Japan the Math Part 2 - Womenomics

In my last post on Japan demographics I mentioned Japan's relatively low female labor force participation rate.

Fortunately there are people out there who know a lot more about this then I do. Here's Kathy Matsui doing the math and educatin foos.



Hat tip to Japan Subculture blog

Meiji Shrine at New Years

So in Japan New Years is kind of a big deal. I mean New Year's eve is a pretty big deal everywhere, but it's an especially big deal in Japan. From Dec 30th to Jan 3rd are national holidays, which most Japanese spend with their families.

One tradition is to visit a Shrine during the first couple days of the new year to pray for a good year. The Meiji Shrine in Yoyogi park is one of the most popular, about 2million visit the shrine during the New Years holiday. As the Shrine is right near my apartment I decided to go and welcome the new year in traditional Japanese style.

Here's the arch at the main entrence to the section of the park containing the shrine. Already there's quite a bit of a crowd.

Inside the arch there's a fairly long, wide path to the shrine.

Wine gifted from France to the Emperor of Japan

Here's where the line started in earnest. The screen infront you see played instructions to the crowd as well as commercials! 

Once I rounded the corner I could see the shrine, and the mass of people standing between me and it. 

Almost there!

In order to regulate the flow of people into the temple they had these policeman holding stop/go flip signs.

After about 45min I finally made it inside.

Show time. Everyone would walk up to this low barricade toss some coins and say a quick prayer. 

Outside there were all sorts of charms for sale. You could also get your fortune for the new year.