(I’ll resume my regular schedule once I return to Japan and recalibrate next week. Until then, everybody take care. – 2DT)
“This is the way the world ends: Not with a bang but a whimper.”
-T.S. Eliot, The Hollow Men
“Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou is about a fucking robot in post-apocalypse”
-21stcenturydigitalboy, this post
A map of Japan in the last age of mankind.
A recent post (from the one and only Jan Suzukawa) came at a very good time. In brief, a Hetalia Axis Powers comic poking fun at the 1854 opening of Japan got her thinking about modern Japanese society. The forecast is grim: From women’s rights to immigration, it seems that Japanese society just isn’t willing to abandon its status quo, even as its economy and national confidence drowns in a puddle. Of course, we foreigners aren’t the only ones worrying about it.
Exhibit A: Robot Nation
The above video is rather long. Fortunately, it summarizes its salient points in the first two minutes. If you have some time, this documentary is worth watching in its entirety, because is raises a very troubling question: Would Japan really rather dwindle into quiet obsolescence, a nation of old people and android caretakers? While it isn’t a matter of desire, exactly, the Japanese certainly seem to be preparing for the inevitable.
Exhibit B: Life After People
This is just a snippet of a miniseries that was popular around the same time that An Inconvenient Truth was getting screened. Looking at it now, the presentation is amusingly American, but it’s still interesting. As the anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss once put it, the world began without man, and it will end without him. And if we take this video at face value, the world will move on to become a new and even more wondrous place.
No one in this picture is human.
Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou is an unusual take on the end of the world as we know it. There is no wanton violence, no disorder on a massive scale. Mad Max isn’t killing people over a tank of petrol. The world is simply changing. We get to witness Alpha’s daily life as individual humans come and go from her café, and on the grand scale Homo sapiens dies out, virtually unnoticed. It’s a resigned, graceful end. It’s also very Japanese.
There’s something refreshingly authentic about the concept, though. Extinctions happen on a geological scale: There are species alive today that have existed unchanged for over 400 million years (horseshoe crabs, for the record). The extinction of the dinosaurs likely took longer than the entire history of the Roman Empire, including the Byzantines.
I think we like to believe in our own cleverness. Surely we, mankind, the smartest species on this planet, could wipe ourselves out with our terrible weapons in a matter of days. But the truth is that we probably won’t. Our end will be long and gradual, like other dominant species before us. And if Japan has its way, our robot companions may very well be able to watch us go.
November 19, 2009 at 5:17 am
Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou is what happens after the end of Earth Maiden Arjuna.
“We live like penguins in the desert, why can’t we live like tribes?” Dredg, ‘Triangle’
“I can’t imagine why you wouldn’t welcome any change my friend… don’t wanna see it come down… wash it down, chug it down, wash it down” – Tool ‘Aenima’
“We are taught to think of our success in terms of numbers
If touching one persons life is a good thing,
then touching one thousands people lives must be a great thing,
It’s easy to see where we learned to think this way
Our whole society revolves around mass production
The more units we can move
The more customers we can serve
The more boats we can get
The more money and the more stuff we have, the better, right?
Maybe it’s not possible to touch one thousand peoples thinking,
or as powerfully as one person.
Maybe it’s not really so revolutionary after all,
to have one person out of a group of twenty, tell everybody else what’s right.
Wouldn’t it be better if we tried a decentralized approach
where everyone works closely with those around them,
instead of a few people waiting in anonymous mass?
Do you have to save the world all by yourself,
why don’t you trust someone else to do it with you?”
- the Sound of Animals Fighting, ‘The Ocean and the Sun’
I have always felt that if the world were to end, then mankind would return to their old ways, in the times of tribes. We’d regain our instincts, regain our tribal bearings, and no try to rebuild the world that led us to our destruction. Maybe I’m just way too hopeful, and maybe I could make this happen if I controlled who survived, but unfortunately we won’t know anything till it happens.
I will say, though, that the only idyllic future I consider forseeable is that after an ‘apocalypse’. Part of the reason that I can’t bring myself to get involved in politics or revolution is just that if I really had m way, I’d wipe out 90% of the human race and teach the rest to live like tribes.
