Japan: Robot Nation

fantastic and interesting- funny that in a world of increasing overpopulation, japan should be in this situation. i bet that within 100 years there's going to be some turf wars for land re-distribution on an epic level.

It's pretty wild how the culture doesn't seem to accept other cultures... A Japanese-born Korean, has to give up her Korean name for a Japanese one to gain citizenship? REALLY???

I think human-like robots are only going to exacerbate the birth rate issue in Japan: more people will substitute interaction with these life-like entities for real human interaction.

I thought Adam looked great in his hosting suit, very cute. But I am pretty much the opposite of a Tokyo girl.

Watching this pod, I couldn't help but think about the wounded pride Japan suffered at the hands of WWII and its aftermath on the psyche of the nation. The tone of problem with the population seems to be different between the voice of the men and the opinions of the women. I think the social aspect of life is deteriorating in the country so much that men of the dominant, older, economically declining generation are losing priority with their relationships, their neighboring countries, their families, and even their parents.

The past has made the repair of self image lead to desire to excel to the point of the #2 economy in the globe, when in fact, I think the idea of social equality of women, family and children in daily life are necessary for the society to survive in the lives of these overworked men....and fast. A changing of the work culture to encourage time out or family or even on-the- job relationship training might be a short term solution.

Adam, I got the sense that in this pod, the ideas of the elderly overwhelm any possibility of alternative to the Japanese society committing "technological seppuku" where we see a destruction of what makes Japan what its people, society and economy unique. Haven't books like Brave New World and movies like Gattaca and The Matrix warned about this sort of thing? They are fiction, but fixing social inadequacy and the need for love with new gadgets, robots and "sex toys" isn't replacement. There is a deeper trauma. I think it lies in the Japan-U.S. relationship. Japan would rather get stepped on by the US military presence than standing up and saying get out with risk of exploitation by a Korean or Chinese force.

In the end, I hope that people are not so desensitized to each other's interests and self reliance of human company and contempt for non-Japanese, that it would make it easy to rebuild a military regime to that of Imperial Japan, with robots at arms by the side of steadfast soldiers. This would be a deep sadness if the only thing left to define what it means to be Japanese would be to die for the country...again.

This was amazing and by far one of my favorite pods because of all of the elements that were tied in explain how we've arrived to this point. It's one thing to understand how our society has been shaped by our past but another to really visualize how our current day society will impact the future.

Couples only have sex 42 times a year? They need to lighten up their workload.

And those human type bots at the end are just FREAKY.

Give me 5hour I get they population up and running. lol!
But if I'm not back with in 5hour &10min call the Waterloo Iowa boyz and give them this code; ( black, panther, big, lip, should’ a pride, with lion, kind.)!

Someone needs to give the women a different perspective on being married and having kids. They think life ends...like it's a dead end...last thing one would want. That might be true for some....it's just sad that people view the way they were brought into existence as boring and pointless.

Yep it's sad when a human is replaced by a robot...are we not good enough? LOL :D

The Host guys all look like they are Final Fantasy Characters. ha.

They have a poor idea of marriage. Because if you marry the right person they will be the stress reliever instead of drinks with a stranger you picked out of a book to talk to.

How would you like to know that your parents only had you because they were paid to? Loving huh?

I want a robot so bad...I think this idea about robots is ingenious. It will help their problem a lot.

I've never wanted to go to Japan more than now.

Great pod.

I'm so angry I missed the live chatroom!

Excellent work! The key, it seems to their society is that inanimate objects (or non-biological) can have a soul. Not to go off of the deep end, but they say objects that are cared for a great deal (such as a teddy bear), can sometimes retain part of one's soul after that person has passed away (leaving sometimes a haunting presense).

So maybe, the same principles and love can apply to a robot, and we can push the current age limit at which a non-biological object can be loved. Thanks for this excellent piece of work, and keep them coming!

Wow, that is amazing and scary all at the same time. technology...

This is a great video. I really gives a good inside look into Japanese lifestyle.

While Japan is far ahead of the world in Robotic technology, I don't know what this video has to do with robotics. But it's still a good video.

This is excellent, I really enjoyed it. It was informative and creative.
Even though it is good that technology is advancing to make this possible I still feel and think it is sad because to me human contact interaction is important, the fact that their population is decreasing so much that it is pushing them to new heights is in part sad. It shows a debilitating weakness in their society.

revealing video. with all my respect and praise to Japan's culture and science, the extent of conservatism and racism (?) is shocking.

