I’m sure that’ll help the already high levels of chronic loneliness in Japan…
Isn't it the case that Japanese work culture, "stay until the boss leaves", is what contributed substantially to loneliness in Japan? A lack of work-life balance? It seems to me that remote work could lessen this effect greatly.
Also, you seem to be assuming it will just lead to people working from home alone. Japanese housing is notoriously small, and cafes ever-popular, it doesn't seem unreasonable to me to speculate that this could lead to a boom in working from cafes and co-working spaces. Unlike a majority of the rest of the world, too, Japan has far less urban sprawl - so going to such places is less of a hassle.
Seems to me this would do the opposite of what you suggest.
If I had to work remotely for the rest of my life, I'd choose Japan, so that I could walk out my front door and around the corner to pretty much anything I'll ever need. I can't do that in the suburbs, pretty much anything useful is a car journey away. I worked remotely from the suburbs for about 4 years, and it was incredibly isolating. There was no-where to go that fit into even an hour long break.
No, he's right. Sprawl is inherently a negative term. Japan has large cities because you know, they can't put people in Manchuria (they've tried) or on the Moon, so they have to put them somewhere. So the most efficient way to house large numbers of people is in dense cities.
The US is a great example of both urban sprawl (outside downtown, American cities have town to village population densities) and suburban sprawl. The worst of both worlds, really.
But I think in actuality, taking zoning and planning control away from the people who use the zones is what causes most of America's strange layout. People absolutely want medium to high density mixed use communities, and affordable housing, but you're not allowed to build that in America.
I keep hearing this thrown around, and I have no reason not to believe it, as on paper it makes sense.
But have there actually been studies around this?
That said, pretty much everything else about Japanese culture seems awesome.
In the UK we just voluntarily participate in dangerous binge drinking
That said, no one else I know chose it. You lose a lot of the city night life and niche things. Instead you gain space, more rural style hobbies, less diverse food (particularly if you eat out), etc.
A lot of people aren’t able to recognize the pros / cons of such a trade.
For anyone reading, I recommend living in a suburban / rural location. Get out and take care of a big garden, go to local events and join a few clubs. Definitely a positive experience.
Not just talking about the urban=>rural switch specifically, but in the opposite direction as well, and when it comes to pretty much any major change of a similar nature in general.
After spending a few years in a very rural part of CA while rebuilding my cabin, the lack of quality diverse organic produce I'd taken for granted in SF Bay area grocers is one of the biggest complaints I have.
I haven't seen a Pomelo in a store for over 4 years now, let alone an organic one.
I find it's a decent compromise. I have space. I can take walks in the woods or easily drive to small mountain hikes. But I'm only about an hour to go in for live theater, a meal, etc. And there's nothing keeping me from going into town for a weekend if I wanted to.