Francis, yet again I agree with most in this post but not all. After a lifetime of such occurrences, I am starting to believe that my experiences are unique as they seem to differ from everyone else’s. Everyone keeps saying that there is no or little inflation in Japan. Yet, today I spent 140 some yen on an onigiri at a convince store the same size as those I remember when an earlier increase in sales tax pushed above 100 yen. Filled up the minivan with gas today, 167 yen a liter. YASUI! (CHEAP). Well, compared to the 177 I paid not long ago and the 197 during the summer, it’s cheap. Compared to gas in other countries, even last summer’s prices were a real bargain. I had been wondering how Japan’s gasoline was so much cheaper then I learned that the government is subsidizing fuel wholesalers. A little over ten years an employer significantly raised my commutation pay as gas had gone up a lot in a short time but that was less than 130 yen per liter. A can of Coca Cola from a vending machine was 70 yen in the early 90s when I first visited Japan. 110-150 is the going price now. Recently my wife found a place that regularly carries eggs for less than 200 yen for a pack of ten. Before the panic I was instructed to never pay more than 100 yen for a pack of ten eggs and usually found them below that price.
I talk a lot of collectibles that I have that I could sell if only I could get paid by those who want them without their financial data going to the US. These are fountain pens and fountain pen ink. In 2014 I became interested in Nakaya pens. Maruzen carried some rather nice ones that sold for ¥50,000. Still rather new to the hobby, I was not then buying pens it that price range. As my career progressed and with it, my income, a couple of years later I decided the time was right to get my first Nakaya fountain pen. I did not. In that short time the pen I looked at for 50,000 yen then cost ¥70,000. While a great many inks can still be found at 2000 yen for 50 ml, newer colors or lines by the same makers are now 3-5000 yen for 30ml or less. Pen cases and paper too. Some brands resisted raising prices. After years of pretending they were immune from the inflation that everyone I know insists does not exist, they have discontinued many of their pen lines.
Perhaps my eating habits are unique as well and thus give me a different view of things. In each of the many different areas I worked in and around Tokyo before the panic I had found a few restaurants I liked, usually mom and pop shops, rarely a chain store. At each of these, I settled upon one of their teishoku (set meals) and I would eat only that teishoku when I dinned at a particular shop. While the prices rarely, but not never, increased, the volumn they served would decrease over time. I had discovered “Shrinkflation” as practiced in Japan. If I did not return to the same few restaurants for long periods of time I doubt I would have noticed.
Thus, I am as confused as can be when I hear or read that Japan is inflation free. Maybe by comparison to other countries it is, but I do not live in other countries and thus not as directly affected by whatever their economies are doing. I am concerned that prices in Japan, where I live, keep going up and my income down. It could also be that other factors get the blame, some rightly so, for the price increases. Eggs have gone up due to chicken feed shortages brought on by the Ukraine/Russia war and the supply line disruptions of ill considered lockdowns and port closures due to the panic, factors that have widespread effects. However, most of the above predate the panic and the war; some by a number of years.
This is already long, so if I go into the bureaucracy in Japan it’ll be in another post. Here I’ll just say that which plagues the US is seeping into Japan, at least at he university level.
Yeah everything is a little more expensive than 25 years ago. But its nothing like the price increases elsewhere. Some things I notice have gone up - eggs are a good example as you note, coffee is another. But some things are unchanged. Coke/coffee in a convenience store or vending machine has not changed price in at least a decade. Beer may actually be cheaper.
Compared to the UK gasoline (where I was in November) is remarkably stable. It used to be that UK was notably cheaper than Japan. In the 2010s we reached parity more or less. Now Japan is way cheaper. As in it's approaching the same price in pence (GBPx100) as in JPY which means Japan is 2/3rd to 3/4ths of the price of the UK because 1p=1.8Y. In fact I went and looked. UK Unleaded is ~ GBP 1.40 now which is JPY 262
Same with other things in the UK for that matter. And from what I hear from people in the US it's the same there.
