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30 sats \ 7 replies \ @Undisciplined 19h \ on: Honestly, this isn't such a bad idea HealthAndFitness
There was a fat tax in Japan (at least statutorily) that involved employers measuring employees waists and paying a fine if they were too fat.
My grad school friend and I really wanted to do a project about fat taxes, but we were having a really hard time verifying if this program ever really went into effect.
Maybe one of our Japanese knowledgeable stackers can confirm or disconfirm it (cc: @cryotosensei, @Rothbardian_fanatic).
AFAIK, there was no fat tax in Japan while I was there. However, there may have been something after we left to repatriate. I have a hard time seeing it because public shaming was not a thing that was done. However, there is also social networking in Japan where you are faceless, anonymous and can say whatever you like with little repercussion, just like here, on Twatter and Facelessbook.
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That's interesting. I've only known a few Japanese people, so I didn't realize they wouldn't be blunt about others' weight. The other East Asian people I've known, Chinese and Korean, are very blunt about weight.
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I am not aware of any fat tax, either.
And I don’t think it wouldn’t have been very successful because the obesity rate in Japan is low - about 2.3% according to this source.
I do agree with @Rothbardian_fanatic about the two faces of Japanese people. In polite company, they would hew and haw and say things in such a roundabout manner that you have to be adept at reading the air before you realise that they are suggesting that someone is plus-sized. Actually, I think most people won’t even broach the topic.
Give them a couple of drinks though, and most people will share quite candidly their sex lives. I remember feeling so shocked the first time that happened to me.
That isn’t to say that public shaming isn’t done though. If I’m not wrong, female employees are still supposed to declare when they wish to get pregnant in some companies. Can’t have too many staff in one section taking maternity leave at the same time, can we? It’s quite a disgusting policy.
Oni means demon/monster 👿 in Japanese, and yes, my wife isn’t as sweet and cordial to me as she appears to others!!!
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I am happy the hidden oni only appears under heavy stress at home. Other times the tenshi seems to be in residence. Stress avoidance is a very happy thing, right?!?
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If you talk privately, they will be somewhat blunt. The public shaming is just not done, as far as I saw. They will talk privately about a whole lot of things, especially after a some sake or beer or two. Their public face and their private face can be totally different. There are sometimes hidden oni. Perhaps @cryotosensei would have more to add to this.
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Maybe you can do that project now with data from Turkey
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Maybe so, but I doubt it's going to crack my current research queue and it definitely doesn't fit what he's doing now.
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