Japan, unfortunately, went so far into technology that they neglected the trades and other occupations.
Consequently, becoming a carpenter or electrician is basically considered having failed your family. So, many people who are not cut out for tech or business won’t consider anything else and aren’t really equipped to earn an income that would support a family, so many of the males have chosen to withdraw from society and the women aren’t prepared to date unviable men.
Haven't the Japanese learned that a plumber is PROBABLY one of the most IMPORTANT men in the world?!
Gee, I wonder WHY women have snapped up all those jobs from the men? Why aren't there 50% women plumbers, carpenters, ditch diggers, gardeners, mechanics (car or motorcycle), fire fighters, cops-on-the-beat, horse-patrol-cops, petroleum workers/rough necks, miners, RedAdair-type-fire fighters (putting out fires in oil wells), highway patrol officers on motorcycles, etc.?
My gender, female that is, seems to want jobs that are SAFE, CLEAN and CLOSE TO HOME. Hmmmm, am I exaggerating? I don't think so.
Don’t agree 100% here - it’s no different then what we have done stateside. Even now I see a lot of Japanese shows that don’t degrade those positions, but promote them as just as honorable as a salaryman position. No one in the US or Japan without a job is likely to do well with the ladies long term. The tradesmen in Japan do just as well as those in the US.
Still plenty of demand for them as there are stateside, but improvements in tech have been made even in these trades. Stateside for example you don’t see a lot of brazed copper piping in plumbing like you used to - instead it is braided plastic tubing with couplings. This makes the job more efficient and less costly.
By the way more women are making inroads into trades in Japan now - just as they did to a degree in the US. There is bias, but it has happened. The major difference i see is that in Japan women are more likely to be stay at home moms then in the US. A plus in my view.