And it seems to me the same applies with the bureaucracy. Inflation and DIE are seeping in. But they aren't flooding in like elsewhere.
Not sure about the vending machine prices. It is only some what recently that I pay 130 to 150 for a bottle of CC Lemon or some such at the school’s vending machine. Vending machines on campus used to be noticeably cheaper than those elsewhere. Gas is stable price wise in Japan due to government subsidies. Beer has not gone down near me unless we count the new categories of beer they keep coming up with to avoid tax increases.
I am beginning to think it is due to our differing locations, at least in part. I live across the river from Tokyo. Prices in Tokyo are high than they are on our side of the river. That fact is a leading cause of our move out of the city. Prices are higher here than those we have seen when we go further away from the city to camp.
I don’t know the current status of these programs or their like in the US, but back during the Abe administration Japan was printing yen on pace with whatever round of quantitative easing the US was on, which I think was pumping 800 billion dollars a month into the US dollar availability. If that causes inflation in the US, I fail to see how the same action in Japan with the Yen does not cause inflation here. It is not as bad here as in the States now, that is for sure, students told me that it costs 800 yen with of dollars for a bottle of water. However, unless I am buying something from the US or something they have a say in the price of like my last new iPad (boy, did prices on those sky rocket!) this does not concern me. It seems much like saying to someone who lost an arm that the injury is not bad because that guy over there lost two. Yes, losing two arms is worse than losing one but losing one is plenty bad enough and need not be trivialized. Again, I am puzzled as just about everything I pay for has gone up in price in and around Tokyo these past ten years. Coffee, bottles drinks, fast food, nicer restaurants, fresh produce (though that goes up and down depending on how the weather affects the year’s crop.), gas, printer paper and ink, onigiri, notebooks (often the same price but fewer pages), postage, bus and train fares. These last two have gone up every so often but I do not know when. Years ago I got a Suica rechargeable pass card for some forgotten reason. Before I used to know the fares between the stations I used. I have no clue how much they are know but do recall hearing and reading notices of their increases. I know taxi fares have also gone up but I no longer remember what they were nor what the are now. Hotels are about 3 times as expensive as they were before the panic. But this is most likely due to the lack of supply as the border being shut for so long and recommended travel restrictions being honored by too many living within the country forced a great many hotels and other accommodations out of business.
I know the reports say that inflation is not in Japan or that it is low, but in the same publication they’ll run an article stating that the cost of a huge reported number of grocery story items have gone up many times greater than the reported rate of inflation. Same with fuel, utilities and other products and services. Plus I see prices going up in and near Tokyo. Again, my experiences seem to differ from those of everyone I know.
My initiation with Japanese bureaucracy came through a well known private university in Tokyo where I was an exchange student. This was my first time to study abroad. Interested in doing so, I frequented the Study Abroad Office on my campus in the States as eventually found myself working there as a student worker. I do not know how widespread this is outside the US so for those who may not know, administrative tasks on campuses in the US are performed by student workers under the supervision of full time regular school employees. The Study Abroad Office consisted of the director, his secretary and one and sometimes 2 student workers. The International Students and Scholars Office had the same manning levels. Both of these offices worked the standard 9 to 5 hours and closed on the weekends. True, there were occasional evening or Saturday events but no more than two a semester, if that many.
However, the office that performed the functions of these two offices for the Japanese uni had over 20 full time employees working 12 hours a day (minimum), 6 days a week. As the student body of the two schools was roughly equal, I wondered at what in the world could keep such a large work force busy for so many hours a week. I would soon become victim of one of their tricks to look busy and thus relevant.
In lived way out in Hino at the time, a 40 some minute train commute to the school but lived 20 minutes on foot from my station, so it was an hour long trip to go to the campus. We did not have class every day and I did not make the trip to campus unless I had classes. Japan allowed at the time, I believe but do not know if they still do, foreign students to work up to 20 hours a week and I did so; teaching English. After escaping the minimum security prison with a school release program that was inappropriately called a dormitory, I lived in a tiny apartment under an expressway in Hino and taught English to private students when I was not in class or studying.
