Follow @gaijinass Money is a funny thing in Japan. During the Bubble Economy the Japanese had too much of it. They bought up everything and were seen as the new boogeymen after the Soviets kicked the bucket (Think about the evil Japanese billionaires in movies like Die Hard 
Just to give you an idea of the amount of money that used to be flowing around we can look at Japanese spending money. In this country three quarters of men get a certain amount of spending money, in the form of a monthly allowance, from their wives. Since 1979 Shinsei Bank has been tracking this amount. In 2011 the allowance was 39,600 Yen or about $US 500 per month. This compares to 1990, a year before the bubble burst, when the allowance was 76,000 Yen (or about US$ 950 in 2012 money). Twice as much money was flowing around the economy keeping restaurants and drinking establishments awash with cash. Since the bubble Japan is still trying to recover, of course the world economic collapse and the 311 radiation inducing earthquake aren’t helping.
 |
| Yakuza Moon: Memoirs of a Gangster’s Daughter |
Even in all these economic hard times it’s amazing for me how the Japanese view money and family. In her biography Yakuza Moon Shoko Tendo describes her life which boils down to -slaving away at a variety of shady jobs to support her family as they fall into one crisis after another-. In Japan it seems there’s no question raised in regards to whether supporting someone is a good idea, simply put it’s just; “How much money do you need? Here you go.” Where as in Western Nations people might question throwing money into a black hole, for Shoko Tendo, it was always just handing over whatever she made.
This has created its own little criminal class of people who prey on this culture of give money first, ask questions later. Hundreds of scams in Japan induce people to hand over cash after conmen, confidence-men etc, convince them that their relatives are in trouble.
Already I can see problems in the future, when as part of a Japanese family, I will be expected to hand over thousands of dollars of cash with no questions asked.
If you like this article then you should check out:
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Staying in Japan | Adult Video model Erika Satou | Kyuss | Samurai | John Frusciante: The Empyrean |
Did you get this from the Economist?
It fails me how gullible people are for the ore ore scams and so forth.
Get what from the economist?
The information about the allowance.
BBC: Why male Japanese wage-earners have only ‘pocket money’
Shouganai.
You are getting very good at Japanese culture, sir.
Thank you very much. I hope to one day be a part of Japanese culture. Then again, a thing like me wasn’t meant to know success or happiness…so we shall see.
So the trick is to get in first and be the one asking for the money!
It won’t be no Questions asked, because you are going to call Uncle GJS, and we are going to call our friends. And then: SHIT IS GOING TO GET REAL. Remember this. Because we feel it is surely going to happen.
This is when you smash through the wall with a sledgehammer while POISON plays in the background.
Growing up, my family followed the matriarchal scheme. The men worked, turned in their money to the woman of the house (at the time grandma) and she doled out allowance to the men. As world finances fluctuated she adjusted the given allowance. I sort of run my house that way to an extent. I don’t hand my money over to my husband and we DO NOT have shared accounts. I am also very much in charge of the home finances. I don’t dole out an allowance though.
Scams: I recently watched a woman actively get scammed. I even tried talking sense into her. “But they said if I wire them 800 more dollars they will send back the other money I have sent them.” Um, no that’s not how it works, you are getting scammed and will be out 800 bones! “But if I do as they say it will all be sorted out.” *sigh*
I saw a thing on the news last night of how a lady was initially scammed out of 3 million yen for a bogus wind power investment scheme and then subsequently gave the fuckers another 3.25 million to get her money back. Cunts.
It is unreal to watch these people throw all common sense out the window and have it attached to their life savings. The woman I know pretty much blew through 60 thousand dollars that her family was going to use to start up a business. The saddest part is this was not the first time she had been scammed. -_-
Never quite figured out how people here view money. While the pageantry I’ve seen has never been as sleek as what is displayed in Rising Sun, people do so love their brands to a point that it has stigmatized them, both the brands and the people who are ‘accessorizing’. No revelation there.
The image of Japan now is a laundry list of dirty which includes anime, meltdowns, halitosis, and a Sunr1se P4rty… to name a few.
Definitely going to be a wild ride, if it isn’t already. Crackdowns and power-shifts appear to be going on at the moment with the general population still more of less kept in check.
Back to how folks view money and family. There’s almost a built-in tragic sense of comfort that appears to go along with handing over hard-earned cash to the irresponsible… where knowing that one’s role is being fulfilled in a way no one would criticize or even question. This could even become something to be proud of.
People sure are funny around money.