November 25, 2009 at 11:29 am
Sadly, most tribes aren’t so much better. On the whole, people follow the same old rules that all animals follow: Eat until there’s no more, and breed until there’s no more room. Civilization just happens to give us an extension.
Earth Maiden Arjuna is one of those series that I’ve always been curious about, but never sat down and watched. If you think it’s any good, I’ll give it a shot.
November 19, 2009 at 6:16 am
Ugh, can’t view vids from the office. Will read again later.
November 25, 2009 at 11:30 am
Please do. I’d also like to know your thoughts on the matter.
November 19, 2009 at 8:57 am
When I took an Asians studies course, the issue of an aging demographic came up. The lecturer had an interesting point in addition to that provided in the video about Japanese age and population trends. He talked about Japan’s healthcare as well its contribution to this effect. Currently, Japan has one of the cheapest and most readily accessible healthcare system in the world, and that has led to a longer life expectancy. At the same time, that has led to lower birth rates (although lower infant mortality as well), simply because contraception, sex education, and a more informed culture about having children. Perhaps this is yet another view into how a high functioning society can actually lead to its own end. It does seem though that people are cool with that.
To be fair though, the trend has reversed a bit in recent years. The video is good, but I’m not sure if it sensationalizes the topic a bit too much. Either way, as you mentioned, the process will be very gradual. I don’t think we’ll be seeing such a post-apocalyptic world anytime soon.
November 20, 2009 at 1:19 pm
I have to agree with Yi on the bit about sensationalism, probably because I try not to buy into these stories and be completely fatalistic about these subjects. I guess I’m naive that way.
“I, for one, welcome our new
insectrobot overlords.”-Kent Brockman, The Simpsons
Everyone else was leaving a quote. I wanted to be cool.
November 25, 2009 at 11:41 am
Well, for all we know, YKK only applies to Japan. Everyone else is living like kings on Aqua and snorting cocaine from the bellybuttons of undines.
You’re plenty cool already. A quotation just adds a little intellectual spice.
November 26, 2009 at 10:51 am
“Everyone else is living like kings on Aqua and snorting cocaine from the bellybuttons of undines.”
I laughed way harder than I should have. How could you sully the good name of Aria like that? That’s just …wrong.
November 25, 2009 at 11:35 am
Thanks for the insight. Truthfully, I think that once they get the kinks worked out on a societal level (immigration and welfare), Japan will be just fine even without robot slaves. Whether or not they’ll still make them anyway because androids are neato… Well.
Rather than a prediction of the future as such, I’d say YKK taps into very contemporary anxieties. Thanks for reading.
November 19, 2009 at 12:40 pm
This is quite a refreshing story, compared to what most people think will happen in the near future, apocalypse-wise. They’ve thought of how grand God wants to end our lives, or how the Universe will scientifically kill us in the grandest celestial way possible, but this is something that is so calm, so self-destructive, and so sad, in a way that the term “survival of the fittest” would be used against the ones who hatched the term, with Mother Nature quietly and intently watching in the background. Ironic, yes, but beautiful.
November 25, 2009 at 11:43 am
The odd thing to me is that “survival of the fittest” doesn’t even apply in the bloody, violent way that we usually expect. Humans seem to still be living fine lives. There are just less and less of them with each passing generation.
I’m glad you like it. Thanks for reading.
November 19, 2009 at 4:44 pm
Very interesting and speculative. Although I’m not usually a pessimist, when it comes to this subject, I really don’t have much faith in the future of mankind (one of the reasons I don’t want to have children). I think human overpopulation is a big contributor (think of all of the planet’s limited resources a single human being will use throughout their life, as opposed to any other species). So I actually think Japan’s low birthrate is a good thing, though maybe they’re overdoing it a little if their language/culture does eventually disappear.
And I like the quotes by digital boy. I shall add one too:
“From the dust of the earth, from the common elementary fund, the Creator has made Homo sapiens. From the same material he has made every creature, however noxious and insignificant to us….This star, our own good earth, made many a successful journey around the heavens ere man was made, and whole kingdoms of creatures enjoyed existence and returned to dust ere man appeared to claim them. After human beings have also played their part in Creation’s plan, they too may disappear without any general burning or extraordinary commotion whatever.”
- John Muir
November 25, 2009 at 11:52 am
You think so? I kind of want Japan to make more babies. All these closed schools and abandoned apartment complexes are depressing.
