Recently, I've seen a number of programs frequently broadcast on China Central Television called "The Rise of Great Powers," and like the film, whether you believe it or not, it really makes one think that we are now entering a "Golden Age." And for our neighbors - Japan, in my impression, apart from visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, there is economic stagnation, and so on. Is the real Japan like that? How do the overwhelming majority of Japanese people live? People who have been to Japan and lived there can say. I hope that we must be patient and read the full text! First, in general terms, the Japanese hold leading-edge technology in the following areas: Superconducting Technology: Japan has begun research into new routes for superconductivity, expected to reach 500 kilometers per hour. Strengths include Hitachi, Toshiba, Japan’s vehicle industry, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, etc. Materials Technology: NEC, Toshiba, Hitachi, Furukawa Electric, Kobe Steelworks, Sumitomo Electric, Tokyo Electric Power, etc.; Nano-Technology: High-speed communications technologies by NEC, Hitachi; The next generation of DVD technology: SONY, Toshiba; The next generation of DVD technology: Hitachi; Flat display technology: Canon, SONY, Futaba; Silicon technology: Tokyo Microelectronics, Nikon; MEMS: Mitsubishi Electric, Sharp, Panasonic; Space: Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Toshiba, NEC, Mitsubishi Electric; In traditional industries, the current world situation is as follows: Iron and steel: The first is a Luxembourg company, the second is a Dutch company, and the third is the new Nippon Steel; the fourth name is JFE Steel (Japan); China’s Baosteel ranked sixth (with a Japanese joint venture); Chemistry: Mitsubishi Chemical came in fifth place. The top four were divided between the United States and Germany; Asahi Kasei ninth. Automotive: GM being ranked first, it is estimated Toyota will surpass it to become second; Nissan No. 8; Honda ninth; Appliances: the former 15 swept by Japanese companies: Panasonic, Hitachi, Toshiba, Sharp, Mitsubishi Electric are the top five; Semiconductors: a joint venture between Hitachi and Mitsubishi Semiconductor Company ranked fourth place, Intel top of the list; Communication field: NTT champion. It is generally believed that new technology goes through two phases: from research to maturity, and from maturity to application. The second phase takes about 10-15 years. In other words, if you want to apply a new technology now, it must have matured over 10 years ago, or it cannot be applied. Japan is planning to build new superconducting lines, meaning its superconductor research had come of age a decade ago. Japan still faces strong competition from the United States in some areas. Occasionally, established European companies lead in sales. In the foreseeable future, China cannot become Japan's competitor, because Chinese both in traditional areas or in new technologies, are not worth mentioning. All of the above industries, previously known as benchmarks of 15, only see a Chinese company's name: Baosteel, or use of technology in a Japanese joint venture. Ordinary Japanese people's lives regarding eating, medicine, living, etc., I learned while living in Japan for more than a decade after graduating with a Ph.D., income is slightly higher than the Japanese. Essentially, it's the same as the lives of ordinary Japanese. An objective introduction to the general Japanese people's eating, living, medical school, and so on, that is, their present life, education, housing, Jimmy Choo shoes, health care issues. Firstly, I should say there are two points: one, those who eat less and worked a few years in Japan, returned to lead a simple life using is not representative of ordinary Japanese people, their perception may be somewhat one-sided; and secondly, please calmly look at this introduction, know ourselves and think about how to learn to change. 1. Income and purchasing power of the Japanese fixed monthly wages in general can be simply calculated, about what age you can earn each month the number of yen, for example, a 30-year-old earns ?300,000, a 50-year-old earns ?500,000, plus summer and year-end bonuses totaling 2-5 months' salary. So, aged 30 years, the normal annual income is ?4.5 million, 40-year-old annual income ?6 million, these are after-tax incomes. Below this number is considered badly mixed, higher than this number is considered established in a career. Taxes and insurance, etc. usually account for 10-20%, both inside deductions by the company or bank have directly paid relevant departments. Summer and year-end bonuses are very important, temporary workers do not have them, only formal workers do, the longer one stays in a company, the higher the bonus, which is relied on to buy a house or car. Casual wages in general are 700-1000 yen/hour, working eight hours a day, 26 days a month equals ?166,400/month. The exchange rate between yen and yuan fluctuates, but in general, ?10,000 equals about 700 Renminbi. A rough calculation is that 100 U.S. dollars = 1,000 yuan = 10,000 yen. Now Japan has everywhere hundred shops with hundreds of thousands of kinds of daily necessities, everything is 100 yen, which is 7 yuan, more than 10 yuan in China for similar items such as tape, tools, etc., all priced at 100 yen. Supermarket vegetables and fruits are also one or a ?100. 