene, but true: If your child in Japan has the runs, seeing a national diarrhea doctor and getting tummy pills costs NOTHING. With your dog, however, the bill must be settled in full: BANG. 150 euros per examination.
Many pet shoppers did not anticipate the future horrible costs of raising healthy animals. So later, they neglect the animals and abuse them.
Who would have anticipated a pet plague‘s coming, say 40 years ago? Japan was supposed to get robots and flying cars, remember? But it was all a propaganda lie of course.
All they got was dirty, anal-fixated animals. This is very sad. I see grown-up men on Facebook cuddling and writing poetry with their larger mastiffs.
Back to Shitty Piss First and those Kirei-desu-ka showpieces. They are cute animals, not denying it. I was able to easily cycle to all the shops for this lecture in one day. They are everywhere now.
The real Japanese kids come in here to watch. But they are not the target customers. They are looking at their replacement. Their future substitutes.
Animals are everywhere now, on telly and social media. Japan is a land of extremes. So now there are those serial cat killers like the one in Setagaya. Or the cat hoarders of Nagoya. One Tokyo woman with brain damage lived in Katsushika in her 11 square meters condo with 163 stray cats.
And what about those thousands of cat cafés spreading across the cities? This needs to be seen to believe it! What’s my cappuccino supposed to taste good about in the midst of licking and farting Felidae with their litter boxes and chicken liver pâté?
How can this madness be stopped? Many will say that dog ownership has always been the rule in Germany or Europe among the bourgeoisie. You start a family, you buy a house with a garden, and then you buy a dog as a “status symbol” that completes the whole thing.
But these dogs in Japan are not status symbols. There is no bourgeoisie here either. There is the rich elite ruling caste and their feudal subjects. The simple people have hardly any living space in the big cities. They cannot have and do not want to have children.
What do you want to have children for anyway? This country has no future. The city people actually don‘t have living space for animals either – if the animals had something to say about it.
I have the suspicion that we have a completely left behind, enslaved mass of people in the big cities who have no social power and position and therefore cope with their failure by buying animals.
These animals are treated like people, i.e. like life partners, conversation partners, love partners and spoiled children. This is a serious pathological illness of society.
How to stop childlessness? How to curb this excessive animal bonding? We can’t just literally let the city “go to the dogs.”
There are more piss sprayed columns than bushes on my street. More barking than children’s laughs.
Of course, the city government has an immediate lever against the pet plague: Pet tax up, of course! Until it hurts the underclass and they abandon their canine friends voluntarily.
The problem: What can possibly hurt more than the thought of living and dying alone?
High taxes do not deter desperate people. People no longer have any social contacts, do not maintain relationships and are forever childless. They don’t need cars in the big city, no posh clothes, no luxuries at all. They need… love and validation. From pup animals, if that‘s the only way.
They will pay any price for the self-righteous drive and the feeling of being the owner of a living being. Pets are no longer new family members. They are their substitutes. HUMAN REPLACEMENT.
These people would rather not go out anymore or use public transportation than being seen alone, unhappy and miserable.
No, it’s not a conspiracy theory. Yes, the Japanese are swapping children for pets.
Thanks for listening, and see you later!
The author is a German writer and cultural critic.
Further Reading: Japan made the terrible mistake of aligning itself with the woke West and is now self-destroying. Read previous presentations about this nation‘s horrible decline:
- Brutal. The Truth About Japan. From Tokyo University.
- https://10.16.86.131/brutal-the-truth-about-japan-from-tokyo-university/
- WOKE in Tokyo. The US Nukes Cool Japan Out Of Its Existence:
- https://10.16.86.131/woke-in-tokyo-the-us-nukes-cool-japan-out-of-its-existence/
The entire article in one sentence:
German man living in Japan doesn’t like cats and dogs.
Some years back on a visit to Germany, my friend there said he wanted to show me his new painting.
It was a sidewalk in the city with a large Hundehaufen in the middle.
Not getting it yet, I asked: “uhm… what’s the title?”
“Berlin, in springtime,” he replied, pointing to the Hundehaufen and laughing.
Do you really think so? I found the article quite profound, but I agree it starts in a grumpy way… :-D
That grumpy way is the actual beauty of it for me. Writer is not trying to be politically correct to beg the reader into more reading because the topic is so simple.
Simple things ARE the beautiful things for me.
I loved it. Although it could have been even shorter.
Yes, just sounds like some goofy crank–low-value…
Not only that but other humans,unless they might have the same skin colour,or hold their same views. However, the Anglo- Saxons seem to hold dogs well being above human life. Of course their lives are first.
I agree about animals, but the lives that matter is not them, but the lives they continuously destroy.
In the United States at least, it’s only practicing Christians who actually like children more than “fur babies”. And they’re only about a third of the population. In the other English-speaking countries it’s only about a tenth.
The entire article in one sentence:
German man living in Japan doesn’t like cats and dogs, or Japan.
Or German man hates seeing over populated high density neighbourhoods overtaken with (often neglected) dogs that cause noise pollution and foul the streets.
To keep dogs when one doesn’t have enough land (or no land) is cruel, ridiculous, and selfish
Exactly on point.
My sympathy to the author.
By the way, I got my Shiba Inu puppy for €500 😁👍
Not worth the money though 😬
It has a mindset of a cat…👎 an we do have one cat too.
And 4 children to put you fully in the picture. Living in a 6 rooms flat, walking the dog 3 times a day.
Never been to Japan, but used to live in Denmark Germany and Austria…
The author may live in Japan (as I also do) but all of his examples of poor pet ownership are Korean and Chinese.
“Many Japanese hardly have any social contacts any more.”
How would he know? With him, yes probably true. But whose fault is that? He seems to befriend only other expats, and then complain about them while pointing the finger at the Japanese.
Nothing but a frustrated and angry gaijin who refuses to assimilate even just a little. You meet them here all the time: they love the anime, the food, the festivals, and numerous other little Japanese oddities, but desperately wish to change the parts of Japanese culture they hate – like the long work hours, the strange hierarchys, the social exclusiveness of a 99% pure ethnic population (or the state of pet ownership, in this weirdly pathetic rants case) – all the things that they think are done so much better at home and would improve their lot in Japan immensely, while not understanding that removing even one of those things would result is losing all the stuff they love. It wouldnt be Japan anymore. Anime doesnt get made without semi slave labor you idiot. So, to all you expats whose entire experience of Japan is through the window of a car while travelling from Costco to the Tokyo American Club: go home. Your country probably doesnt want you back though… sounds like you complain too much.
Strange, because where you saw a guy complaining about Japan, I saw a guy complaining about how people are poor people being ripped off and how animals are being abused.
