Grass Fed 2: Herbivore Men and Japan's Troubling Economy

Grass Fed: Herbivore Men and Japan’s Troubling Economy
writer: Kyojiro Kagenuma,
editor: BeijaFlor

Thank you all for reading and for the positive responses I've received for my first article. I am elated that I could share my thoughts and hope that it provides insight for the growth of MGTOW in the west. A special thank you to BeijaFlor for the awesome editing he did for this article.

In this article, I want to share the significant impact of the Herbivore Culture on Japan’s economy. A bunch of links are provided in (parentheses).

“Won’t Someone Think of the Children?”

In retrospect, it’s quite amazing how the Herbivore Culture could slip through societal awareness for so long without attracting attention. The first indicator were the Parasite Singles phenomenon back in 2000 but it was largely ignored, then the rise of the Otaku Culture between 2001 and 2007 (Azuma, H 2009) and Japan's high suicide rates; these were all indicator of a larger problem that society did not see.

The reason why the last 5 years there has been significant interest in Herbivore Men is the primary concern of Japan’s Birth Rate Crisis. Japan could not ignore this. To give you an idea, a local school in Nanmoku, 85 miles from Tokyo, had 1,250 first graders 50 years ago. In 2012, it had only 37.

Where are the children? There are no children.

2010 began what has become the dramatic effect of the Herbivore culture which saw the population shrinking with negative percentages in annual population growth. With the birth rate of 1.39, Japan will see a future with more elderly unable to retire, a national debt of 1.1 trillion dollars that they cannot hope to pay without a much needed labor force, and the government not able to support Japan’s social welfare.

As more and more Herbivore men “Go Galt” and simply refuse to marry and father children, what many observers predict is a financial catastrophe of a colossal scale. Japan is of course worried, and people inside and outside of government are proposing plans to encourage more men and women to marry and have children. One example is from Morinaga Tokuro, an economic analyst who in 2012 proposed an absurd Handsome Tax saying “If we impose a handsome tax on men who look good to correct the injustice only slightly, then it will become easier for ugly men to find love, and the number of people getting married will increase.” Under this proposal, the wealthy and handsome Herbivore Man will be taxed 80%. (Beth, 2011 Handsome Tax)

He was not joking; the Japanese are just that quirky.

Death and Taxes

I doubt very much any further tax imposed on the Herbivore men would have any effect. A married salaryman with an annual base salary of 10 million Yen (approximately US$100,000) would receive and allowance of 30,000 to 40,000 Yen or $300 - 400 monthly from his wife. The average Herbivore man can earn 6 million Yen annually; after income tax, this would yield 3.6 million Yen or $36,000 net, which amounts to 300,000 Yen or $3000 monthly. Deduct monthly cost of living at the outskirts of Tokyo, which is 120,000 Yen, the Herbivore Man will still have a disposable income of 180,000 Yen, or $1800 - about 5 times more disposable income than if he was married. (Note: These figures are approximate. Since May 2013 the exchange rate has fluctuated around US$1 = 100 Yen.)

If we consider the Handsome Tax of a Herbivore man who is earning 10 million annually and is taxed 80%, with other factors constant, his monthly disposable income would be 46,000 Yen or $451; still higher than the allowance a married salaryman would be likely to get from his wife. I must clarify that the Japanese Government gives many incentives to married couples with children and I gave an overly simplified example. However, it is worthwhile to see that even with taxes imposed on wealthy and handsome Herbivore men, it will likely not have any impact considering the heavy cost of having children that includes food, day care, school tuition, housing, car and insurance.

Add to this, the rising trend of suicide in men and work-related deaths due to depression, job loss and fatigue. In 2009, 32,845 Japanese killed themselves, 70% of them male (Brown, AM 2010). Japan has an average suicide rate of 30,0000 people annually for 14 years straight until 2012 with an average of 10,000 deaths due to overwork (Demetriou, D 2009) The National Police Agency attributed 1 in 4 suicides as financially motivated where borrowers of financial loan kill themselves so that their loan can be paid off with their life insurance. Japan’s suicide rate remains one of the highest in the world according to the World Health Organization.

