The Emperor of Japan, Akihito (83) is an old guy, who wants to abdicate his throne, but supreme leader Shinzo Abe won’t let him.
There, a perfect microcosm for so many lives in Japan:
I want to quit/leave/change, but it/they/he/she won’t let me.
In short, slavery is alive and well in modern-day Japan.
Why can’t Akihito Abdicate?
Abdication just means giving up a position of power. For a King or Emperor, it means voluntarily giving up that position and passing it along. In July of 2016, Akihito, the current emperor of Japan, said he wanted to do just that. Although declining health has been given as a reason, it’s pretty clear to everyone that his desire to give up the throne is based on his dislike of Abe, and Abe’s militaristic policies.
And, possibly, Mo’ money mo’ problems; it’s so hard at the top.
So, fine, Akihito is an older guy who wants to retire, people retire all the time. In fact, abdication is not a new concept in Japan. Back in the day, abdication was the norm. Now, they haven’t had anyone quit being King since 1817, and since Akihito hinted at wanting to “get off-grid”, hinted because he’s forbidden from making any political statements, the government has had their collectively stolen panties in a bunch since there is no formal rule in place explaining how this is supposed to work.
Wait, what?
Yes, there’s no rule in place, no law, so the poor old guy, not only can he not quit his job, but he can’t even say he wants to quit his job.
Emperor? We call that something different where I’m from.
But ultimately, this defines Japan and the Japanese P-E-R-F-E-C-T-L-Y:
No rule = No action.
Every place else in the world, when there is an absence of rules, one just does what one wants to do; in Japan, they freeze in place. Anywhere else, Akihito could just put on some jean shorts, an Aloha shirt, some Ray Bans and head for coast.
Not in Japan though. In Japan, the Emperor is shackled in word and deed; an indentured servant whose contract is never going to finish.
But Japan is a free country, right?
I’ve said it many times: “If I was Japanese, I’d never live here.” And now that I’ve come to a point where I’m sort of turning Japanese (I really think so), I’m gearing up to leave. Well, why is that?
Because, NO; Japan is free in theory but not in practice.
What Akihito is experiencing is what many Japanese experience on a daily basis. The day by day grind of the office is mind numbing and soul crushing. It’s a seemingly never-ending exercise in futility and play-pretend. We’ve written about it before: Very little is getting done while everyone pretends everything is getting done. Then, lots of company workers leave the office…only to go back to their room in the company dorm.
It’s endless meetings, piles upon piles of paperwork and dead-serious coffee breaks. Respite is only found in the flatulent release of a drunken outburst locked away in some karaoke booth; immediately forgiven due to alcohol, a god given bout with influenza, retirement (which some are unable to even consider) or death.
We have written about why this happens: It’s the curse of Syouganai. People in Japan go to their supervisors and say “I am going to quit.” The supervisor then says “No, we can’t allow that. You will need to work another year.” The person, who hates their life, then says “I see. Yes, I will work another year.”
And then they just keep working.
It can’t get any worse, right?
Oh, yes it can.
Although, rarely talked about (I am having trouble finding sources), it is not uncommon for Japanese company workers to continue working…even when they aren’t getting paid.
Off the top of my head I can think of nine cases over the years of people I knew working in companies who continued to work despite not being paid for months at a time. I also can’t remember a single case in which those late funds were refunded.
So, these people go to work, want to quit but are told they can’t, and then sometimes even work without being paid for their labor?
We have a word for that in English…
Now this is the part when the shimmering-gaijin-knight comes riding in on his/her stallion, or worse yet a member of the League of Extraordinary Asian-Americans materializes, to lecture and tell me that I don’t understand Japanese culture, saving face, the value of appearances to the family and blah-blah-blah.
Well, I do understand it, I just don’t value “saving face” over more detrimental outcomes, such as someone killing themselves due to horrific working conditions which forced them into a deep depression. Or, someone taking loans from dubious businesses just to pay rent and eat, while their company refuses to pay them for months on end, and they eventually have to go underground to escape loan sharks.
Saving face and other superficial concepts take a back seat to people’s freedom. Be it Akihito chained to the thrown, Yonosuke bond to his desk, Jinyeo shackled to a mattress, Liam locked to a plow, or Kunta Kinte getting his foot chopped off, it’s all different forms of slavery. So, I say fuck Syouganai and saving face; your sand is slipping through the hour-glass; it’s time to take action.
