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> They know they will become the "sick man of Asia", isolated and weak, if they keep the current trajectory -- a massive reversal from just 50 years ago.

Better to have a culture worthy of defense than to defend a cultural wasteland.

Population growth figures aren’t a good indicator of societal healthiness. We can’t afford to mistake wealth for safety.

If Japan is the “sick man of Asia”, the whole world is sick.

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What does cultural preservation have to do with any of this...?

Japan is the world’s most advanced major society by a number of metrics: public safety, technological and educational achievements, natural and architectural beauty, a perfectly preserved and closely associated cultural tradition. I can’t do it justice — truly, I can’t speak highly enough of Japan.

What do you suggest Japan does to “reverse course” if not sacrifice the very things which create its remarkable culture?

Perhaps it’s the rest of the world’s cancerous, unsustainable focus on growth which is the problem here, not countries like Japan which don’t overvalue economic might at the cost of social cohesion.

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