Men would rather die than make their friends and families financial slaves. Herbivore men would rather live alone than be enslaved in this fashion.

The Downward Spiral
Understandably, Morinaga Tokuro’s proposal seemed desperate. Well, Japan is beginning to feel desperate. I read an article in the New York Times (Harney, A 2012) where the writer, Alexandra Harney proposed,

a) subsidizing public day care in an attempt to make child care more affordable
b) employ younger, more skilled labor and discourage overtime in favor of family time
c) employ more women, and give incentives for women to return to work after childbirth

Wow, talk about the fastest way to ruin a country. Her suggestion is echoed by many writers of her ilk in the western world. Instead of arguing her suggestion, I would like to point out that this writer absolutely did not address the actual problem i.e. young men and women are not having babies, there are no new families because they don’t want to make a family and, this is the most important part, Japanese women don’t want to work.

In a 2011 article in Time Magazine, writer Sylvia Ann Hewlett wrote that data from the Center of Work-Life Policy showed that Japanese women with college degrees are 74% more likely to voluntarily quit their job, and that 63% of those who quit cite that “their career was not satisfying enough.” (Hewlett SA 2011) A government survey by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry in 2013 showed that 1 in 3 of women wants to settle down and just remain a housewife (JapanToday 2011).

Both Hewlett and Harney argued that Japanese women are being sidelined because of societal pressure to be stay-at-home mothers, stated that day care is expensive, and advocated flexible work hours – all to accommodate women, wilfully ignoring that the many of young Japanese women do not want children and simply do not wish to work.

If the Japanese government continues to push pro-women policies in the workforce while disregarding the birth rate crisis and Japan’s aging and shrinking tax base, Japan would likely plunge further into debt, the cost of living would rise and people would have to work longer hours to try to earn more, resulting an increase in fatigue, stress, mental problems and work-related deaths and suicides.

Only this time, it’s the women in the workforce who are going to kill themselves, or at least kill each other.  I’m not saying that’s a good thing though.

Made In Japan
How would this affect Herbivore Men? Nothing that wouldn’t affect everyone else twofold.

Herbivore men are generally cautious and wary of their future and the economy, looking toward preservation and sustainability rather than consumption and conquest. Necessity is the mother of invention and in Japan’s worsening economy, the preservation and sustainability of Herbivore Men, which is in direct contrast to the Japanese women’s indulgence and decadence provide that necessity in which ingenuity and innovation to thrive.

So far, the pro-women policies spouted by Shinzo Abe do not seem to adversely affect Herbivore lifestyle. In fact, though Japan's marketplace has traditionally catered to women, the Herbivore men are becoming a growing consumer market in Japan with many products that are specifically designed for them. If this trend continues, then we should see a shift in purchasing power from women to men.

Bear with me on this; what this would do is create new products and services that are uniquely male-oriented, just as video games had been uniquely male for the best part of 30 years. We can see today how video games have grown from a geek culture to global culture, all thanks to Pong, Pac Man and everyone with a penis.

In fact, this shouldn't be surprising as Japanese men have demonstrated that they are able and proud to produce great things. Japan has the longest suspension bridge since 1998, the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge that spans 6,532 feet. The Japanese Bullet Train remains the most efficient train in the world, having an average delay of only 36 seconds. These things were not made or built by women, they were made by men.

Sony, JVC, Casio, Toyota, Honda, Canon, Ricoh, Nintendo, Olympus, Panasonic, Seiko; the list just goes on and on of the many things Japanese made which are held with great esteem once or still. It was the Japanese automotive, electric and electronic products that made them rise from a nuclear testing ground to the third largest economy in the world paved by men’s ingenuity and innovation.

