A Chinese X (Twitter) user’s post went viral after declaring, “I long for a student life like in Japanese anime — in China we’re up at 6am, in bed at 10pm, and stuck at school for 16 hours a day.” On 5ch, the post kicked off a thread where users traded real photos of Chinese schools alongside comparisons of Japan-China education costs, GDP, and trust rankings, with the discussion snowballing from simple sympathy into a full-blown national power showdown.
Li baitian@LiYuchigz9r
Translated from Chinese
I genuinely, desperately want to study in Japan. China’s approach to education is unbelievably high-pressure — up at 6am, lights out at 10pm, stuck at school for 16 hours a day 😭 I wonder if people overseas can really understand this feeling? I’d love to live even one day as a Japanese student, but sadly that’s just a fantasy. Tomorrow I’m back in that “prison” again. I’m going to save up and make it to Japan someday, for sure.
Source: x.com / Original post here
Meanwhile Japan just keeps getting dumber and the country keeps declining
>>8
Anime, manga, and games are basically opium for escaping reality
Anime, manga, and games are basically opium for escaping reality
>>8
Then again, just looking at the numbers, China's social problems are way worse
Then again, just looking at the numbers, China's social problems are way worse
Are anime otaku just universally dumb no matter the country?
>>19
Well, studying's probably just so brutal there they want to escape, plain and simple
Well, studying's probably just so brutal there they want to escape, plain and simple
A Chinese middle school
[Chongqing Nankai Liangjiang Middle School]
[Chongqing Nankai Liangjiang Middle School]
>>23
Looks like there's a watchtower right in the middle
Looks like there's a watchtower right in the middle
>>23
Every single window looks like it's got iron bars on it
Every single window looks like it's got iron bars on it
>>23
This is literally that unhinged school life Chiikawa parodied (a hit cute-character manga/anime known for gag arcs that turn surprisingly grim) — playing out for real
This is literally that unhinged school life Chiikawa parodied (a hit cute-character manga/anime known for gag arcs that turn surprisingly grim) — playing out for real
Tianjin, China — the "Tianjin Binhai Library"
>>26
Looks like a dystopia, kind of unsettling
Looks like a dystopia, kind of unsettling
>>26
It's a library and they're just papering over it with book-pattern wallpaper?
That's… something
It's a library and they're just papering over it with book-pattern wallpaper?
That's… something
Countries with the most billionaires
Ranked: The Countries With the Most Billionaires in 2026
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/countries-with-most-billionaires-in-2026/
Ranked: The Countries With the Most Billionaires in 2026
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/countries-with-most-billionaires-in-2026/
Average sleep time by country
🇨🇳China 9h 2m
🇺🇸USA 8h 59m
🇫🇷France 8h 33m
🌏World average 8h 29m
🇬🇧UK 8h 28m
🇰🇷South Korea 7h 51m
🇯🇵Japan 7h 42m
Japan ranks dead last in sleep time among 33 countries — and dead last in economic growth too
There's gotta be some connection here, right?
🇨🇳China 9h 2m
🇺🇸USA 8h 59m
🇫🇷France 8h 33m
🌏World average 8h 29m
🇬🇧UK 8h 28m
🇰🇷South Korea 7h 51m
🇯🇵Japan 7h 42m
Japan ranks dead last in sleep time among 33 countries — and dead last in economic growth too
There's gotta be some connection here, right?
Ranking of countries with the worst online manners
#1 🇯🇵Japan
#2 🇰🇷South Korea
#3 🇮🇳India
#4 🇧🇷Brazil
#5 🇲🇽Mexico
#1 🇯🇵Japan
#2 🇰🇷South Korea
#3 🇮🇳India
#4 🇧🇷Brazil
#5 🇲🇽Mexico
Global battery market share
"Most trustworthy countries" ranking
https://www.asahi.com/sp/articles/ASV3F3WLTV3FUTFK00KM.html
#1 🇨🇳China
…
#3 🇯🇵Japan
The times are changing and there's no stopping it — Japan is in decline
https://www.asahi.com/sp/articles/ASV3F3WLTV3FUTFK00KM.html
#1 🇨🇳China
…
#3 🇯🇵Japan
The times are changing and there's no stopping it — Japan is in decline
>>42
Naturally, the world's most trustworthy country 😤
Naturally, the world's most trustworthy country 😤
China has been #1 in the world in AI technology for ages now, you know?