I got a call from the overseas study office on , let’s say it was a Tuesday. “Kitsune san, how are you?” “Fine.” I replied. “Will you be home (this was just before cell phones really took off in Japan.) Thursday next week?” “Let me check my schedule….um yes. Why?” We’ll call you at 2 pm on Thursday next week.” “What? Why? Can’t you just tell me now?” “No, we’ll call you next Thursday at 2 pm.” “But I have a private lesson then.” “Can you reschedule it?” “I don’t know, I’ll have to contact the student”. “Please do.” “If what you have to tell me is so important, can’t you just tell me now?” “No. We’ll call you at 2 pm Thursday next week.” “Can’t I stop by the office tomorrow between classes?” “No. We’ll call you 2 pm Thursday next week. Talk to you then.” “WTF” I thought.
I rescheduled the lesson for the telephone appointment and awaited the call. At 2pm, the phone rang. “Good afternoon Kitsune san. How are you?” “I’m fine. What’s up.” “Can you come in to the office next week Tuesday?” “I don’t have university classes on Tuesday but I have my own students Tuesdays. Can’t I just stop by when I am on campus?” “No. We need you to come in on Tuesday.” “Is this really necessary? Why can’t you just say or ask whatever it is over the phone or on a day I am already on campus?” “Sorry, we need you to come in on Tuesday next week.” “Okay, what time?” How about 2 pm?” “Fine, 2 pm next Tuesday.”
I clear my schedule for the afternoon of the following Tuesday as I have no idea what this is about nor how long it will take. A bit apprehensive, I arrive at the appointed time and am met at the counter by the same individual who called me twice to set up this in person meeting. “Thank you for coming in today.” “Okay. What’s this all about?” “Are you well?” “Yes, I’m fine.” “Any problems?” I’m thinking, “You mean apart from have to rearrange my schedule two weeks in a row to answer damned fool questions? No. No problems.”, but only the last three of those words were spoken. “Nothing at all? No problems or issues at all?” “Nope. None”. “Okay, thank you for coming in today. Study hard. Bye.”
The whole exchange was conducted at the counter and was over in less time than either of the previous two phone calls to set up the meeting. I left in a stunned silence. Later on I related the incident to my two fellow escapees and learned they had similar experiences. Then the light bulb went on. To look busy, our advisor would call us to schedule another phone call which was made to schedule an in person meeting at the counter so that he was always seen to be on the phone or helping students at the counter. I, we had to rearrange our schedules, miss events and or income just so he could look busy. Pissed off to no small degree, we none-the-less realized we had learned a valuable lesson in Japanese bureaucracy. Ah, just like the navy. I would experience similar uncountable times since and just like my time in the navy, would just accept it as part of the deal. “Yokoso Nippon” (Welcome to Japan!) became the phrase we used whenever we ran into such bureaucratic dealings. That school would teach us a great deal more about Japanese corporate life as did my students I taught at the time.
In the 20 plus years I have taught English here, bureaucratic creep as become an increasingly larger headache. 20 years ago, the administrative tasks were no more that writing a syllabus on paper, though I was often given one to follow, taking attendance and turning in the attendance sheet to the office. At the end of the course, I wrote evaluations for the students’ performances. If any of this was input into a computer, admin did so. I did not even own a computer until 2007 or 2008, my first computer being a Vista monstrosity. But even then, I did not have to do anything online or even with a computer for work until much later.
Little by little, more and more admin tasks have been foisted upon the faculty. These take time, and the cost of having a computer or the time on campus using a school computer if they allow us to. We are not paid more for carrying out these tasks. Various schools have installed different versions of automated attendance systems. We are told that they are to make taking attendance less time consuming and problematic. HAHAHAHAHAAAAA. Now, I must take attendance by calling the roll and then checking the schools electronic record and make corrections as necessary…for the schools whose systems allow for corrections. Some now require weekly online student evaluations instead of only at the end of term. Syllabuses now must be electronic. Each school has their own systems that take time to find your way around. These can change suddenly screwing up your schedule as you now must learn the new system and you had not budgeted time for this. Some schools require pre lesson reports now with after action reports within a week of completed lessons.