Strange that it wasnt based in somewhere other than Japan, didnt rely completely on Korean and Chinese evidence, and wasnt by a German expat living in Japan with a bone to pick (or an account to fulfill after the borders were shut for the Olympics and the “racist, zenophobic, Perryesque” attack by woke media couldnt happen.)
And because poor people and animal abuse are totally endemic and geographically isolated to Japan.
personal remark removed … mod
So the animals are treated like people, and the people are treated like animals. There’s a certain perverse symmetry there I suppose…
It’s not just the Japanese not having children though is it? It’s all the developed countries to a greater or lesser extent, including Russia and China. They all have below-replacement birth rates.
China is because they forced the one child policy for decades. The end result has been a massive imbalance, with millions of males without a female. This is why they should think hard about starting some war. It is cynical, but it is effective.
As for Russia, in a country which is 65% permafrost year round, it is very difficult to have a good time. I always wonder how these people can live in such a country. Maybe in the south, but the rest is absurdly inhospitable except in the summer.
Kudos to them to be able to not get depressed easily. Maybe the global warming ( if it is true ) can change the situation for the better.
Nonsense, the snow and cold are much preferable to constant sun which will reliably burn out your brain.
There are lots of videos circulating on the internet showing Russians celebrating Epiphany by diving into the icy waters…or walking around happily in the snow…Many live happily in the coldest parts even if the southern regions are very much more comfortably warm…The cold climate is refreshing and full of negative ions, which creates a feeling of optimism and serenity…
actually, even among the chinese citizens who followed the “rule”, the imbalance and all the “derp china kills girl babies derpa doo” propaganda mostly comes from the “traditional” (translation: primitive materialist) desire to have a “first born son”. the chinese government – as with many communists – didn’t give two shits about that ape nonsense. a lot of women liked the “rule” as well since it let them have a little more control over being used as a baby factory by – again – the shaved apes they married.
also, the whole “war is population control derp” trope hasn’t exactly been borne out by the 7 billion plus people currently infesting the planet.
It’s the same in the US. Women that have multiple abortions will move heaven and earth to save an orphaned possum.
“Hypocrisy: Bitching that paying for birth control ‘goes against your religious beliefs’ while expecting atheist taxpayers to pay for your churches.” -unknown
@ iruger
The problem for most people in the world is that it is extremely expensive, I have 4 girls, two twins and to with another woman, I have paid what I should and when I had the money a little more. However, I live in Sweden, where kindergarten is at a regulated price about €250 a month, Schooling and university is free. The oldest Start university this fall, and the youngest will attend 3 year Gymnasium and then on to university.
No it is not a free ride, it does cost money and being together on their premises, but if you are not prepared to be a parent, simple as that, I accept fully there are huge differences across the world.
Sweden is no exception to a falling birth rate, being cynical it is probably because people are more interested in getting the latest and greatest, new car, gadget, house etc. It is difficult to pursue a career and bring up children.
Because politicians wanted that way. to be difficult to raise a child! Otherwise, they make kindrgardens free, they give mothers 2 years leave with rights so that they donțt lose their job (maybe moved to another position or so, like: two years after returnig not allowed to let uou go kind of) and so on.
Then people will have more children.
But politicians prioritised giving money to other countries, giving money to rich people – cut taxes, let them pay close to 0 taxes and so on so the rest have to foot the bill. They spent a lot of money for everything else except encouranging natality among Swiss. or others. Just give special loans for housing for peope with 3+ children and so on.
And then other nonsense.
So it is the politicians and the state that didn’t wanted the peop,e to have more children!
This is facts.
“being cynical it is probably because people are more interested in getting the latest and greatest, new car, gadget, house etc. It is difficult to pursue a career and bring up children”
Can’t agree more. I’d also add that it is difficult to pursue a career, satisfy hedonist pleasures and at the same time have a fulfilling relationship.
This is an odd rant, odder still to find it here on thesaker.is
There is no license or permit required to become a parent of a child, or of a dog. And many parents are imperfect and it would be better if they didn’t reproduce.
I do see the good in Japanese pet ownership, though. These people are caring and showing empathy for another living creature. They don’t have an indigenous dog culture, so they don’t know how to care for their animals, but at least they love their pets. If the Japanese want to stop dating and marrying each other, that’s their weird choice.
It is great when there is empathy. The love of a pet can make life worth living, it can make all the difference to the depressed. Too often, what we see in Japan, though (and probably elsewhere–I wouldn’t know) is that as the author notes, there is no empathy. The pet mills get away with shocking cruelty, the poor animal is just some bling, and when he becomes inconvenient, he’s simply abandoned.
Since Japan is used as a launch pad against China and North Korea I understand why they are being engineered in not having kids. They don’t want Japan to ever be independent. More kids, more chances of those kids growing up one day and perhaps overthrowing their government. Japan is way to precious to lose. Man, imagine taking down China.. How much wealth will the west reap. No sex, no future revolutionaries. Also, this is a disease of atheism. Animals before humans.
Japaneese are opressed, to much opressed. It worked there because they care so much about honor, about keeping face etc. And now they put them to work too much and get topay for that clubs where they pay to just chat with girls, and no sex!!!
They watch porn but no sex
The women are mingling between them and too little sex.
Also it is a crisis as many women now dont want to be treaten the traditional way: below the men, left job after marriage, be the second one after husband ans so on.
So they need some huge changes in order to save their nation.
It will be a real pitty to lose them as they are formidable and we have a lot to learn, they have their own place in the world and particular character features, for a balanced world, we need the Japaneese too!!!
Maybe they will find their way back after the crisis they are into right now
the Japanese lost their homeland and were forced to live an artificial and consequently nihilistic life. The function of the Japanese’s existence is to be used to deal with neighboring Russia and China. The author of the text is being philosophical: Japan has no future and will cease to exist if used for the interests of nations on another continent.
Sure, in a world that is in eternal conflict due to differences in religious beliefs, let us blame atheism for everything. Now, are you sure it is not the work of the devil?
This might be outrageous for some, but it needs to be said. This pet problem is just another of copes for the serf class in Western Style regimes in addition to drinking, smoking, drugs, porn, overeating, instant fake dating apps etc…
This can’t even be began to be solved without literally destroying the system which propagates it as a means of retaining status quo.
Hong Kong is trying to catch up with this perverse trend. People even hire domestic helpers to take care of their pets…mostly dogs. I saw a dog psychologist’s office opposite my tire shop…most HK dogs are of the smaller variety but there are also larger dogs walking their mostly female female owners. Many owners in HK sleep with their dogs or in some cases insist that their live-in helpers share their bedrooms with the pets, especially when they have several. Clothed dogs being pushed in strollers are a common sight…and negligent owners and helpers not picking up their dog’s filth is not unusual. Wokeism has only further exacerbated the trend to substitute pets for children
I can confirm. but by doing so they’re also breeding themselves out. It’s no bad thing really.
