Satoshi Tagomori, 28, who works for a pharmaceutical company in Kyushu, southwestern Japan, had his books scanned to make room for his newborn child, cutting the space occupied by books in his 50-square meter apartment by about 75 percent.
“There was just no more room for books when my son was born,” Satoshi said in a phone interview. “Plus, I was worried about the shelves falling over.”
It's almost like a newborn was measured against available shelf space to see if they should be having a child. Imagine when that damn thing poops!
That is why "geeks" should not be allowed to talk to the media
Deviating off the article, but just thought it was a cool article about how "mobile devices" are changing lives. In your pocket you can keep an entire library and more
.
Part of the problem people of British extraction (Americans and Canadians) have is they think they need too much space.
I am an abnormality where I am. Most Americans and Canadians have huge houses, 200-400 sq meters.
Even filipinos who have the same economic status as these expats do not construct houses this huge, or if they do, 10-20 people live in them.
My house is small, 95 sq meters. Basically it consists of 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and a large common area. It also cost 1/8 the price of a 400 sq meter house. A second story on a house increase construction costs a lot. I designed the house myself. Ironically when most expats visit my house, they say something like I wish I would have built a small house like you.
2 factors caused by needing large amounts of living space.
1) Cities are more sprawled out. As a result it is not possible to have mass transit systems. Increased travel time to work, causes more job dissatisfaction. Ideal travel time to work should be 1/2 an hour.
2) Too much junk in people's houses. The media causes people to buy shit they do not need. Increased amounts of "junk" in the house, causes mental stress. People end up getting in debt, they then have to work harder for shit they do not need.
Generally speaking when it comes to job satisfaction and "happiness" Japanese and Europeans are happier. This is reflected in longer life spans etc. A lot of the obesity in Canada,USA and Britain is caused by people being "unhappy".
Even the wording of the title of the article "IPad Makes Space in Japan's Tiny Homes by Removing Bookshelves", makes it appear as if Japanese are "sacrificing". Giving up something, if it makes you happy is not a sacrifice. Also since you are not slaving away for junk you do not need ......
Another myth is that American workers are "lazy". This is the biggest load of BS ever. Work per hour, Americans come out on top. In Asia, theoretically they work longer hours (as in they are on the job site longer). But how much of that time do they actually spend working ? You go by a police station. Out back is a 2 burner stove. One cop is cooking up all sorts of goodies for his work mates. Meanwhile the other cop is out at the market buying goodies to cook up. From this there is a 2 fold advantage. Since they cook with "raw" products it is healthier. Also they are happier.
A lot of large companies have "outtings". Where for 2-3 days they will book an entire resort, and the employees just eat etc. Ofcourse this is all racked up as "company hours".
Don't believe me. Go search on google for ,chinese holiday affects production, it is the spring festival. It is affecting everything from production of flash drives, to the cost of pig iron. In the Philippines our counter part is Christmas, the entire country shuts down from Dec 15 to Jan 3. And Holy Week (easter). Trying to get people to work during those times is hopeless. Visiting family is very important during those times. If you push the issue, the employee will just quit.