The reason for this increase in administrative tasks fit your blob theory; “because we now can collect this information.“. Is there a reason to collect it? Does burdening teachers with tasks that take more time than class prep and teaching the actual class add any benefit to the students? To anyone? These questions are not to be asked and are ignored if you do ask them. I ask them.
I’m lucky for I am a part timer. Full timers have told some of what they must do. Periodic health assessments said to catch possible stress related mental/emotional issues early on are so time consuming and intrusive that they cause the very thing they are said to prevent.
A bizarre feature at many schools around the Kanto plain is that they are expanding in size. With the birth rate below replacement levels for several generations, kindergartens, elementary schools, junior and high schools have long been closing. Universities have been having to merge to keep their doors open while others too have gone out of business, and this is not new. So how is it that some universities are needing more room? In more than one school I have taught at, it is a struggle to get a classroom as there are not enough, despite the new buildings on campus. It is not due to increased enrollment, rather encroachment of the expanding administration. Whole floors or even buildings that were once classroom only structures have been taken over by admin with no thought about where classes are to be held causing massive headaches for education department heads. Not a universal problem, maybe, but one that is common among the schools I have taught at. I have no idea what need could propel this. The faculty is given ever more admin tasks, so why the need for more admin? Ah, someone needs to come up with stress reduction programs that create more stress, compile the results and come up with required training programs conducted on Sundays to reduce the stress caused by the mandatory surveys.
Just like in the US, what is on campus today will be reality in the corporate world and hallmark of society in a few years. It is already in Japan. Like aboard the Titanic whose second class and first class passengers were unaware of their impending doom while the third class passengers were drowning below deck, we in education are trying to keep the ingress of bureaucratic creep from overwhelming us while those in corporations and society are as of yet insulated from it. It is here and pulling the nation down as surely as the Titanic.
Francis, yet again I agree with most in this post but not all. After a lifetime of such occurrences, I am starting to believe that my experiences are unique as they seem to differ from everyone else’s. Everyone keeps saying that there is no or little inflation in Japan. Yet, today I spent 140 some yen on an onigiri at a convince store the same size as those I remember when an earlier increase in sales tax pushed above 100 yen. Filled up the minivan with gas today, 167 yen a liter. YASUI! (CHEAP). Well, compared to the 177 I paid not long ago and the 197 during the summer, it’s cheap. Compared to gas in other countries, even last summer’s prices were a real bargain. I had been wondering how Japan’s gasoline was so much cheaper then I learned that the government is subsidizing fuel wholesalers. A little over ten years an employer significantly raised my commutation pay as gas had gone up a lot in a short time but that was less than 130 yen per liter. A can of Coca Cola from a vending machine was 70 yen in the early 90s when I first visited Japan. 110-150 is the going price now. Recently my wife found a place that regularly carries eggs for less than 200 yen for a pack of ten. Before the panic I was instructed to never pay more than 100 yen for a pack of ten eggs and usually found them below that price.
I talk a lot of collectibles that I have that I could sell if only I could get paid by those who want them without their financial data going to the US. These are fountain pens and fountain pen ink. In 2014 I became interested in Nakaya pens. Maruzen carried some rather nice ones that sold for ¥50,000. Still rather new to the hobby, I was not then buying pens it that price range. As my career progressed and with it, my income, a couple of years later I decided the time was right to get my first Nakaya fountain pen. I did not. In that short time the pen I looked at for 50,000 yen then cost ¥70,000. While a great many inks can still be found at 2000 yen for 50 ml, newer colors or lines by the same makers are now 3-5000 yen for 30ml or less. Pen cases and paper too. Some brands resisted raising prices. After years of pretending they were immune from the inflation that everyone I know insists does not exist, they have discontinued many of their pen lines.
