> In many countries it's not considered shameful to live with your parents while you're single.

I can completely understand that you want to live with your parents when you are studing (or a young working adult). But 28years+ is becoming a bit ridiculous. Maybe it is because a lot of people are not getting married anymore. But the point is that many people (and some of my friends) can not afford a really expensive apartment. Tokyo is expensive to live in.

Anyways, the point I wanted to make is the Article's comment about the clothes young people wear - it is quite deceptive to use such a metric.

> * "Japanese health care is a joke" compared to what? Look at life expectancy numbers, doctors per capita, etc.

Life expectancy is higher in Japan partly because of diet (there are not that many overweight people - that is almost the norm in USA and Aus. Even trying to get overweight with the FAtkins diet followed in USA and Australia would be prohibitively expensive in Japan).

The USA's life expectancy is also lower due yo violent crime, excessive deaths due yo traffic accidents, AIDS and other lfestyle diseases).

Yet life expectancy is not the only measure of health care. There are other factors such as quality of life. The simple fact is that dental care in Japan is far behind the west (and I am not talking about the poorest of the poor without proper dental care, but fairly rich upperclass people).

> ATMs are open 24/7 in convenience stores.

That is true, I grant you that. 7-11 ATMs are open, but you will not find your banks ATM open after 19h00 (e.g. JP postbank).

PS: The goal of my post is not for Japan bashing but trying to give an unromanticized balanced view. There are many things wrong with the Japan, just as there are many things wrong with the west.

> Anyways, the point I wanted to make is the Article's comment about the clothes young people wear - it is quite deceptive to use such a metric.

I agree with that.

Also with unemployment: in Japan, unemployment benefits and welfare in general isn't as nearly as extensive as in the US (let alone Western Europe), women drop out of the workforce earlier, etc, so it's not appropriate to compare the unemployment rate in isolation.

> PS: The goal of my post is not for Japan bashing but trying to give an unromanticized balanced view

Well, you have to admit that "Japanese health care is a joke" does sound like bashing. ;-)

I'm with on most of that, but what do you mean by "FAtkins" diet?

Severe carbohydrate restriction may be to difficult for most people to stick with, and therefore not optimal for keeping the weight off. But there is is irrefutable evidence that carbohydrate restriction will result in weight loss.

I was refering to a diet full of delicious red meat, bacon and carbohydrates. The diet is popular in many countries and I love it too.

But it is a simple fact that such a diet is impossible in Japan. The price of meat, especially red meat is extremely high.

PS: I agree with you that a carbon restricted diet has obvious healt benefits. My point was that following an unhealthy red meat diet in Japan is impossible due to price.

  * Internet banking has been around for years. ATMs are open 24/7 in convenience stores.

Except on public holidays when said ATMs magically cannot process credit card transactions. Japanese banks are most certainly a joke. I know of one large Japanese bank that completed all transactions on paper (they would process it electronically then print it out and hand verify the details) until a few years ago. Think of a vast network of vacuum tubes launching paper around a building storing billions of records. That was their head office.

This was the case until the mid- 2000s (to the point where if you didn't take money out before New Years, you might find yourself penniless for a few days).

Over the last few years 24/7, 365 days/yr ATMs are have become much more common. As have ATMs that accept foreign banking cards. As has a more generalized acceptance of CCs.

It happened to me last year during Golden Week so not that much has changed. I should have known better because I'd seen ATMs turned off during public holidays before. I even had large hotels refuse to accept credit cards but eventually I found accommodation and a restaurant that accepted Visa.

Ironically it happened to me today (which is a holiday in Japan). The ATM at one of the convenience stores wouldn't connect to my bank after 5pm. Luckily the ATM at the convenience store right beside it was working...

ATMs in banks and train stations, sure, but not the ones in 7-11s. (You'll notice nandemo said "in convenience stores").