Except the not cleaning after their meat dolls bit.
Where’s your shop? I need some new tires. Seriously.
An excellent story and very informative.
Japan is being punished for being cruel in spirit, insular in mind not geography, and being so obedient to their betters; samurai , bosses and the US .
It is also further along in the woman- at -work and big -spending department than the West. Womens’ lives here became much better after WWII; less social strictures, less male authority, kitchen mod cons and money due to women in employment.
What did men get in return? Loss in war, locked into boring and stressful employment for hours -with bosses for drinks too, less money due to women in the workforce and also women holding the pursestrings of household expenses, and less sex. Japanese women on the rise and coming into the city want Caucasian guys for the prestige , and lesser “sexist” attitudes. It is so bad that whole generations of young men will not leave their bedrooms and will only game 24/7. They are called “grasseaters” ; boring nerdy incel non-working parasites on their parents.
Want to know what the Woke West will look like if jihadi Islam doesn’t get it first? Look at Japan now.
Have mixed feelings with this article. Keeping a dog in the city is not the best place for the animal. Dogs by nature want to run, play, and socialize with other dogs. Not so much for cats. And the desire for a “purebred” expensive animal for nothing more a status symbol for the owner, is some kind of mental disorder.
For myself, I have a mixed breed dog I got at the local shelter. Not expensive at all. It is now hard to imagine life without him. There are plenty of places he can run off leash, and a dog park nearby when he can play with his pals. When he passes (I do not look forward to this day), If able I will get another shelter dog.
«Keeping a dog in the city is not the best place for the animal. [ …] the desire for a “purebred” expensive animal for nothing more a status symbol for the owner, is some kind of mental disorder.»
It is generally a status symbol as the author notes for the newly enriched of Europe: once upon a time only the rich could afford the space for a dog or a pack of dogs, and the cost of keeping them, purely for entertainment. In many countries the newly rich and not so rich try to imitate the lifestyles of the old and really rich, but in pathetic ways: instead of a pack of dogs to hunt and an estate where to unleash them in the hunt, just one dog in a flat in a city. A bit like the english middle class see the huge gardens around the manors of their superiors and crave a tiny strip of garden around their 3 bed semi; or see the rugs in the same manors, and crave to put carpeting in those 3 bed semis, etc. etc. etc.
On another occasion I asked a dear Greek friend why this dish? She replied well Gerry when your so poor and hungry even grass can be turned into a delicacy.
And on another I was in a Church listening to the testimony of some missionaries from a trip to India. At close of crusade they were invited by the owner of a restaurant for dinner. They had their fill but the owner who had walked back to the diner when he saw what they ate became terribly apologetic at the table. He then walked into the kitchen and screaming ensued along with pots and pans thrown around. The embarrassed missionaries left and wanted to know why?
You were fed dog they were told.
In the Bible the story of Elisha we read in Samaria during a terrible drought the people ate children! Perhaps having plenty of dogs and cats around is a better solution?
In the United States the DEEP STATE
1) gives us the mushroom treatment => kept in the dark and fed shit
2) treat us like dogs => generally ignored and once in a while given a bone
3) thinks we are donkeys => can carry more load and tolerate more BS
4) ultimately sees us as cockroaches => need to be exterminated
The Davos Great Reset is in action in Tokyo – with a shaggy twist. You will own nothing except a mongrel!
Not a conspiracy theory – Klaus Schwab says it your face!
In Germany autos have a Wackeldackel, a toy dog on the dashboard that always nods in agreement, and does not ruin the boardwalk. Dogged consensus!
A Geneva trick is to let huge dogs dump between densely parked autos at night. Commuters next day leave a poop carpet in front to the office. Nothing to fear – there are shoe scrapers!
As for cats, Russian pedigrees are banned. I take that personally.
I would never date a lady with a dog, because no man can really replace a dog.
Yep, totally agree. We Men have no chance against a dog. It’s true, I’ve experienced it several times. Hhhhmmm, pretty pathetic that our species finds love and fulfillment with another species. Where is the big meteor when we need it?
lol school of hard knocks or a sucker for punishment?
And I live in a strata and we have rules about dogs mostly none can be over a certain height and because of it a potential sale was called off due thankfully to one council member who owns a dog prevented the sale because the Real Estate salesmen didn’t bother to check the bylaws and told the potential new owner dogs were okay. Alas not so and woe the uproar that ensued. Listening to the arguments and complaining I thought too myself can you imagine every owner in a building such as ours owning dogs of all kinds and heights and having to take them out for walks every day meaning in and out of elevators etc and all the barking that it would surely ensue?
Now add 20 + floors all with dogs?
give a listen here:
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/international-news/china/wealthy-flee-shanghai/
I lived in a 16 floor Bkk condo for many years and it had a rule – no dogs. But of course TL being TL it was ignored.
Thais, Chinese, Koreans all had mutts. The barking was horrendous at times. Piss in the elevator, shit in the gardens, and on walkways.
One enterprising family on the top floor with a triple condo started a dog breeding business, it was shut down fairly quickly. Even scofflaws have their limit so it seems.
Complaints from anyone to the building management fell on deaf ears.
So I did as the locals do – poison treats left in strategic places thinned the herd.
Houston colleague told me 2 rules in Seoul – Dim-Sum no fat, and always ask where is the dog.
“These animals are treated like people, i.e. like life partners, conversation partners, love partners and spoiled children.”
Perhaps you’d prefer people to be treated like animals. Oh, wait. They already are. Most kids now grow up (don’t say brought up) not just without fathers, but without either of their two absent working parents in our currently ‘woke’ society with ‘equal’ wage slavery opportunities for feminist mommies too. And the latter glorify that so-called ‘progress’ as ‘women’s liberation’ with no apparent concern whatever for the familial impacts, let alone their much-vaunted ‘mother love’ as they eagerly hand over the kids to day care centers.
And your biggest concern is absentee pet owners?!
This is so well written, clear and to the point. It is extremely refreshing to see a German write in clear prose even if the language is English. Here in Germany prevails an intolerably murky style of writing combined with muddled thinking. Maybe it’s a problem with the language.
Thanks a lot for this article, gave me a good laugh.
I have no children, mostly due to having spent my twenties and thirties drinking and seeking fun, like many a Western degenerate. In hindsight I feel that was a wasted life, but given the bleak future I think it’s probably for the best. If I had children I would be very concerned for their future – global warming (whether anthropogenic or not); overpopulation (relative to resources); war; the likelihood of the West becoming an Orwellian dystopia, etc.