Perhaps my eating habits are unique as well and thus give me a different view of things. In each of the many different areas I worked in and around Tokyo before the panic I had found a few restaurants I liked, usually mom and pop shops, rarely a chain store. At each of these, I settled upon one of their teishoku (set meals) and I would eat only that teishoku when I dinned at a particular shop. While the prices rarely, but not never, increased, the volumn they served would decrease over time. I had discovered “Shrinkflation” as practiced in Japan. If I did not return to the same few restaurants for long periods of time I doubt I would have noticed.
Thus, I am as confused as can be when I hear or read that Japan is inflation free. Maybe by comparison to other countries it is, but I do not live in other countries and thus not as directly affected by whatever their economies are doing. I am concerned that prices in Japan, where I live, keep going up and my income down. It could also be that other factors get the blame, some rightly so, for the price increases. Eggs have gone up due to chicken feed shortages brought on by the Ukraine/Russia war and the supply line disruptions of ill considered lockdowns and port closures due to the panic, factors that have widespread effects. However, most of the above predate the panic and the war; some by a number of years.
This is already long, so if I go into the bureaucracy in Japan it’ll be in another post. Here I’ll just say that which plagues the US is seeping into Japan, at least at he university level.
Yeah everything is a little more expensive than 25 years ago. But its nothing like the price increases elsewhere. Some things I notice have gone up - eggs are a good example as you note, coffee is another. But some things are unchanged. Coke/coffee in a convenience store or vending machine has not changed price in at least a decade. Beer may actually be cheaper.
Compared to the UK gasoline (where I was in November) is remarkably stable. It used to be that UK was notably cheaper than Japan. In the 2010s we reached parity more or less. Now Japan is way cheaper. As in it's approaching the same price in pence (GBPx100) as in JPY which means Japan is 2/3rd to 3/4ths of the price of the UK because 1p=1.8Y. In fact I went and looked. UK Unleaded is ~ GBP 1.40 now which is JPY 262
Same with other things in the UK for that matter. And from what I hear from people in the US it's the same there.
And it seems to me the same applies with the bureaucracy. Inflation and DIE are seeping in. But they aren't flooding in like elsewhere.
Not sure about the vending machine prices. It is only some what recently that I pay 130 to 150 for a bottle of CC Lemon or some such at the school’s vending machine. Vending machines on campus used to be noticeably cheaper than those elsewhere. Gas is stable price wise in Japan due to government subsidies. Beer has not gone down near me unless we count the new categories of beer they keep coming up with to avoid tax increases.
I am beginning to think it is due to our differing locations, at least in part. I live across the river from Tokyo. Prices in Tokyo are high than they are on our side of the river. That fact is a leading cause of our move out of the city. Prices are higher here than those we have seen when we go further away from the city to camp.
I don’t know the current status of these programs or their like in the US, but back during the Abe administration Japan was printing yen on pace with whatever round of quantitative easing the US was on, which I think was pumping 800 billion dollars a month into the US dollar availability. If that causes inflation in the US, I fail to see how the same action in Japan with the Yen does not cause inflation here. It is not as bad here as in the States now, that is for sure, students told me that it costs 800 yen with of dollars for a bottle of water. However, unless I am buying something from the US or something they have a say in the price of like my last new iPad (boy, did prices on those sky rocket!) this does not concern me. It seems much like saying to someone who lost an arm that the injury is not bad because that guy over there lost two. Yes, losing two arms is worse than losing one but losing one is plenty bad enough and need not be trivialized. Again, I am puzzled as just about everything I pay for has gone up in price in and around Tokyo these past ten years. Coffee, bottles drinks, fast food, nicer restaurants, fresh produce (though that goes up and down depending on how the weather affects the year’s crop.), gas, printer paper and ink, onigiri, notebooks (often the same price but fewer pages), postage, bus and train fares. These last two have gone up every so often but I do not know when. Years ago I got a Suica rechargeable pass card for some forgotten reason. Before I used to know the fares between the stations I used. I have no clue how much they are know but do recall hearing and reading notices of their increases. I know taxi fares have also gone up but I no longer remember what they were nor what the are now. Hotels are about 3 times as expensive as they were before the panic. But this is most likely due to the lack of supply as the border being shut for so long and recommended travel restrictions being honored by too many living within the country forced a great many hotels and other accommodations out of business.