10 eggs, 10 pounds of rice cost ?1,000, except in special cases, the purchasing power of 100 yen and the purchasing power of 1-7 yuan are basically the same, meaning that 1-7 yuan in China can buy things in Japan for 100 yen. Regarding purchasing power, the Chinese monthly wage/price ratio = 1500 Yuan/7 yuan = 214, Japan's 30-year-old worker’s monthly wage/price = 300,000 yen/?100 = 3000. The purchasing power ratio of Japan to China is 214/30 days = 7/day, Japan 3000/30 days = 100/day. Conversely, the price/wage ratio means that prices in China can buy 7 things for one day's wages, whereas in Japan, they can buy 100 things for one day's wages. Besides fresh vegetables, family cars are used for shopping, fruits, beer, snacks, etc., all sorts of boxed items costing a few thousand yen for a big basket shop. Some items are too cheap, given that we have to move a family and throw away boxes of stuff. From senior students or Japanese friends, we often receive donated materials, and after graduation, we always give everything away, including color TVs, fridges, air conditioners, flower cars, computers, etc.. Other countries follow the basic way, just go to someone else to give you what you give someone else a few years later. I love traveling, having been to many countries, both in Southeast Asia, India, or Europe, the United States, and Macao, objectively comparing prices/wages, China's price/wage ratio is the world's most expensive. You only need to count the number of months' salary needed to buy things that would be sufficient. Everyone's wages rose 10 times while the price of living is lower than half of advanced countries are now living. 2. Education, my child was born and raised in Japan, where I graduated with a Ph.D., so a child from birth to the entire process of doctoral graduates experienced all costs. Pregnant women receive government payments starting from childbirth, milk delivered daily to your home. At birth, directly to the city, the government pays ?300,000 to cover hospital fees and buy all baby supplies, leaving tens of thousands. Kindergarten can be sent at 1 month, public office kindergartens cost about 1-3 yen/month, private kindergartens run by public and private entities cost twice as much. Kindergarten is part of social welfare, those with less income can apply for low pay or no pay. From primary to junior secondary school, fees drop to zero, meaning spending about ?3,000/month for lunch every day, total contributions to the school for one year about ?30,000, equivalent to 3 days wages. When moving from one city to another, because textbooks differ, an entire academic year receives a set of textbooks. High school is not compulsory, tuition is about more than 10 million yen, a year to spend 200 thousand thrown some cold water is less than 1 month’s wages. Private tuition is about 100 yen/year, National University tuition fees by about 50 yen/year, with various scholarships for student loans and so on. Almost all from kindergarten to university can apply for fee waivers, as students going to school kids and myself are half fee waiver applicants. 3. Housing, housing is very expensive in Japan, but outside of Tokyo, house prices can be half below. Ordinary lives with existing homes cost 3-5 million yen/month, my two-story villa in a medium-sized city with a vegetable garden in front costs ?70,000/month. On average, a worker buying a house pays a mortgage of 3-5 million yen for 20 years, which means living in the house for decades is his. Ordinary 30-year-old white-collar workers earning ?300,000/month or ?4.5 million/year can buy a suite in ten years, but due to tax-preferential additions, most opt for mortgages. Tax In addition to everything you buy, like houses, cars, medical care, etc., after controlling costs, only the remaining income after tax. Let's talk about cars. College students completing their freshman year in college during the summer buy used cars for 5-10 million yen. My classmate’s Honda car was given for free, he admitted to a graduate student at home spending over 120 million yen to buy a new Corolla, just graduated college students buying cars are generally this grade (Corolla, Christian Louboutin, Vios) and price (80 -- 1.5 million yen). This means students can buy a used car to work a month, through parents, bonus (2-5 months salary) to buy a new car. My Honda sold in the first 11 years to a recycling plant, netting negative ?5,000. An 8-year-old Nissan Bluebird sold for ?2 million yen. Regarding cars, we must mention oil. In April 2006, China’s gasoline cost 4.6 yuan/liter, the U.S. gasoline cost 4.8 yuan/liter, Australia petrol cost 3.1 yuan/liter, Japan petrol cost 6.3 yuan/liter, India petrol cost 2.7 yuan/liter. Oil prices change daily, but errors do not exceed plus or minus 1 yuan. A day's wages in foreign countries can buy more than 100 liters of gasoline, whereas in China, wages allow buying 10 liters of gasoline. 4. Japan’s biggest characteristic in medical and health care is that everyone joins national health insurance. National Health Insurance is divided into three grades, namely, the boss level, ordinary level, and family level. Starting one's own company or being an owner with particularly high income falls under the highest level; most people are in the ordinary class; families without work and children from parents, where wages are paid, must independently pay from adulthood onwards. Monthly, about several thousands - tens of thousands of yen mainly depend on income paid directly from wages, I have never had to worry about forgetting a specific number, which may be about 5%. A doctor must bring a national health insurance card, paying 10-20% of medical expenses individually, with insurance covering 80-90%. For example, if medical expenses are several times more than wages, you can still apply for a waiver. The differences between nations are larger than you and I imagined, and even more prosperous require us to seriously and unremittingly strive. After decades of hard work post-World War II, we have the Big Dipper for a few decades. I took more than a dozen Chinese students who turned to Japan for two weeks, and when they came back, I