I do have a cat and whilst I don’t treat him as a human being, I love him to bits (feline selfishness and all). If that makes me odd, then so be it.
I prefer cats. Easy to care for. Food, water, litter box, a warm place to sleep, and they are happy.
Why is this article on theSaker?
Is the blog changing direction to be a home for any foul mouthed person to complain about whatever stupid thing they want to complain about.
This blog shutdown any real talk about the insidious vivid agenda but lets this guy rant and cuss about pets in Japan?
Seriously, what is this dribble?
What is in the “insidious vivid agenda” that is not being discussed?
This author is a cultural critic. Cultural critique usually is scathing to a segment of population. It is also commonly shocking (sometimes incredibly funny!) but sets out to teach on the social level.
Unfortunately, it also requires reading comprehension to get it.
Don’t tell me none of you read The Menticide Manual.
/?s=the+menticide+manual
There are some interesting observations in this article, and I won’t dispute that to a Western perspective many people in Japan seem to really spoil their pets. But, children are often also spoiled in Japan, and the reasons people are focusing on pets instead of children have little to do with the pets and a lot to do with the cost of having kids in urban Japan (which, as other commenters have pointed out, is not a problem unique to Japan).
Overall, though, I have to argee that this article mainly comes across like an angry rant by a disgruntled foreign graduate student. I note that in a previous article — also written in the same tone —, the author made a series of unfounded claims about the Japanese university system, some of which I am here to tell you are simply flat-out wrong (this, on the basis of over a decade of experience working in Japanese higher education).
Moreover, it seems something of a stretch to call this article “cultural critique”. No professional journal dedicated to the subject would print this, you realize. The author is really talking about Japanese society — not so much Japanese culture (e.g., dramatic, visual, or plastic arts, literature, media, etc). If you stretch to call this “cultural critique”, it sounds very much like you are out over your skis, inflating language, e.g., choosing to use a 100-euro word like “historiography” when what you mean is simply “history”.
I don’t share your viewpoint. And you meant to say ‘drivel’.
That is a quite interesting article, although it was, for me, a bit depressing.
It’s depressing because we see an entire society turning individualistic and self-centered, and perhaps not noticing it. I don’t blame the individuals so much, as it’s indeed quite hard to live in a cramped city with lots of people but little space and, worst of all, with (most?) resources (food and energy, especially) having to be imported. I dare say, however, that this is a result of the finance capitalism that siphons out as much as possible the capital (time, money and energy) people have, leaving them only the bare minimum to survive. Quite sad, indeed. A good indication of this is what the central banks around the world, but especially in the big western economies, have done with their policies, enriching the already rich, and deepening the inequalities. Japan, in particular, is a very good example of this.
For this reason, we should be very careful in giving implicit support to this system. We should plan for our future, and act towards it, but we should not forget that we can’t get there alone. We need to think collectively as well, and not only care about only us and our beloved. If we do this, big governments have less opportunity to step in and forcing to “help” us.
We should also understand that children are extremely important for the health of a nation for several reasons. Perhaps the most obvious is the fact that they are the future of a nation. No nation can expect to last if they don’t care to foster the next generation. But children are also an excellent way for the adults to understand that life is so important and that the work to sustain it, although hard work, is pleasurable. Once we become parents, we see the world differently, in a less selfish way, sure, but also in a more beautiful way.
Children help us live thinking collectively, and that gives social cohesion. Human society cannot last without social cohesion.
We should understand, then, that, yes, it’s hard to live in a capitalist environment as we have today, but that we have to be careful not to let selfish behavior prevail. I fret when I see a sentence like “He‘s in Okubo at the market all day long; she‘s somewhere as a teacher”. Sure, everyone has to make a living. But growing kids is an important part of our lives, and *that* has to come at the expense of our jobs outside, sorry. Society has to understand this, and foster it.
Sorry for the rant. Although the article sounds grumpy sometimes, it is actually quite sad to me. The author said “What do you want to have children for anyway? This country has no future”. Indeed, if people doesn’t want to have children, the country has no future. He also says “These people would rather not go out anymore or use public transportation than being seen alone, unhappy and miserable”. Sad, sad, sad!
The worst part of all is that I have a feeling many countries in the world is sleepwalking into this problem. European countries come to mind. As we say in Brazil, “I’m you tomorrow”, that is, Japan is the future self of many countries.
Let’s hope things get better.
Thorsten has a way to vividly describe the social alienation. And yes, it is sad.
I just wonder how much of this is as a result of being an ‘owned’ country and a lapdog. I wonder what real impact that has on the social cohesion.
The US (the owner in this scenario) also has this problem – lack of social cohesion, below replacement birth rates.
Amarynth, I hope I can be as much culturally literate as you tomorrow. :-D Thanks for the tip on Thorsten, I hadn’t heard of him. Hope to read his work soon.
As for the prospects of an “owned” country having the problems above, IMO it certainly aggravates them, but it may not be the main culprit. For example, I think many european countries are having / will have this kind of problem, and they are not “owned”. Oh, wait, this Ukraine operation showed that many, if not all, are! Forget what I said, then… :-D
(Apologies to those here who are from Europe; it’s just that many western European countries behaved like wh*res in the current situation)
Oh dear heavens, I won’t describe myself as culturally literate to a big degree. What does that even mean? I recognize some seminal literal works, some seminal art and mostly real solid religious works. That is about all.
It’s just that since Thorsten started posting on the Saker Blog, I had to learn his work and figure out what a cultural critic really is.
I am a Lebanese living in the Ecuador.
I am shocked at the quantity of dogs roaming around.
I assume there exists more than 25 millions dogs compared to 17 millions Ecuadorians.
Ecuadorians procreate like rabbits, and are poor people. Many do not afford to eat regularly. Still they own dogs…
All dogs in here are vegetarians, as they eat only rice. This is why you never ever get bitten by a dog…
Compare this to Lebanon, where there exists very few dogs, and they will tear you apart if ever they get the chance…
I assume that after the severe economic crisis that will hit the country soon, dogs may become a delicacy and the Chinese will be very pleased to come and manage the country!!!
At least cats and dogs are living animals. There is an alternative to having a relationship with a living being. For example, in 2018 RT published a documentary called “Substitutes — Japanese men woo silicone sex dolls to overcome loneliness ”
https://rtd.rt.com/films/substitutes-japan-love-dolls/
For those who cannot access RT, here’s the promotional blurb under the documentary.