I know the reports say that inflation is not in Japan or that it is low, but in the same publication they’ll run an article stating that the cost of a huge reported number of grocery story items have gone up many times greater than the reported rate of inflation. Same with fuel, utilities and other products and services. Plus I see prices going up in and near Tokyo. Again, my experiences seem to differ from those of everyone I know.
My initiation with Japanese bureaucracy came through a well known private university in Tokyo where I was an exchange student. This was my first time to study abroad. Interested in doing so, I frequented the Study Abroad Office on my campus in the States as eventually found myself working there as a student worker. I do not know how widespread this is outside the US so for those who may not know, administrative tasks on campuses in the US are performed by student workers under the supervision of full time regular school employees. The Study Abroad Office consisted of the director, his secretary and one and sometimes 2 student workers. The International Students and Scholars Office had the same manning levels. Both of these offices worked the standard 9 to 5 hours and closed on the weekends. True, there were occasional evening or Saturday events but no more than two a semester, if that many.
However, the office that performed the functions of these two offices for the Japanese uni had over 20 full time employees working 12 hours a day (minimum), 6 days a week. As the student body of the two schools was roughly equal, I wondered at what in the world could keep such a large work force busy for so many hours a week. I would soon become victim of one of their tricks to look busy and thus relevant.
In lived way out in Hino at the time, a 40 some minute train commute to the school but lived 20 minutes on foot from my station, so it was an hour long trip to go to the campus. We did not have class every day and I did not make the trip to campus unless I had classes. Japan allowed at the time, I believe but do not know if they still do, foreign students to work up to 20 hours a week and I did so; teaching English. After escaping the minimum security prison with a school release program that was inappropriately called a dormitory, I lived in a tiny apartment under an expressway in Hino and taught English to private students when I was not in class or studying.
I got a call from the overseas study office on , let’s say it was a Tuesday. “Kitsune san, how are you?” “Fine.” I replied. “Will you be home (this was just before cell phones really took off in Japan.) Thursday next week?” “Let me check my schedule….um yes. Why?” We’ll call you at 2 pm on Thursday next week.” “What? Why? Can’t you just tell me now?” “No, we’ll call you next Thursday at 2 pm.” “But I have a private lesson then.” “Can you reschedule it?” “I don’t know, I’ll have to contact the student”. “Please do.” “If what you have to tell me is so important, can’t you just tell me now?” “No. We’ll call you at 2 pm Thursday next week.” “Can’t I stop by the office tomorrow between classes?” “No. We’ll call you 2 pm Thursday next week. Talk to you then.” “WTF” I thought.
I rescheduled the lesson for the telephone appointment and awaited the call. At 2pm, the phone rang. “Good afternoon Kitsune san. How are you?” “I’m fine. What’s up.” “Can you come in to the office next week Tuesday?” “I don’t have university classes on Tuesday but I have my own students Tuesdays. Can’t I just stop by when I am on campus?” “No. We need you to come in on Tuesday.” “Is this really necessary? Why can’t you just say or ask whatever it is over the phone or on a day I am already on campus?” “Sorry, we need you to come in on Tuesday next week.” “Okay, what time?” How about 2 pm?” “Fine, 2 pm next Tuesday.”
I clear my schedule for the afternoon of the following Tuesday as I have no idea what this is about nor how long it will take. A bit apprehensive, I arrive at the appointed time and am met at the counter by the same individual who called me twice to set up this in person meeting. “Thank you for coming in today.” “Okay. What’s this all about?” “Are you well?” “Yes, I’m fine.” “Any problems?” I’m thinking, “You mean apart from have to rearrange my schedule two weeks in a row to answer damned fool questions? No. No problems.”, but only the last three of those words were spoken. “Nothing at all? No problems or issues at all?” “Nope. None”. “Okay, thank you for coming in today. Study hard. Bye.”