Then again, if you take a walk through Shibuya or its equivalent elsewhere in Japan, you’ll wonder why anyone would ever think there’s a population problem. It’s incredible.
November 19, 2009 at 6:21 pm
I suppose I have a different view on the possible extinction of our race than others. The idea that the Japanese are willing to age into oblivion is just as similar as 70 years ago when many (not all, but they didn’t really have a say in it) Japanese were willing to die upon principle for the Emperor. I think its all just stubbornness.
Now as to the peaceful end to the world as opposed to dinosaurs or other creatures, humans are well-known for our killing capabilities. If I remember correctly, us homo-sapiens slaughtered all the Cromagnons into extinction. Plus we pay our governments to develop new weapons of mass destruction in bio-weapons, chemical weapons, the continued refinement of nuclear weapons. Unless by some terribly unforeseen accident like a zombie apocalypse, I don’t see us disappearing any time soon. I won’t speak for the Japanese, but humans in general are fighters and I at least hope we would rather fight to survive rather than be put to sleep by our new robot overlords.
November 25, 2009 at 11:57 am
I think you may be thinking of the Neanderthals. We are Homo sapiens cro magnon, or at least a functionally identical relative.
I definitely agree about the stubbornness, though. I’m convinced that a few of my kids are half-filipino, but I know they would never tell me in a million years, because we all have to labor under the assumption that Japan is ethnically homogeneous. It’s rather silly.
November 19, 2009 at 8:04 pm
I do feel like if mankind was coming to an end, it would be a combination of both apocalyptic proportions and a gradual calm twilight of the human race. Of course the latter feels like the better option, and if it’s a reality like as shown by YKK, I wouldn’t mind that either. But again, hopefully it’s a couple of million more years before that happens as well.
November 25, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Right after I posted this, I went to see “2012.” You can imagine how amused I was during the single scene in Japan: It’s night, there’s mystical Asian flute music playing in the background, a chiseled white man steps out of bed with his wife sleeping in fresh salon hair and full makeup… and then an earthquake hits and that’s it for Nihon. Really.
November 19, 2009 at 8:14 pm
Thanks for the link. It’s good to be a one and only.
Watched both videos. The first one just floored me. A few years ago, seiyuu Romi Paku was supposed to be a guest of honor at Anime Expo in L.A., but she couldn’t leave Japan because as a person of Korean descent (though she’d been born and raised in Japan), there was some potential snafu with Japanese immigration and reportedly she was actually afraid she wouldn’t be able to re-enter Japan if she left.
Also, what struck me in the first video was how we’re shown how the Japanese treat the Japanese-Brazilians who settle in Japan; and then the very next segment shows the Japanese busily designing robots to take care of the elderly, do minimum-wage jobs like receptionist work, etc. – in other words – work that these same immigrants could be doing. The unfortunate conclusion one has to draw is that the Japanese are so terrified of outsiders immigrating to Japan that they’re willing to build robots to try and fill the upcoming gap in labor, rather than use actual human beings – if said human beings aren’t Japanese.
I don’t want to see the Japanese die out – but their blindness to some things just astounds me.
November 25, 2009 at 12:07 pm
Is that what happened with Romi Paku? That’s a shame. I don’t know much about Fullmetal Alchemist, but I’m fascinated by high-profile Zainichi Koreans.
It really is baffling. Japan is so diverse already, and has the potential to be so much more if their official culture wasn’t so hard-set against it.
November 19, 2009 at 10:15 pm
Just watched the Robot Nation video. It was extremely fascinating; I didn’t know the extent of Japan’s xenophobia and discrimination against foreigners. Nor did I know how serious they were with making such human-like robots.
I agree with Jan – they should spend less time with robots and more time with treating their foreigners and immigrants better. But like most things in the world, Japan too has its good points and its bad points.
December 18, 2009 at 4:02 pm
[...] Sadly, someone beat me to the Eliot reference here. Fortunately, it was 2DT in this swell post. [...]
December 30, 2009 at 11:03 pm
[...] days of humanity, even as it’s in the last phase of reclaiming itself from them. As 2DT mentions [here], it seems very Japanese to quietly accept the end of the world like this; after all, we don’t [...]