“Senji Nakajima is the happy owner of a love doll he’s named Saori. Although the Japanese man is married to a real-live woman, he lives separately with his silicone surrogate. The odd couple goes on weekend trips to Mount Fuji, has late night dates at a karaoke bar, and engages in one-sided conversations.
For Mr. Nakajima, the life-size doll is more than just an inanimate object. The 62-year-old tenderly dresses Saori, bathes her, and combs her hair. He is committed to his companion and worries Saori’s life will end once he’s unable to take care of her.
Mr. Nakajima is far from the only Japanese person who has turned to love dolls for company. Some 2,000 are sold in Japan every year, according to the Japanese media. With removable heads, flexible joints, and soft skin, the silicone dummies don’t just provide sexual gratification for their owners, but often serve as an emotional outlet as well.
As demand for love dolls is growing, Japan’s demographic crunch is deepening. Falling birth rates, an ageing population, and the plunging number of marriages have the Japanese government in a panic.
To find out why some Japanese people are shunning real relationships for romance with synthetic partners, an RTD crew tagged along with Mr. Nakajima and other doll owners. Tune in to our documentary to gain remarkable insight into the world of silicone love and companionship in Japan.”
_________
ZeroHedge picked up the story, but now you get 404 when you click on a link to it. I mention this because, as you probably can imagine, there were a great number of interesting comments that were underneath the article. I wrote to a friend of mine about the article, the comments beneath it and the documentary itself, so I have a record of a few of the comments. Here’s the one that best described some advantages of having a “relationship” with a sex doll over a human being.
“1. no alimony
2. no std’s
3. won’t sleep around
4. low maintenance
5. her whole price tag is on the box
6. doesn’t whine for attention
7. doesn’t bitch while you read ZH and Breitbart news all day
8. doesn’t talk back much
9. “puts out” 24/7 and never “has a headache”
What’s not to like?”
_______
At the time, I wrote the following to my friend.
Ah, those Japanese doing what comes naturally as they suffer their intolerable work lives. I don’t know the “ins and outs” of it all, but I think the Japanese government is going to take a very serious look at importing more human beings to counter their completely frazzled citizens’ irresponsible choice.
Push is definitely coming to shove in Japan and I’m not talking about f…..g. Again, do the Japanese decision-makers want to pollute their race with immigrants, go “all the way” to extinction, or change their so obviously fatally flawed economic system? Eventually, I think that the greedy Elite will grudgingly pick Door #1. Greed will win out over racial purity.
The big problem for potential future immigrants will be finding a job and holding onto it. The irony is that once they start working as hard as, or even harder than, the Japanese workers do (you know, to “out-compete” them), maybe they too won’t produce the litters that the Japanese Elite hope for. In that case the Elite’s solution will simply be to import more and more people every year from here to eternity, just as “Canada” does. Simple.
_________
Then we have the pesky problem of young Japanese people working themselves to death.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-39981997
Part of the above:
“Japan has some of the longest working hours in the world, and some young Japanese workers are literally working themselves to death. Now there are calls for the government to do more.”
But Dr. Pattberg would for the moment rather focus on and write about the dog situation in Japan, which I must admit is a rather safe subject compared to others in Japan. After all, who is going to disagree that dog s..t on a sidewalk is unpleasant to look at and smell? BTW, human beings are also “doing their business” on many sidewalks in The Greatest Nation On Planet Earth. “Something must be done” about that, too, but the bone-simple systemic reasons for that not only continuing to go on, but increasing, are too politially sensitive for writers who want to continue to write for a living to write about.
I’m betting that Dr. Pattberg is not a pet-owner. I read his words about pets and pet owners and I draw my own conclusions about Dr. Pattberg.
I know some people who do not own pets and think that pets really don’t have a place in any society. They’re just useless eathers and s..t.rs. If they had the power to “make it so”, I’m sure they’d “cancel” cats and dogs from society. I’m glad that they don’t have the power.
My wife and I have lived with dogs and cats for most of our lives — from our infancy right up to being old farts. We loved all of them and thier deaths profoundly affected us. My wife and I presently have an 11-year-old cat that we acquired when she was about 3 months old. We have children and grand children whom we love. But we also love our cat and she loves us. I’m pretty sure that Dr. Pattberg would diagnose that there is something wrong with, something missing in, us, too, but I might be wrong on that.
Lighten up – today everything is a sort of entertainment. And as such the article in combination with the picture collages is simply a masterpiece. My favorite is the image of the perplexed cat in the hair saloon.
Like they used to say: the situation is hopeless but not serious.
been to the land of ‘the rising sun’, both on work related visits twice.,but must say there is not much ‘rising’ there unless you are ‘loaded’ or ‘top rank slave’ or from ‘well to do family’ ..or a yakuza employee running a girlie bar……i will stop here as everybody is not looking for the same ‘thingy’ ,you can get want you want if you try hard enough with some luck ,success or company.
So here is the ugly truth. All these virtual substitutes don’t work. That’s right, there is no substitute for the real thing!
We were engineered to procreate and when we don’t it is a slow disaster that we can’t mitigate. A neurotic life spent compensating and failing, is not better than no life at all. We are taught the beauty of being self sufficient yet it can’t be done, we are social animals no matter how messy and unperfect that looks.
Look at a film production. Endless takes, unlimited budget. It’s not done till it’s perfect. Well give it up, quit letting Hollywood show us how to live, its only leading to unprecedented suicide and that’s just among Hollywood A-listers. An imperfect friend is more than most of those clowns actually have, so get and keep that friend!
The river will soon thaw and then break up. We have to go earlier and earlier with our 2 mutts to avoid soft snow. 7 actual humans we created between us. The dogs do have a purpose, they are only marginally safer than guns and much harder to steal.
Thank you Thorsten for this unconventional view into Japanese culture. It must be torture to witness all the abuse going on at your neighbors yet still you came offering sausage, no less, and the nitwits did not even recognize your smell, lost just lost.
Endless takes, unlimited budget. It’s not done till it’s perfect.
Not in 10 years or more.
Not a consumer so guessing Hollywood has gone not so cost plus and tons of CGI. So the point they don’t advertise to our vanity and inferiority complexes anymore? All the sexy women are played by fat men now?
You gotta tell me cuz I don’t care enough to go find out.
To me its a question of system. A system that cannot produce incentives for its own perpetuation. What a failure.
Interestingly, race replacement is emerging as a substantial sub theme for study of politics. Very weird times indeed.
This article presents a grotesque scenario, without direct relation to anything accept a pets plague and their dotty owners. Do the pets have enforced vaccines? I feel nauseous after reading it and suggest it be removed to the ccommmunitycoop pronto on wellbeing grounds without further comment.