said that the responsibility of shortening the 50-year gap falls on your shoulders, and the students said that the task of closing the 100-year gap is too formidable. That night, my heart was in tears. Then I came home. There is one point lacking in our society: credit. Japan’s social climate does not tolerate disloyal people, making it difficult to survive in society. In our society, credit holds no single cent value. Even well-educated people value money more than credit. Over the past 20 years, especially in the last 10 years, China’s rapid economic development contrasts with Japan being caught in the mire of stagnation and even negative growth. Facing China’s flourishing, Japan seems to decline, forming an “illusion” in some people’s minds: China will soon surpass Japan. In Japan, some people concocted the so-called “China threat theory”; in China, a number of passionate young people increasingly disregard Japan. Among my economics colleagues, even in China, there is a tendency to look down on Japan. Once, Beijing rumors carried a joke, saying that in the future, as long as there are three economists in the world, Jimmy Choo, one understands the U.S. economy, one understands the European economy, and one understands the Chinese economy. As for Japan, the answer was a contemptuous smile: Japan, ha ha, Japan can't be ignored! This is nonsense! China is rapidly rising. This is a fact. But only some of the facts. From many indicators, the gap between China and Japan is still very large, in many ways catching up with China is not only distant but also difficult. The gap between China and Japan deserves the status of provincial police among the Chinese people, who can no longer be trapped in self-deception illusions. Let us first look at the basic data. China’s land area is 9.6 million square kilometers, population 1.3 billion. Japan’s land area is 378,000 square kilometers, population of 130 million. China’s land area is 25 times Japan’s, and the population is 10 times that of Japan. From territory and population, China is really big in China, Japan is indeed small in Japan. However, the two countries’ economic aggregates have lost everyone. In 2003, according to the World Bank’s 2004 “Global Development Indicators” Statistics, China’s GDP was 11.6898 trillion yuan, combined 1.4 trillion U.S. dollars, placing him seventh in the world. Japan’s GDP was as high as 4.3 trillion. Comparing economic output with exchange rates inevitably introduces errors. However, changes in parity of purchasing power or real terms show that the total economic volume between China and Japan still differs by 1-2 times. The rise of China in recent years has been swift. However, in the war’s first 4/1 century, Japan became the world’s second-largest developed country. While China, despite experiencing the fastest growth in the past 20 years, GDP still ranks sixth or seventh globally, and based on multiple indicators, cannot enter the ranks of developed countries. Japan’s economic strength is evident both domestically and overseas. China takes pride in introducing foreign investment in recent years, but Japan is the world’s largest creditor. By the end of 2000, Japan’s overseas assets totaled 3.2 trillion U.S. dollars, equivalent to China’s total GDP in 2003, 2.3 times its manufacturing overseas sales of over 1.3 trillion U.S. dollars, comparable to China’s GDP rather (Chun Tang Feng, 2001). Such a strong invisible “overseas Japan” is enough to make an open ambition for a hundred times today, shouting slogans, marching in step to “go out” Chinese enterprises deeply ashamed! Economic structure comparison: In 1999, Japan’s ratio of 2:36:62 three industrial structures has long been obvious, “post-industrial society.” In 1975, Japan’s tertiary industry employed more than 50% for the first time, marking the Japanese entry as early as 70 years into the service-centered “post-industrial” era. In contrast, in 2003, China’s industrial structure was the three 14.7:53:32.3, indicating China did not complete the transition from pre-industrial society to an industrialized society. According to the National Bureau of industrialization and the definition of a symbol of national industrialization realized: First, agricultural output value of 15% or less, which can be said that China had just crossed the line; two agricultural employment at 20% or less, China is still as high as 50%, it can be said is not enough lines; Third, the proportion of urban population to be 60%, and China is only about 40%, there are great distances. What is the level of urbanization in Japan? Japan’s urban population in 1950, the proportion of the total population was 38%, probably today, as China’s, and today the Japanese are mostly living in cities. In 2003, China’s heavy industry grew by more than 4 percentage points over light industry, beginning to enter the booming period of investment. People in the nation for the Chinese economy entering a “heavy industry” stage inspired endless. However, few people know that, as early as 1955, Manolo Blahnik shoes, Japan entered the heavy chemical industry of the high degree of processing stages to the capital, and technology-intensive economic transition. Only from the perspective of industrial structure, China roughly matches Japan 40 years ago. China’s current growth momentum mainly comes from the “world factory” traction. According to the author’s estimate, in 2003 China’s industrial growth contributed up to 63% to GDP. However, from the total manufacturing perspective, in 2003 Japan was 911.1 billion U.S. dollars, China has 382.5 billion U.S. dollars. Japan is China’s 2.4 times. Clearly, the Chinese are far from “world factory” basis of past catch-up speed, in the “world factory” on the road to China to catch up with Japan, there are at least