Gaijinass 
The last few posts have been pretty dark. I’ve been thinking about them a lot.
Have you seen the room in Yasukuni Shrine with photos of thousands of Japanese who died in WWII? I looked at it for a long time because it was interesting how very few of them resemble the faces of Japanese people I see these days. I often wonder how much WWII made a dent in the gene pool of Europe, Japan, etc.
The only solace I can find after thinking about your post is remembering that there are a handful famous and successful Japanese who do what they want to do, tell society to fuck off and still seem to make it out okay. That’s pretty much true everywhere really.
You’re right. Every rule has exceptions. I wrote about this but paradoxically I happen to know several Japanese who said “Yep, fuck this.” and walked away. None of them live in Japan now. So, it happens. I just know far more who are still in their chains though. Every country has it’s poison: Japan has Syouganai and American has it’s obsession with everyone’s feelings. There must be a gray area which is where we’re supposed to operate.
Akahito needs to think. Ask for a volunteer army to bring him several white tigers, and he can pet them, during meeting. Of course, that volunteer army might need to go to Vegas and ask if there are nice ones that they can have.
Is he allowed to do that in interpretive dance?
Maybe, he should say fuck it, and speak up anyway? Let them try and arrest him. What’s that going to look like? Akahito comes in, petting a dead cat and says, “You fuckers owe me rent.” You been squatting in my land for a hundred years, and haven’t paid shit.
[makes gesture] “These are my tigers. The magician flicking cards at you is here on his own. I’m not paying him, but don’t mess with him, because he can tell cats what to do. He has super powers. Just pay the rent, okay?”
That should fix the boredom too. If he gets sent to prison, he can tell them the same thing. Every day he can come out of his cell and tell them to ‘say their lines’. “Pay Rent, mother fucker.” Nod and go back inside. After all, who is REALLY in charge? Let them try to enforce that shit.
Plus, white tigers and a magician. As long as he doesn’t go all Caligula on them.
That’s probably what was wrong with Caligula. He saw how it all went, and made up crazy shit, until they did what they were told. It worked for a couple of years too.
I’m game. He’s probably a necromancer, he just doesn’t know it yet. I wish he would turn Abe into a talking Koala or something.
Great post! Very funny and all too real. Nihon wa ne….
Nihon ga manka…tsurai ne…but we can only blame ourselves for our lot in life. Good luck Japan.
The comparison with black slaves is a bit over the top… Anyways, even though Japanese society is theoretically free, isn’t it a case of the individual putting the collective first? Seems horrible…
Soul-crushing urban capitalist grind is a modern reality but combined with the sort of work ‘ethic’ you describe… I’d never be able to waste myself away like that.
Is it “over the top”? Define your version of “Black slavery” first, that might help.
“What Akihito is experiencing is what many Japanese experience on a daily basis. The day by day grind of the office is mind numbing and soul crushing.”
An authentic Japan expert eh? A real talent. And Hemingway incarnated to boot. And gee whiz, look at that redneck shit Timothy Mark Merritt’s comment. I’d bet a dollar to donuts you taught some English (that was really hard…opening your mouth and blowing out hot air?) have screwed half a dozen dumb Japanese girls in Roppongi for the thrill, studied all the way up to kindergarten Japanese, maybe even squeezed your brain so hard you learned to write your address in kanji. Possibly even learned to grunt, order ramen, a boiled egg, and a beer in Japanese. And with all this on your Einstein plate you’ve become an expert re: His Majesty, the 125th Emperor of Japan, and the rest of the Japanese people. My gawd it must be hard to be so fucking clever. Is it hereditary? From under what slimy rock do you pathetic gaijin jackasses come from?
If you can’t handle straight talk maybe you should not come here Tyo.
This was really surprising, I mean sure the Japanese are commendable for their work ethic and dedication but not having the will to tell your boss, “I don’t wanna work anymore, I quit” is just too much.
OK listen!
I usually clean my shithole with Japanese people’s faces!
I use Japanese people’s faces to clean my shithole instead of purchasing toilet papers.
I do this because Japaneses are the slaves of the world.
Hey people!
If you want to wipe out your ass, please utilize Japanese people’s faces!!!!!!!!
I agree that Japaneses are the most inferior slaves in the world.
So far, I never thought Japan was a democratic country.
Japan is very primitive and unreasonable country though Japan is economically powerful.