The number of young Japanese people trying to move to Australia on a working holiday visa has surged since the pandemic.
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00:00 You wouldn't notice it walking the streets of Tokyo, but Japan is technically in a recession
00:07 and it's lost its place as the third largest economy, slipping to fourth behind Germany.
00:13 This isn't some sudden slump.
00:14 The economy here has been sluggish for decades.
00:17 Now young people are looking for opportunities elsewhere.
00:22 Shoma Tadaka posts videos to YouTube showing how successful his working holiday in Australia
00:28 has been.
00:29 After arriving in 2019, he saved over $200,000 and got his dad in Japan a new car.
00:37 He says he's earning double what he had earned back home.
00:40 His mission now is to help others looking at making the move.
00:44 It is definitely easier to work in Australia.
00:46 The hours are less than in Japan and the pay is much higher in my case.
00:50 So it's much easier mentally.
00:52 To try and keep the economy chugging along, interest rates here have been kept super low.
00:58 But now the local currency, the yen, has dropped against other major currencies, so things
01:03 are getting more and more expensive.
01:05 And wages, which have long been flat, just aren't keeping up.
01:11 I feel the cost of food is going up.
01:14 I'm shocked how much the power and gas bills cost lately.
01:18 I'd like to give more and more back to my employees.
01:21 However, in reality, while the costs of goods and expenses are rising, it's impossible.
01:28 And to top it all off, Japan has the oldest population on the planet, meaning more retirees
01:33 on pension, less workers paying tax and a less productive economy.
01:38 Migration or the low birth rate isn't filling the gap.
01:41 It's really hard for the Japanese economy to gain the momentum ahead, I think.
01:47 Despite the economic gloom, major Japanese firms are posting super profits and the stock
01:53 market is back at all-time highs.
01:56 What many workers here are waiting for is a taste of that success.
02:00 [BLANK_AUDIO]