Backyard Coffee and Jazz in Kyoto

There's just something about Japan that makes its simplicity so beautiful. Yes, we all know Japan has dealt with economic problems, lost decades, declining fertility, etc.

But they still manage to keep the beautiful simplicity of life that makes their culture one of the world's richest.

It’s a great place but what’s on the surface is a total illusion to the complexity and rules Japanese people have to deal with to make it seem this way. I’ve always believed that the beauty of Japanese society comes at the cost of the Japanese themselves. They have to sacrifice a lot to make it what it is.

Conformity is huge, there was even a row a few years ago when a school demanded to inspect girls underwear and make sure they're wearing the correct colored panties. Asking children to dye their hair black or straighten it is also not unheard of.

Shukumōkyosei literally means “to shrink and correct hair”. It’s a permanent straightening treatment that removes 70 to 90% of curls, volume, and frizz by chemically restructuring hair bonds.

My theory is, the level of rules, bureaucracy, and society pressure is why innovation and having children is just too hard. It's very hard to find the space live, but the rules based high pressure society is all they know since the end of WW2.

If you're interested, have a read about the Zen period, and the way it sort of liberated society. It's faced challenges since the Kamakura period (it's golden age) but it was a fascinating period of brilliant art, innovation and reform.

I hope what I said doesn't come across as negative either. Like I said, it's a wonderful place and fascinating culture, it truly is, but it's as I said, not free nor is it at all simple.