Beaten up by Confucius
Another wake up call from the world of sumo for anyone feeling nostalgic for the good old days of samurai when the Japanese respected their elders:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/japan/story/0,,2177780,00.html
I guess the fact that the wrestler tried to run away gives us some hope that the younger generation is not going to put up with this kind of bullying anymore. Unfortunately, their chief escape seems to be one into unreality and infantilism.
I know at least five Japanese women in their thirties who have had enough of the bullying and bitching at work and quit. Unfortunately, rather than quit to set up their own business, they have quit to move back in with their parents, spend more time on their flamenco dancing etc. etc. Not that this is unheard of in the UK and the rest of Europe, of course, but then again that is another region in terminal decline…
My last little anecdote to show why “the new generation that is changing Japan” stories faded away as quickly as they came. While doing IELTS practice speaking tests with one class of 21 students, mainly 18 to 21 year olds who are planning to study abroad next year, 4 of them told me of their plans to become a “dolphin trainer”. Either by some fluke I had Japan’s entire year’s supply of dolphin trainers in one IELTS class, or this country’s decline is due to continue for quite some time…