After living in Japan I do not think they are racist at all. They are nationalists. I see nothing wrong with a country that has strong regulations on their border, language, and culture. I wish the USA would do the same. When I was there and talked to many ex-pats from the USA and they would constantly complain about how bad things were for them, but none of them tried to assimilate and "become Japanese". I however strongly believe in assimilating the culture you are living in and I was widely accepted by many people. I applaud them for upholding their borders, language and culture.

Very interesting! I had no idea about the immigration troubles or the declining population, thanks for this!

Look out, anime fans - Chobits is coming to reality. o_o

@kidsire- It’s not surprising to find that a almost completely homogeneous nation doesn’t accept other cultures. Go to any ethnically non-diverse town or area in America and you will find the same sentiment. Things that people are not familiar with, whether it be cultures, people, food, music, theory, or ideas will find resistance. People are hesistant to accept that which they don’t understand. This applies to all humans.

@Sam_the_Wizer- I agree with you, but at least it addresses one problem, lack of workforce.

@3rdarm & Adam- I agree, quite handsome.

@HaloedGriot- I agree with the fact that if women had more equality, men would be less overworked and hey maybe they would have time to procreate. Crazy idea I know. One thing I am aware of is that Japan does not generally embrace individuality in the same way the West does/can. Additionally psychological treatment/opening up to another being in a medical setting is generally not considered a solution. When these ideals are combined in the Japanese culture, gadgets, robots, and sex toys seem like a great idea. And why wouldn’t they be, the novelty, the power of preference and reliable performance make a technological acceptance pretty easy. I think the Japan-US relationship noted is less realistic. I won’t go into this, since I rather site a well versed paper or textbook than express incorrect history. I just want to say that you like most of the comments seem to have no understanding of how Japanese culture works, or how they value things. Anyway…

@J_Jammer- The reality of the situation is women in Japan don’t have equality. Maybe if they did, they wouldn’t have to view marriage as what it is. How can you get excited about being discriminated for the rest of your life. Let’s be real here. How can you have a good idea of marriage when marriage is usually not based on love or romance or whatever. It’s more for practicality. It’s hard to break such an ideal when women have historically been viewed in a closer likeness to servants than partners. And if that is an acceptable ideology how easy do you think it would be to “find the right person”?

@princesslammy1977- It’s not about being good enough. It’s about technological curiosity mixed with potential work force problems  possible solution.

@AmapolaMoreno- I completely disagree with you. Being a half Japanese, atheist, female, (yay I’m a statistic!)… I just wow… stop putting people in a box. 1) Being an atheist by definition has nothing to do with your women/men evolved differently crap. Atheism=without theism= without belief in deities. Nothing more nothing less. When you attach all that other crap to it you are just spouting your own ideas, please do not tag them with such identifying tags like “atheist.” You probably are misrepresenting your own category. Yes, women have a biology that produces hormones and chemicals to reproduce and be “maternal” this is biology and well documented science. This does not mean that all women do this nor does it mean that men are incapable of being maternal. Also this has nothing to do with atheism. Also any change of social inequality must occur from within the place when the conflict exists or no gain will occur. Just like segregation in the US or women stuck in conservative Muslim cultures, if others try to force a new standard it will just lead to backlash.

@gweller- Nationalist/racist call it what you will people are resistant to that which they don’t understand. It’s as simple as that. Lack of exposure and knowledge lead to prejudice. You can’t say that the prejudice against the Japanese born Korean lady is a result of Nationalism.

Ok, at least I addressed some things I was thinking while reading. Thanks, Adam! That was a very informative and well done pod!

carligula said:
"Why dont you have a giant kid come out of your vagina. I think mens views of women have to change. This is no longer 1950s America."

If you think they have to change (which they should), maybe you should start first. With sexist responses like that you are contradicting your own point.

carligula said:
"Why dont you have a giant kid come out of your vagina. I think mens views of women have to change. This is no longer 1950s America."

First of all babies are 6-7 lbs, which is not "giant". If you are having children larger than this it is because you are too fat and/or eating too much while pregnant. Second, anyone can have an epidural these days which reduces the pain to about nothing. Every woman I know that has had one says they only feel pressure and not pain. You are right, this is no longer the 1950s and women don't have to have painful childbirths anymore unless they want to.

At any rate the women in Japan aren't having babies because of painful chidbirths, it is because they don't want to stay home, take care of children, and have a complex that they aren't as good as the men. They would rather go shopping and get drunk after work.

Ashibata: "@gweller- Nationalist/racist call it what you will people are resistant to that which they don’t understand. It’s as simple as that. Lack of exposure and knowledge lead to prejudice. You can’t say that the prejudice against the Japanese born Korean lady is a result of Nationalism."

Exactly what facts do you know about the law which requires them to change their last name to be a citizen which clearly shows that it is prejudism? If you are judging without facts, that is the exact definition of prejudice.