The whole exchange was conducted at the counter and was over in less time than either of the previous two phone calls to set up the meeting. I left in a stunned silence. Later on I related the incident to my two fellow escapees and learned they had similar experiences. Then the light bulb went on. To look busy, our advisor would call us to schedule another phone call which was made to schedule an in person meeting at the counter so that he was always seen to be on the phone or helping students at the counter. I, we had to rearrange our schedules, miss events and or income just so he could look busy. Pissed off to no small degree, we none-the-less realized we had learned a valuable lesson in Japanese bureaucracy. Ah, just like the navy. I would experience similar uncountable times since and just like my time in the navy, would just accept it as part of the deal. “Yokoso Nippon” (Welcome to Japan!) became the phrase we used whenever we ran into such bureaucratic dealings. That school would teach us a great deal more about Japanese corporate life as did my students I taught at the time.
In the 20 plus years I have taught English here, bureaucratic creep as become an increasingly larger headache. 20 years ago, the administrative tasks were no more that writing a syllabus on paper, though I was often given one to follow, taking attendance and turning in the attendance sheet to the office. At the end of the course, I wrote evaluations for the students’ performances. If any of this was input into a computer, admin did so. I did not even own a computer until 2007 or 2008, my first computer being a Vista monstrosity. But even then, I did not have to do anything online or even with a computer for work until much later.
Little by little, more and more admin tasks have been foisted upon the faculty. These take time, and the cost of having a computer or the time on campus using a school computer if they allow us to. We are not paid more for carrying out these tasks. Various schools have installed different versions of automated attendance systems. We are told that they are to make taking attendance less time consuming and problematic. HAHAHAHAHAAAAA. Now, I must take attendance by calling the roll and then checking the schools electronic record and make corrections as necessary…for the schools whose systems allow for corrections. Some now require weekly online student evaluations instead of only at the end of term. Syllabuses now must be electronic. Each school has their own systems that take time to find your way around. These can change suddenly screwing up your schedule as you now must learn the new system and you had not budgeted time for this. Some schools require pre lesson reports now with after action reports within a week of completed lessons.
The reason for this increase in administrative tasks fit your blob theory; “because we now can collect this information.“. Is there a reason to collect it? Does burdening teachers with tasks that take more time than class prep and teaching the actual class add any benefit to the students? To anyone? These questions are not to be asked and are ignored if you do ask them. I ask them.
I’m lucky for I am a part timer. Full timers have told some of what they must do. Periodic health assessments said to catch possible stress related mental/emotional issues early on are so time consuming and intrusive that they cause the very thing they are said to prevent.
A bizarre feature at many schools around the Kanto plain is that they are expanding in size. With the birth rate below replacement levels for several generations, kindergartens, elementary schools, junior and high schools have long been closing. Universities have been having to merge to keep their doors open while others too have gone out of business, and this is not new. So how is it that some universities are needing more room? In more than one school I have taught at, it is a struggle to get a classroom as there are not enough, despite the new buildings on campus. It is not due to increased enrollment, rather encroachment of the expanding administration. Whole floors or even buildings that were once classroom only structures have been taken over by admin with no thought about where classes are to be held causing massive headaches for education department heads. Not a universal problem, maybe, but one that is common among the schools I have taught at. I have no idea what need could propel this. The faculty is given ever more admin tasks, so why the need for more admin? Ah, someone needs to come up with stress reduction programs that create more stress, compile the results and come up with required training programs conducted on Sundays to reduce the stress caused by the mandatory surveys.
Just like in the US, what is on campus today will be reality in the corporate world and hallmark of society in a few years. It is already in Japan. Like aboard the Titanic whose second class and first class passengers were unaware of their impending doom while the third class passengers were drowning below deck, we in education are trying to keep the ingress of bureaucratic creep from overwhelming us while those in corporations and society are as of yet insulated from it. It is here and pulling the nation down as surely as the Titanic.