If there's one word to describe the Japanese population, I would choose "realists".
Sharp contrast to the eternal optimist, borrower spender American stereotype.
Sharp contrast to the eternal optimist, borrower spender American stereotype.
Only for people who refuse to appreciate that immigration as a whole is America's cultural bedrock, and not merely the effect of immigration from a particular group or region.
I should also clarify, I don't know what percentage of those people were capable of speaking English, based on past experience of attempts I would guess < 25%, but that's pure speculation.
Agree, while there is a growing number of Japanese who resort to カードローン (quick credit) these days, for instant gratification despite having few savings.
My impression of the US mindset about the future is that it's hazy but also positive. This leads to low or negative savings and few convictions about where to invest. Most just take a broad portfolio approach and buy index funds. Many people have both debt and holdings in index funds. They're not sure how, but feel optimistic that things will work out well somehow.
Along with a huge and growing underclass of freeters and other workers who cannot land the shrinking number of corporate positions, housing costs are why Japan is famous for "parasite singles". Nonetheless, even those living below the poverty level are less likely to carry personal debt than Americans.
Another problem with attributing American saving habits to health care or schooling costs is that Americans had a high propensity for debt even 30 years ago when those costs were much lower. Cultural differences are a driving factor.
My viewpoint is far more pessimistic: I think there's a major cultural difference between the US and Japan, and that Japanese tend to be better managers of their personal finances than Americans. Americans have much higher debt, but it's because too many of them have spending addictions, and think they deserve to live like royalty, and with the availability of easy credit get sucked into that trap. I've seen it myself far too many times. Also, perhaps education has something to do with it: Americans generally aren't taught to budget or manage their personal finances in school much from what I've seen. Maybe they are in Japan.
People in America complain a lot about things like the cost of rent, etc., which is definitely true IMO, but they do also tend to splurge on a lot of stuff they don't need, such as Starbucks drinks. If Americans were really short of funds, then how do all these Starbucks on every street corner stay in business selling $5-10 fancy drinks?
Japan's debt-to-GDP figure far exceeds the US's and yet it's industries are getting punched left and right (by China-Korea and the US). Becoming more realist/risk-averse after the Bubble era is not a great feat IMO.
That's the Japanese government, which is different from the Japanese people, who have among the largest savings per heard on the planet. Do not equal the people to the state, please.