A bit of a grumpy article LOL but there is truth in this. This all fits in nicely with the eugenics/depop agenda, it’s a feature not a bug.
Add the hyperinflation, food shortages, etc – leaves very little incentive to have children for many countries.
Good points. Are we raising children or sponsoring experimental subjects the overlords they can assume control of on their time table minus the expensive years. All the freaky birth defects kind of take the fun out of it. Got to be heart breaking when the kid is good and after you get the shots it all goes sideways. Of course that would all be the Russians fault.
What Japan needs is a Mongol invasion…
Every dog has it’s day….
The Japs ain’t got nothing on us Britz. The following article may be 5 years old but pet ownership has gone up substantially since then in Little England:
https://www.petguide.com/blog/dog/uk-pet-parents-spend-more-on-pets-than-kids/
https://hollandexpatcenter.com/en/settling-in/taxation-finance-and-insurance/taxation/dog-tax/
well, I’m not surprised by this really, the Japanese have taken on all of the Wests stinky depressing habits and failed to maintain any of their own culturally good habits. Japanese men have had their balls eviscerated by the Americans and so all those lonely women have to have something to cuddle. The Japanese need to get their testicles back and start defining their own future, not be dictated to by the nuclear fetishists in Washington whoose troops rape their way through the indiginous population and don’t have to expect to have to apologise for it. You would never think that Japan was the Country of the Samuri or of harmonious spiritual practices like Shinto. Just another feckless, weak, mentally ill consumerist nation like any other European or North American outpost of empire
Very pertinent reflections, both for social psychology and for the underlying critique of liberal capitalism.
How can Thorsten J. Pattberg, or anyone for that matter, claim to be a “cultural critic,” and write a 2318 word essay about children in Japan and and never once address the concept of human to human love?
Indeed, glibly using the word love twice.
Interesting. Japan clearly shows future of West, at least dystopic version.
I notice excessive animal bonding in my country too. It is easier to control and receive “unconditional love” from animal, easily manipulated by food, then to build relationship with “complicated” human being. Figure of weird single woman, living with score of pets, could already be part of Western pop culture.
Animal welfare is generally of course good thing, but this goes over the board, too. Pet owners sometimes expect other people to adjust behaviour to their pets. When (here in Slovenia) dog killed little girl who made mistake of approaching his kennel, most comments were not empathic but emphasised that parents did not teach her well how to behave with big dogs. True, but children should not lose life for their mistakes (and dog owner left doors to courtyard open). And so on….
We cannot run away from what we were made for.Try and the same nature gives you a substitute.Fail willingly to sire and raise children and you’ll be raising cats,pythons,iguanas,dogs,scorpions etc.
Does the cat have a mate?If not that’s animal cruelty because the poor cat was not a party in your decision.It does not have a part or portion in your predicament.
We are born into trouble,the bibles says(man is born into trouble).This bubble was never meant to be a paradise,it will never be.As concerns the Nippon tragedy,it’s just another subtitle in the story of mankind.Man abandons God and God abandons man to his own devices(sins).It is a form of sexual revolution cum pervertion.Is this not the final phase in the demise of a kingdom?Sexual revolution.All past kingdoms went the same way-Babylonia,Sodom and Gomorrah,Greek,Roman.
Japanese have substituted the natural for the unnatural and are reaping the recompense for thier error.They have invented new sin,man and woman committing abominable things with animals similar to those of the Rainbow world.Man and man,woman and woman committing indecent/unnatural acts,chopping thier members off based on flimsy feelings.No progeny period.
The article is a good documentation of the ongoing Nippon phenomenon but its actually a finger pointing to the gradual decline of man since creation.
Remember Hungarian American Jew Anthony Blinken’s statement about allowing Russians in your home, you can’t get rid of them. This is textbook Neocon, do unto others and accuse them of doing it to you.
The Japanese, and the Germans to a lesser extent have become cardboard cutouts, like the Stepford Wives. America has reached in and plucked out their very souls. It was only 80 years or so ago that these nations dreamt of Empire and almost succeeded (if it wasn’t for those pesky Russians ).
I doubt either will ever get it back with over a 100 military bases on their soils . . . . protecting them. lol
This phenomenon is actually just a symptom of the more basic larger problem that humans are slowly being replaced by technology. The largest pool of non-skill value a human being brings into any economic enterprise is physical labor. The largest occupation that requires physical labor has been farms. Over a hundred years ago all horses on farms were replaced by tractors. Now all humans are being replaced by robotic tractors. This reduces the marginal utility of additional humans and you’re seeing that in humans the world over. It isn’t economically feasible (i.e. costs too much to send a kid to college/trade school) that marginal kids are needed. Humans are making rationale decisions and reducing their family size (with a lot of marginal people not having any children) the world over.
I also don’t believe the demographic decline is permanent (and will stabilize), but for now it’s apparent that the global population of humans will slow and retard. It waits to be seen if there is something that reasonably change the marginal value of an unskilled human to positive again, but it can happen.
I love watching the DYI network, one program in particular Barnwood Builders and Mark Bowe as they tear down old turn of the Century barns. Barns made with no power tools and No Nails!!!One episode they showed a ridge beam almost 30 feet long totally shaved by hand and axe from a fallen tree. You could still see the axe cuts from workmen. Amazing history to learn and think what it took to build before oil and engine. Even pegs used as nails hewn from solid blocks of wood. If we ever had to return to that well I’d say hopeless really. No way.
♪
“Exchange your dog for a poor child
With no parents, no affection, no food and no cash
Leave in the story of your life a noble news
There are a lot of people out there who want
Lead a dog’s life
I know a little boy who wished he was born a german shepherd
This is the farewell rock for my little dog called your mother
It’s for Your Mother (It’s for Your Mother)
This is the farewell rock for the dog Your Mother
Be more human, be less canine
Give shelter to the dog but also give it to the boy
Otherwise one of these days you’ll awake barking
Trade your dog for a poor child” ♪
_ from a Brazilian rock song
Thanks for this article that shows this deranged social phenomena in japan
Personally, I would never want to visit japan after reading this article
The Japanese seem to have big social issues they need to address
Maybe it’s a consequence of their materialistic lives, or maybe a payback for their nasty history and imperial attitudes towards others
Japan is the sickest country on Earth.
No surprise that, it’s dying.
Funny thing is that they never had the full-on Cultural Marxism assault that we had.
Stupid af, conformist, insular, workaholic, non-spiritual little automatons
I could create a cult tomorrow, worshipping..say..bicycles.
The very first member would be Japanese for sure.
They are THAT fooked.
Great article. People with their common sense intact are disppearing from media. This is a refreshing matter-of-fact piece without ideological complications.
