Living Lonely and Loveless in Japan | Foreign Correspondent

[Music] i've been the abc's tokyo correspondent for four years and i have to admit i've really fallen for japan it's endlessly exciting and one of the most vibrant places on earth but there's something deeply troubling going on why is it that in this economic powerhouse millions of people are hiding from the world [Music] tens of thousands of people are dying alone and neglected [Applause] birth numbers are plummeting and people are staying single as i finish my posting and pack up to leave japan this is one story i haven't yet told and it is a difficult one to tell this is a rich and powerful country but it's facing a social crisis before i go i want to understand why [Music] nearly every day from world war ii on an army of men thronged to work men sacrificed their lives for the firm and the family and women stayed home to mind the children but the economic miracle it built was shattered in the 1990s things changed women could work and work became more insecure and competitive the old rules don't suit the modern world but new rules aren't replacing them it's a paradox causing deep social anxiety [Music] has a successful career in the fashion industry and she has no intention of following society's old rules by getting married and having children instead she spoils her much-loved dogs by 2040 japan is on track for almost half its population to be single this is unimaru with her new haircut and this is rikomaru sayaka's friend rika is also choosing a single life her dogs are candy and vanilla [Music] do you want to get married one day do you feel any pressure to get married figures from the last fertility survey showed a quarter of women in their 30s were single and half of them weren't interested in relationships [Music] i've read a study that says younger japanese people are not necessarily having sex is that true is there anything that would convince you to want to get married anything you you need or you feel like marriage would offer more in what is still a very gendered society more and more people aren't taking on relationships and they aren't having children the face of japan is changing walk around the streets of tokyo and you'll see plenty of elderly people but not too many babies a few years ago it was called a national crisis since then it's only got worse this is an intensely private society but i've arranged to meet with another young professional who's prepared to open up about the pressures of living in modern japan under kovid restrictions 32 year old nao yakudo is working from home he's a successful creative director at a heavy hitting advertising firm but he also has a work ethic that's fairly new in japan he works hard and plays hard and isn't embracing the responsibilities that come with marriage and family before you moved in here you had a girlfriend but what happened shortly after what changed he recently made an instagram star of his grandfather wearing his high fashion clothes like many successful young people he loves living for the moment and spending his money this spiky little number cost around two thousand dollars foreign [Music] it's easy to live single in tokyo almost anything you desire is there day or night but try buying a home at unreachable prices and take on the burden of a family many it holds as much attraction as a straight jacket now his friends are also trying to find their way marriages used to be arranged now there's few guidelines for dating and people often don't know how to do it well that's why i'm single so i don't know like how to make a partner katsuyuki has just started a relationship that he found through social media would you like to have children one day are you looking you're interested in finding a partner [Music] one day but not yet do you feel lonely sometimes [Music] many people are finding it hard to reconcile their sense of duty with the pressures of modern life the stress becomes overwhelming suicide rates are at disturbing levels there's few places where people can drop their guard [Music] this hidden little cafe has become a refuge for troubled souls its owner toro hashimoto used to work at nintendo now he offers a ready year to listen to their troubles and knows what it's like to feel rejected [Music] there's a stigma attached to mental health issues and many of his customers are lost or uncertain do you think in that case maybe the old expectations have not necessarily caught up with the modern freedom [Music] of [Music] hidden in the bedrooms of homes across japan more than a million people have retreated all together hirahiro shinmasu is one his bedroom has been his universe for the best part of 20 years he's now 40 years old we've been allowed to visit this very private space he lives at home supported by his parents and has spent days mentally preparing for our arrival the problem of shut-ins is so acute in japan that it has a name hikikomori his downward spiral began when he couldn't live up to his families and society's expectations [Music] he felt he'd brought shame on his family he was different in a culture that values conformity what was daily life [Music] he wants to feel accepted are you comfortable with this life america foreign [Music] the call for society to be more inclusive is going out nationwide from a little city called kitakami the alarm about hikikomori she gives advice to those who are suffering from she's been through the ordeal herself it took years for her to accept that her son masato could barely leave his room [Laughter] things improved when she realized it was her problem and she was the one who had to change [Music] is uncomfortable speaking but agreed to explain his experience foreign seiko has been heard in tokyo the government has invited her to help fix the hikikomori problem [Music] but getting these government health officials to understand isn't easy just speaking at the meeting is a little overwhelming government efforts to stem negative social trends have so far been ineffective [Music] for centuries the spirit of harmony bound society together people buried their own needs for the greater good of the family and community that loneliness pervades this populist nation of 125 million traditional family bonds were strained with post-war modernisation as the high-speed economy took off mass housing estates were built for western-style nuclear families and the traditional multi-generational ties were broken now the danchi apartments are home to thousands of lonely disconnected people [Music] more than one-third of japanese homes are single households by the end of the decade tens of millions of people will be living on their own many are left to die alone like the 64 year old man who lived here the police have removed the body but masato yoko has come to clean up the mess he wants the solitary dead to be paid due respect the man who died had been an electrical engineer unable to work after he had an accident [Applause] a um [Music] [Music] three or four of these cleans a week and everyone has an impact foreign the man had been dead for two weeks before his daughter opened the door and made a grisly discovery why do you think so many people so many elderly people are dying [Music] anything the families don't want comes here where it's cleaned and sold it's about all that's left to mark their existence there are no official statistics but masatomi reckons it adds up to around 40 000 people who die alone each year the underlying problem it reveals still [Music] heading to see her family for the first time in more than three years and i've been invited to meet them okinawa is about as far away from tokyo as you can get where the bonds of family are still tight and traditional rules go pretty much unquestioned [Music] the last time the family came together was for grandpa shigeru's 73rd birthday in the center it's a big family big family my sister sister sayaka's sisters are married with children but didn't come tonight her aunties married young and live close by hello [Laughter] how nice is it to see sun what do you think about the dogs [Music] no no no no no she's happily single and not interested in marriage or kids what do you think about that grandpa doesn't mince words and he's in his element with his big family around him foreign hope that one day she'll bring human children back to visit but for now they indulge these kids it's kogamato's birthday [Music] [Laughter] [Music] um [Music] [Music] this spiritual land is facing a social crisis globalization and consumerism have brought prosperity and new freedoms but they weigh heavily on an ancient complex culture that's resisting change the discord leaves many of its people struggling and unable to find a harmonious path in the modern world [Music] you

Channel: ABC News In-depth

Views: 3,328,460

Keywords: Foreign Correspondent, japan documentary, japan culture documentary, Japan society, hikikomori, hikikomori documentary, abc, news, abc news australia, four corners, loneliness in japan, japan, japan birth rate decline, japanese shut in, shut ins in japan, lonely japan, abc news, marriage rates declining, lost in translation, loveless japan, love in japan, marriage in japan, Living Lonely and Loveless in Japan | Foreign Correspondent

Id: SORthIsoLP0

Length: 29min 47sec (1787 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 17 2022