As for Japan’s elite class, I honestly don’t know much about it.

But when it comes to whether the average Japanese person is seriously thinking about the current state of Japan, I’m somewhat pessimistic.

Let me share a bit about my past.

When I was a teacher, I was completely absorbed in work. Even after coming home and on weekends, I was always doing something related to school. The only kind of information I looked up outside of work was probably the weather forecast.

Before that, when I was a student, I loved video games. I spent most of my energy figuring out how to secure more time to play, and I had little interest in anything else.

In Japan, where the idea of 「一億総中流」 (“a nation of a hundred million middle-class people”) still lingers, many people live in homes with solid roofs, without worrying about collapse or danger.

Because of that, I think it’s difficult for many to develop a sense of crisis about society.

Spending most of your time working or on entertainment is seen as normal, and that might be why social issues tend to be ignored.

As for the issue of immigration, to be honest… I’m not sure what to say.

I live in a rural area, so I haven’t personally encountered many challenges related to foreigners.

However, there are people in my family who hate all foreigners and openly express that hatred using extremely harsh and offensive language.

Whenever that happens, I feel sad.

Even if I try to explain, “Not all foreigners are a problem — it’s just a few individuals,” they don’t accept it, and the atmosphere gets very tense. So I try to avoid the topic whenever possible.

Still, even I can tell that things are heading in a bad direction.

There are many aspects of the current system that clearly don’t make sense.

Your podcast has helped me learn a lot. I especially enjoyed the part about the differences in email culture between India and Japan — that was really interesting.