“More dog bark than laughter of children”.
Keep on writing please.
This soiunds like a very dysfunctional situation for both humans and animals.
I used to live in a neighborhood where I walked around a pleasant reservoir most mornings. And there were little groups of dog walkers who would congregate and socialize. So I guess the dogs provided a substitute for socializing on the play ground.
Today I went to a town that has done a lot of ecological restoration on the stream that runs through the down down to the bay. Now you can observe the spring herring run at different points in the town and upstream, where dams etc. have been removed. It was fantastic to see. today seems to have been the beginning of the peak days of the run. A few decades ago there were virtually no herring able to get upstream. I spent at least four hours hiking along the stream, checking out the dams, fish ladder, flume, etc. and observing the extraordinary natural phenomenon of thousands and thousands of herring and alewives fighting their way upstream, over over rapids and up the fish ladder.
The reason I mention is that one thing that added to the experience was that people were talking to each other, strangers, as they stood on the bridges and looked down into the water, observed and felt true wonderment, commenting on the oddities of fish behavior, speculating on whether there are leaders, or whether groups of fish somehow help keep going, how the fish group themselves before making a try to get a few more yards upstream, etc. This kind of experience is simply missing nowadays in most cities. The experience of reality, which a lot of people think is a fantasy of some kind. And it was very absorbing and obviously very positive for human “participants.” It feels like a form of navel gazing for people to become so emotionally involved with their pets instead of interacting with the reality of nature. Also it seems to be pretty control-oriented. Even in Japan there must be orphans who could use some attention.
I completely understand where the author is coming from with his annoyance and philosophical and practical objections to dogs and pets generally in the wrong place and the wrong hands. Owners often are clueless as to the public nuisance created by their dogs’ yapping.
IMO it is really unfair to the dogs. Not only if they are neglected and treated like humans, which they are not. But also, because IMO a dog is only really happy when he has a job. A dog’s job. Such a guarding and herding sheep, hunting, digging up rats, fetch game, etc. These activities are mental activity for a dog. Cooping up a dog inside, keeping the dog on a leash while riding in buses where really on seeing-eye dogs should be allowed—-it is all nutty and, frankly, a huge waste of money.
When the economic sh– hits the fan, there are going to be a lot of feral animals around. They will get eaten by each other or by humans or will be shot if they become dangerous (i.e., dogs).
Just as the covid19 “pandemic” led to the abandonment of a lot of pets, and also horses—which I don’t exaclty classify as pets. But, just sayin’, a lot of horses were abandoned.
I love animals. And animals seem to love me. So that has nothing to do with it.
My biggest complaint with the fucktards that treat dogs like humans is the filthy habit they have of allowing their mutts to ride in shopping trolleys. And then some poor unsuspecting chump uses the trolley for food carrying.
And then the cafes, and restaurants that cater for these delusional twats.
Go out for a meal leave your damned mutt home please!
Pets and problems are same world over. I think author has his personal take on japan. Pets like the paris hilton handbag variety are a status symbol. Filtered down to middle class. Breeds like little yappy muts seem to go into no yard homes for a reason. Japanese worship cats. My little place of sactuary was shimoda port.south of tokyo. Theres dozens and dozens of wildish cats that people tend to lovingly leaving food and remaking their beds out on a marina sidewalk area. To watch little girls catch tiny fish then hand feed qued up cats one by one caught with chopsticks was a memorable sight.
One could rail against paris and its dog walking problem street pooping etc but then that leads to san fransico and the human street fouling they have.
I also saw uk reports that harsh economic times are overflowing rescue centres now the run on pets from lockdowns is out of fad and the cost of an extra mouth becomes unwanted.
Maybe im harsh from having a farm where dogs had to have usefulness balanced against their problems they cause.if they failed they got a flower bed and the next got their chance. Most house pets i encounter have zero value. And yes the old ladies and the company they provide is worth it to them. At least animals have honest emotions unlike humans. Apologies for my rambling like the authors lol.
Humans have the need for attachment and a love response, if they aren’t having kids then a pet provides that. Children don’t become fully self conscious till about 7 yo, and a clever pet is said to have the IQ of a 5 yo, so there is some logic to their substitution.
That being said there is the responsibility for proper care, obviously a large yard or farm is ideal, but many are constrained by cost of work to be in cities. As in most things though why rant against what you can’t change, it just leads to stress.
A rather angry gent. But living in Japan (as I did back in the 1970s) has one great benefit: people mind their business and don’t tell you what to do or even give an unsolicited opinion. Worth considering…
As for critters, I’ve always had dogs, except when living in a condo (now in Bangkok). Cats, well, only in they’re marinated in sesame oil and paprika, and light braised.
Ahhh, the travails of pets, kids, and lonely people in Japan, not to mention the so-called Free World in general.
This must be what are called First World Problems.
Everyone here should not fret, however.
When America detonates a nuclear Armageddon, all of these tribulations will be instantly forgotten.
Never had the desire to live or visit Japan. Seems like a place that is full of suffering or discomfort with people living in a state of great unhappiness and emotional distress. It’s always a mistery why people are so attracted to such people and places. I guess there’s something to be discovered.
I think its time for a drug use story time in Ukraine
How about prices for cocaine & meth and good times
How about prostitution storys of starving people resorting to anything to eat
Surely dogs in Japan, is that really saker, or COMINTERN? I think saker commies just jealous about dogs getting so much love in Japan.
I really thing this article is more about a statement of too much money,
Having spent a lot of time in Japan, I can say its no worse than say any city USA, wrt to the dogs;
There are lots of older people and farmers tend to work alone on smaller lots; But they also tend to use high-quality equipment and get top price for their effort;
A society that spent all of its time making money, and now nobody can afford a home, I can see that coming to USA if it wasn’t for SOROS/Schwab burning the place down before its goes japan.
Lastly, what really nice about japan is that its 99.999% same-same one race, really as a white I have walked 24/7 in all parts of the islands and never had the slightest problem, can’t say that about anytown USA.
Lastly, the police are incredible one nice day near the coast on the west side I saw a guy run a stop sign, the cops blew their whistles, dragged the guy out of the car, beat the shit out of him and kept yelling at him; The thing in Japan is you don’t break the fucking rules, and they say Japan prisons, are NOT a place you want to visit. It’s like the cops have nothing to do, so when somebody ‘breaks’ a rule they make up for all the lost shit that the USA cops would do everyday normal.