What Shinzo Abe, and other vagina worshippers like him fail to see, is that the solution does not lie with pandering to women but instead the government and the economy needs to encourage men. What the Japanese have forgotten is that at the end of the Second World War right up to Japan’s economic boom in the 1980’s, what made Japan so prosperous and advance is their inclination towards ingenuity and innovation carried out by the men of Japan.

Back then, when you had something that said “Made in Japan”, you knew it was the best. There’s no reason to think that the men of Japan can’t find the same ingenuity and innovation to bring Japan out of its economic abyss.

Links, Citations,
Azuma, H 2009 Otaku Minneapolis University of Minnesota Press.

Further Readings
Japan's Sexual Apathy is Endangering the Global Economy
Japan's Young Men Seek New Path
Cost of Living in Tokyo
Why Salarymen Get an Allowance From Their Wives

Thanks for breaking this and your other post down.
I was curious about this movement, other than snippets on youtube and hit pieces I ran across about guys buying beauty products and sweets.
I was great reading a concise explanation and having it all laid out.

Wow. Great write up. The cycle continues. Japanese men are going Galt and making the entire society feel pressure.

And when the proof is laid bare for all to see, simplistic and elementary as it may be, the academic elite and government experts only provide solutions to make the problem worse.

There are a lot of parallels just with that and the U.S. One such example is the veteran's suicide rate in the US. It does not gain a lot of attention because no one wants to think about it.

The men in Japan are not contributing to the growth of their society because their is no incentive for them to do so. And what do the experts want to correct the problem?

Less incentives. Heck, I even read in an article they were considering taxing that little masturbation device the "Tenga" so men would feel more inclined to chase women.

With that kind of wisdom from the Japanese Government it isn't looking hopeful.

The US is going to be right behind Japan. Government overreach is strangling economic growth, hence jobs and careers are getting harder and harder to get. Our women are only becoming more undesirable. Family courts and divorce destroy what rationale one could have for starting a family.

I predict growth in this movement. I really do. MGTOW will grow. Because the more our governments and the social engineering dunce squad try to fix things the worse the problem will become.

And another thing. Many of these empowered careers wimminz are going to want the option to drop out of the work force in the U.S. just as in Japan because they will succumb to Baby Rabies. But by that time how old will they be? They wouldn't and don't have the first clue about how to be a wife, mother, or even being trustworthy. And men know that.

You hit it right on the head. There is no incentive.

Not in Japan. Not in the U.S.. And on a societal level nobody wants to admit the problem as the ship continues to list and take on water. At this point the bow of the ship is about to go under and the crew and passengers are sleeping off the drunken bender they were on the night before.

I've already got my lifeboat picked out. And it ain't gonna be no "Women and Children" first as I lower it into the water by myself.

I think the notion of working your arse off earning $8-9k/month and only being allotted $400 per month to spend would make a lot of people think twice.

That is like a 95% tax on having a wife and kids.

Norseman wrote:Thanks for breaking this and your other post down....

You're welcome :)it's really my pleasure. I'm just glad I could be of some use.

mr.anonymous wrote:

The men in Japan are not contributing to the growth of their society because their is no incentive for them to do so....

Thank you for reading!

Yes, you nailed it right there. In all Asian culture (I guess in all cultures), men want and are willing to contribute to society in return for the promise of a family which is was the building block of that society but the modern world is no place to have one as traditional values continue to lose the battle for the post-modern world.

China, one of the bulwarks of Asian Traditionalism, is currently under threat of collapsing as more and more Chinese men find themselves not able to pursue a traditional family life. It hasn't happen en masse but by 2020, there will 30 million single Chinese men. It's good to look at China right now because the same social problems that affected Japan between 1990 and 2010 can be seen happening to them.

But I don't see this in a negative way. I know by looking at history - the European Dark Ages and The Renaissance era for example - that men always triumph through adversity. Although I'm definitely building my own boat too

Grenade001 wrote:
That is like a 95% tax on having a wife and kids.

I know right?