AI essay：Why Japan’s “Escape Abroad” Trend Never Died—Even with a Weak Yen

Prologue: A Sense of Ease That Was More Than Culture Shock

In 2011, I lived in Thailand. The exchange rate was extremely favorable for anyone holding Japanese yen, but what stayed with me was not the economic comfort. It was the lightness of human relationships—the absence of excessive expectations, rigid roles, and constant comparison. Men and women interacted without the invisible walls I had grown used to in Japan. Life scripts were diverse, and people seemed free from the pressure to perform a “correct” version of adulthood.

At the time, I thought this was simply an experience of a different culture. Looking back, I now understand it as something deeper: a structural reaction to encountering a society not yet fully homogenized in its value system.

1. The Homogenization of Values Is a Product of Modernity

For most of human history, values were local and diverse. But since the Industrial Revolution, modern states and corporations have required large-scale coordination. To mobilize millions, they needed people to share the same:

• sense of time

• work ethic

• family model

• moral framework

Modern education became the institutional engine that standardized these values. Over time, this homogenization solidified into the operating system of modern society.

2. Homogenized Values Create Psychological Pressure and Rigid Relationships

Once values become standardized, societies begin enforcing a single “correct life script”:

• the correct way to date

• the correct way to marry

• the correct career path

• the correct family model

This raises the cost of living a socially acceptable life. Having children becomes a high‑risk decision, and fertility rates decline. This pattern is visible not only in Japan but also in South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore—and now Thailand.

Low fertility is not a sign of “diverse lifestyles.” It is a side effect of value homogenization.

3. The “Soto-Komori” Phenomenon Was an Exit from the Value OS

Around 2010, Japan saw the rise of soto-komori—people who withdrew from Japanese society and lived quietly abroad. At the time, it was dismissed as escapism. But structurally, it was something else: a migration away from a high-pressure value OS.

And the destinations were almost always Southeast Asia:

• low relational barriers

• weak role enforcement

• less comparison

• multiple life scripts

Exactly the same structure I felt in 2011.

4. Why “Soto-Komori” Has Not Disappeared Despite Yen Weakness

If the phenomenon were driven by cheap living costs, the post‑2024 weak yen should have ended it. Yet the opposite has happened: more Japanese are moving to Thailand, Vietnam, and Malaysia.

This shows that the core driver is not economics but escape from value homogenization.

5. Thailand’s Rapid Decline in Fertility Shows That Homogenization Has Reached Southeast Asia

This is the critical point. Thailand once had a socially diverse value environment. But over the past decade, it has rapidly homogenized—and fertility has collapsed.

Key data:

• Births in 2024: 462,240 (lowest in 75 years)

• 2023 → 2024: 11% decline

• Total fertility rate (TFR): 1.0, below Japan’s 1.2

• 2025 projected TFR: 0.87, among the lowest in the world

• Births have fallen 81% in 74 years

The same structure is repeating:

value homogenization → high life‑cost → fertility collapse

Conclusion: One Structure Explains Peace of Mind, “Soto-Komori,” and Fertility Decline

The peace I felt in 2011 was not personal preference. It was a structural response to a society where values had not yet been standardized. “Soto-komori” persists despite economic shifts because it is a migration away from a high-pressure value OS. And Thailand’s fertility collapse shows that homogenization has now spread there as well.

These phenomena—psychological ease, lifestyle migration, and fertility decline— are all connected by a single underlying structure:

the evolution of the value OS in modern societies. 

Link:

English ver.