Washington Post today: “In Japan, single mothers struggle with poverty and with shame. Japan has a culture that makes it difficult for women to work after having children, and that makes life exponentially harder for single mothers, especially in a homogeneous society where those who do not conform try to hide their situations.”

OSAKA, Japan — The country suffered a “lost decade,” and then another one, after its bubble burst some 25 years ago. To this day, despite Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s efforts to reinvigorate it, Japan’s economy remains in the doldrums. Now, experts are warning of a “lost generation” — a whole tier of Japanese children who are growing up in families where the parents — or, often, a single parent — work but do not earn enough to break through the poverty line. “The Japanese economy has been getting worse and worse, and that’s hurting poor people, especially single mothers,” said Yukiko Tokumaru, who runs Child Poverty Action Osaka, a nongovernmental organizational that helps families in need. The judgment and stigma that single mothers face in many countries are taken to another level in Japan, a homogeneous society where those who do not conform often try to hide their situations — even from their friends and wider family. But Japan also has a culture that makes it difficult for women to work after having children — changing this is a key part of Abe’s solution to the country’s economic problems — and that makes life exponentially harder for single mothers. “We have this culture of shame,” Tokumaru said. “Women’s position is still so much lower than men’s in this country, and that affects how we are treated. Women tend to have irregular jobs, so they need several jobs to make ends meet.”

Name me a country where single mothers do not struggle. A country where single mothers face no stigma is an unhealthy country.

From the Wall Street Journal:

Japanese Lawyers’ Problem: Too Few Cases TOKYO—Japan is struggling with an unlikely problem: Its people aren’t litigious enough. Fifteen years ago, the nation kicked off a plan to double the number of lawyers. Officials thought they could breathe dynamism into society by mimicking the Western legal system, where courts are more involved in settling issues such as consumer safety and corporate malfeasance. But Japan’s new lawyers have failed to make a winning argument for why they are needed. The number of regular civil cases filed each year hasn’t budged in a decade. With crime near a record low and bankruptcies plunging, many lawyers are pleading poverty. … Mr. Sakano said the overhaul ignored cultural differences with the U.S., whose law schools served as a model. “A system that works in a heterogeneous society like the U.S. may not necessarily be suited to Japan,” he said. “Japanese have shown preference for more informal means of resolving disputes, such as through private negotiation mainly between the parties involved.”

The Economist:

As crime dries up, Japan’s police hunt for things to do There was just one fatal shooting in the whole of 2015 Japan’s cluttered streets are not always pretty but they are remarkably safe. Crime rates have been falling for 13 years. The murder rate of 0.3 per 100,000 people is among the lowest in the world; in America it is almost 4 (see chart). A single gun slaying was recorded for the whole of 2015. Even yakuza gangsters, once a potent criminal force, have been weakened by tougher laws and old age… This means plenty of attention for crimes that would be considered too petty to investigate elsewhere, such as the theft of a bicycle or the possession of a tiny amount of drugs. One woman describes how five officers crowded into her cramped apartment after she reported her knickers being swiped from a clothesline. A small army of detectives was assigned last year to apprehend a group of 22 people who had been growing marijuana for their personal use only and smoking it in deserted rural spots.

Japan needs more immigration!