＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳 | 団塊世代が雑学や面白い話を発信しています
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49）さん / X
Recently, we’ve been hearing the term “labor shortage” so much that we’re sick of it. We also often see phrases like “labor shortage problem” and “labor shortage countermeasures.”
1. Is the “labor shortage” really true?
Recognizing the seriousness of the labor shortage problem, the government began expanding the acceptance of foreign workers in April of this year as part of its “labor shortage countermeasures.”
(1) 24-hour operations
In February of this year, the owner of a 7-Eleven franchise made headlines when he decided to operate for 19 hours, citing a labor shortage that made 24-hour operations impossible.
＜セブンイレブンのフランチャイズのオーナーが、「人手不足で24時間営業は無理」＞
However, this incident sparked discussions about reconsidering 24-hour convenience store operations, and I predict that other types of businesses will also reconsider their 24-hour operations in the future.
If 24-hour operations decrease and self-checkouts and other systems become more widespread, I believe the labor shortage will decrease.
(2) Open Year-Round
When I was a child, even department stores had a weekly “regular holiday.” The same was true for general stores. Even those without specific “regular holidays” seem to have closed over the first three days of the New Year.
Now, however, most stores are open year-round. This, like 24-hour operations, is an example of “excessive service,” and this kind of “excess” is one of the causes of the labor shortage.
(3) Oversupply
Currently, Japan is experiencing “oversupply” and “overproduction,” where supply exceeds demand. This has resulted in problems such as “food waste” and “book returns.”
＜「食品ロス」＞
＜「返本ロス」＞
In response to this, a “niche industry” has emerged in which unsold luxury brand clothing is purchased cheaply, the tags removed, and sold at low prices.
(4) Excessive Waste
Excessive focus on “best-by” and “use-by” dates has led to the problem of “excess waste,” where products that have not yet reached their expiration date are prematurely removed from shelves and discarded.
In response to this issue, an increasing number of stores and online shopping sites are devising ways to sell “expired” products at low prices.
2. Labor Shortage Countermeasures
There’s a saying: “Weigh your income and plan your expenses accordingly.” This means “calculate your income and plan your expenses accordingly.” It can also be said, “Measure your income and control your expenses.”
This is fundamental when considering income and expenditure plans for households, businesses, and national and local governments, but when we look at the recent labor shortage issue, this perspective seems to be missing.
(1) Correcting Excessive Business Hours and Number of Days of Operation
As mentioned above, ending unreasonable “24-hour operations” and “open year-round” practices would alleviate the labor shortage and prevent worker death from overwork.
(2) Curbing and Adjusting Overproduction
There’s nothing more foolish than overproduction, even if it means unsold goods. This is caused by excessive competition, or rather, the desire to sell as much as possible more than other companies. I think there’s a lot to learn from the idea of “Hyakushokuya reducing sales.”
＜「売り上げを減らす佰食屋」＞
“Overproduction” not only wastes resources, it also puts a strain on workers.
(3) Relaxing “best-by” and “expiration” dates
There are some people who are extremely obsessive about germs and viruses, and cannot be satisfied unless they wash their hands repeatedly and keep them clean. There are also young mothers who are extremely wary of their children contracting germs and viruses. However, I’ve heard that keeping things too “sterile” can actually weaken their immune systems. I think it’s better not to worry about the presence of certain amounts of germs (as most people would).
Regarding “best-by” and “expiration” dates, some people choose food on the shelf that is even slightly further in the future, even if they are eating it today. If more people do this, more and more food will be thrown away due to “expired” or “expired” dates.
We need to put a stop to this excessive obsession.
(4) Stop excessive revisions by superiors of office workers
Supervisors often give detailed instructions on the writing of their office workers, like “poking around the corners of a box with a toothpick.” It seems that something similar also happened at the Edo period’s magistrate’s office.
This is “meddling and prying into even the smallest details, and interfering in even the most inconsequential and trivial matters,” which wastes time for both superiors and subordinates, and causes the subordinate to have to make corrections.
From a broader perspective, I think it’s important not to spend too much time on something, even if your superior doesn’t quite like it, unless there’s a fundamentally serious mistake.
When I was younger, I don’t remember ever receiving very detailed feedback on the writing I’d written, which required corrections. I’m sure my other colleagues were the same. The reality may be that when you have to juggle a huge amount of paperwork, constantly “tearing it up and throwing it away,” there just wasn’t enough time to leisurely correct your own writing.
Or is it that the “Japanese writing ability” of young people today is drastically inferior to that of our generation?
(5) The simplistic “expansion of foreign worker acceptance” is not an effective solution to the labor shortage.
＜「外国人労働者受け入れ拡大政策」＞
＜Problems with accepting “foreign workers”＞
I previously wrote an article criticizing the “expansion of foreign worker acceptance policy,” but I believe it is a foolish policy that will not address the labor shortage but will only increase the burden on Japanese staff.
If foreign workers are employed in nursing homes, their limited Japanese language skills could lead to adverse effects such as an inability to fully meet the needs of residents.
(6) Utilizing Japanese Elderly People Over 60
Due to company restructuring, I had to end my temporary employment contract before turning 70, but I was confident that I still had plenty of room to work.
We are said to be living in an “era of 100-year lifespans,” and I believe that many people over 60, both men and women, still want to work.
With no problems with Japanese and a wealth of life experience, I believe they are a much more valuable labor force than less skilled foreign workers.
(7) The spread and evolution of AI will dramatically increase the number of jobs that no longer require human labor.
Currently, the “labor shortage” is commonly referred to, and an obsession with “if things continue as they are, we’ll be in big trouble” seems to dominate the world. However, I feel that within the next 10 years, we’ll be in an era of “overstaffing.”
Furthermore, I predict that the “labor shortage problem” will be resolved within 10 years if the spread and evolution of AI allows laid-off office workers to be reassigned to small and medium-sized enterprises and various occupations.