Thought provoking. The last time I spent a day in Tokyo was about ten years ago. I was immediately and painfully reminded of why I had left. Thank goodness for dandelions! They make a valiant attempt at overcoming the soul-destroying 100% artificial sanitized and subsequently vomited upon physical environment in that city. I still have nightmares about my living quarters during my five years in central Tokyo. My time in the US Air Force (early 1980s) also gave me nightmares, but not for as many years subsequently. I recommend Takao or Ome if you don’t have to commute, or even if you do–you can get a seat. Takao has a nice community who put their foot down when a local school proposed to flatten a forested mountain for inner-city-type development. They found a way to legally protect it by restoring an old shrine at the top (look into “Asakawa Kompira,” the community meets for a picnic there once a month, first Sunday, and the shrine holds a monthly service on the 10th). As part of the effort to protect the natural mountain, I became a Shinto priestess myself.
A lot of what you have noted, though, applies throughout Japan, even deeply rural areas, which I find otherwise sanity-restoring. Nobody wants to be accused of spreading the Dread Plague, so socializing is way down. The number of children had been dwindling for the past thirty years as the economic decline made it harder and harder to raise children. COVID has put a near complete halt to procreation here. People are blamed bitterly for having a drink at a bar if they catch COVID as a result–forget about partying. Economic insecurity has increased. A friend here in the rural outback who helps run a kindergarten says in a couple of years, they’ll close their doors, because there aren’t any children anymore.
Another aspect of the deterioration of Japanese society is a decline in their spiritual and religious traditions. It has hit both Buddhism and Shinto pretty hard, with numbers of followers down drastically. That was the case prior to COVID, but now because so many of the remaining followers are elderly and feel they cannot risk socializing, it is even worse. The mainstream narrative has been pretty negative toward religions as well, with accusations of irrationality, especially since the Aum Shinrikyo cult gassed the Tokyo subways about 30 years ago. It makes me very sad, because the world is losing a vibrant, empowering culture and knowledge that could help ease a transition back to a sustainable lifestyle, as was practiced in Edo during the period of that name, before it became “Tokyo.”
Interesting and sad commentary.
I always thought of Japan as having a uniquely aesthetic and deeply spiritual relationship to nature, whereby the deep apprehension of the laws of nature found its way into the Japanese aesthetic: ceramics, tea ceremony and other contemplative rituals of daily and political life, fire men’s coats with rabbit motifs, etc.
So much seems to be totally tacky now. From what I read and see.
I have never been to Japan.
I would like to visit the northernmost islands.
Patricia,
Excellent observation about Edo. I just launched a website about it: shinedo.org.
The japanese elites are not stupid: they have realized that overpopulation is a big problem, and want to bring it down more towards the limited carrying capacity of their islands, so utterly dependent on imports of cereals and fuels.
So they are doing two things: discouraging childbearing, and reforesting their island.
Unfortunately the transition to a smaller population is both saddening and hurtsome, and the fake-child mania is a side effect.
It’s a load of nonsense.
Reforestation?
Giant forests full of sugi were planted all over the place after world war two.
They are all over every moutian you look at.
There is no need to “reforest” anything because the vast majority ofthe land is already forest.
As for discouraging childbirth, that’s also incorrect. The nearest city to me has free daycare, free kindergarten, free schooling for second third forth etc children.
You pay for your first kid and everyone after that is paid for by city hall.
There are lots of incentives for growing families and the nearby towns and villages are also trying to encourage families.
All of the country isn’t like Tokyo and Osaka.
Wake up.
That was an entertaining read.
The grumpy hatred for pets was rather funny.
Thankfully I live in the countryside and here many people do have cats, but they seem to be for keeping mice and weasels away.
After many years, I have yet to encounter a dog shit in the nearby town.
The big city is always a dysfunctional cesspool full of degenerates and mentally ill people rushing around in their journey to nowhere.
The writer should get out of the city once in a while to someplace normal, preferably without Koreans.
Man, get out of Zone A; you’ll probably find humans, (at arm’s length, not via a screen as in “the new norm”), sanity, spirituality, respect for tradition and elders, and also RISK, LAUGHTER, EMOTIONS…
I understand your point, but as a proud father of actual kids and proud owner of a cat and a house (not a wardrobe with appliances), I can tell you my kids love the cat, and it is a good influence for them (care, responsibility, company,…), it helps them not wanting to waste time on some screen as recommended by our puppet governments, and it does not preclude them from meeting and playing physically with other human friendly kids. And I proudly consider my cat part of my family because it is a living being which has proven to acknowledge and reciprocate affection. It is not an amazon-delivered appliance nor an expensive debt-laden consumer piece, but a living being, issued from a friend’s cat and adopted, for free.
There are probably more points worth mentioning here though:
Japanese and Anglosaxons are probably about the most racialist people to ever walk on earth, and the latter castrated the former in all practical forms in the XXth century, not by the Sheol nuclear fire but by later parasiting every single value with their Mammon/Surgat cult, which has replaced everything also here in the European (Collectivist Colonial) Union: consumerism as an end in itself; money as a worshipped end in itself; the woke garbage; eroding family ties; destroying local community values; promoting ahrimanic “social distancy” (a cute oxymoron); replacing preachers with “journalists” to indoctrinate the ignorant; replacing common sense with the ministry of truth, and many more schatological tropes.
I watched some time ago a documentary on why Japanese people don’t have sex anymore (it also showed them not having children anymore and even a high rate of abandoning them), and it was really terrifying because it didn’t seem far fetched, quite the contrary. I haven’t been there, but I honestly think the Japanese are just waiting to die. Just like fashion is said to originate there, I think they are pioneering some kind of anthropological auto-extinction which will soon permeate the EU (another castrated anglosaxon colony).
As for pets replacing kids, I think the master’s voice themselves (hollywood and the big tech) have been openly advertising or indoctrinating that for a while, just check that absurd film, the baby boss or whatever its English title… I’m surprised though that kids might be disappearing in the West as in Japan, as raising a kid in the West perfectly endorses the ultimate rationale of the anglosaxon ethos: living, embracing and dying for debt; being a lifetime slave…
You mean The Boss Baby?
I saw the film when it came out in theaters, and from what I remember, the plot involves the protagonists trying to prevent pets (puppy-dogs in particular) from overshadowing human infants in popularity, so I’m not sure how this example applies.
I live in Tokyo myself, but I had no idea pets were sold on finance around these parts. If I wanted to pay regularly for companionship, I’d stick with hookers.
I lived in Japan for 5 years back in the 80s. Back then, they certainly didn’t consider dogs as child replacements, but almost as inanimate decorations.
Dogs were often chained up 24 hours a day without any human contact at all except for feeding or (for the lucky ones) a single walk per day without any sort of affection.
If Japanese dog owners are now showering attention on their dogs, then yes, there is some sort of emotional motivation behind it, because it is very different than the way it was before.