The Qing Dynasty ← Stayed smug about being the center of the world and fell behind on modernization
The Meiji Restoration ← Pushed modernization hard so as not to end up colonized like the Qing
Japan today ← Still smug, thinking it's above China
China ← The whole country is studying like mad to overtake Japan, and its top talent goes straight into AI and robotics development
The Meiji Restoration ← Pushed modernization hard so as not to end up colonized like the Qing
Japan today ← Still smug, thinking it's above China
China ← The whole country is studying like mad to overtake Japan, and its top talent goes straight into AI and robotics development
>>48
It's less "still smug" and more that Japan already hit its #1 postwar goal — reconstruction — so with no goal left, it just stopped trying that hard
It's less "still smug" and more that Japan already hit its #1 postwar goal — reconstruction — so with no goal left, it just stopped trying that hard
>>61
Even if you only gathered decent, level-headed people, everyone feels a totally different degree of crisis about Japan's current state
And on top of that, there are people out there who are basically pure malice, so it turns into a defensive crouch just trying to survive that environment
Even if you only gathered decent, level-headed people, everyone feels a totally different degree of crisis about Japan's current state
And on top of that, there are people out there who are basically pure malice, so it turns into a defensive crouch just trying to survive that environment
This is no joke — I'm a grad student at Institute of Science Tokyo right now, and Chinese students are genuinely excellent
Japanese students aren't even in the same league
Japanese students aren't even in the same league
>>51
Isn't that just because only the elite Chinese students make it there in the first place?
Isn't that just because only the elite Chinese students make it there in the first place?
Per-capita GDP growth rate comparison
"Dad" [i.e. China] sure is busy today, one minute hyping Japan up, the next tearing it down
>>54
Yeah, they're hurling some seriously mixed-up feelings at us
Caught between CCP propaganda, the glittering admiration for Japan from the 1970s-90s, and the fact that, whatever else, Japan genuinely became a country that doesn't go to war after the war
Yeah, they're hurling some seriously mixed-up feelings at us
Caught between CCP propaganda, the glittering admiration for Japan from the 1970s-90s, and the fact that, whatever else, Japan genuinely became a country that doesn't go to war after the war
🇯🇵Japan is losing even in hotels now
>>56
You guys never even go there, so it doesn't matter lol
You guys never even go there, so it doesn't matter lol
[The Future] 🇨🇳China's Xiaomi unveils an SUV with a 1,705km range
🇨🇳China is #1 in the world in aquaculture, and Japan is way behind in this field
When you think about it, Japan's actually pretty blessed
Even though Tokyo University is nothing special by world standards,
once you're in, the rest of your life is basically easy mode
If a Todai student had been born in China instead of Japan,
they'd only get into some mid-tier Chinese university
and have to grind through a hard life
Even though Tokyo University is nothing special by world standards,
once you're in, the rest of your life is basically easy mode
If a Todai student had been born in China instead of Japan,
they'd only get into some mid-tier Chinese university
and have to grind through a hard life
>>72
When a Todai grad applied to a top Chinese company, they got rejected outright for not being academically strong enough
Even Todai med school grads only earn half what their South Korean counterparts do, so they're "losers" too
When a Todai grad applied to a top Chinese company, they got rejected outright for not being academically strong enough
Even Todai med school grads only earn half what their South Korean counterparts do, so they're "losers" too
Japan is cutting university research funding
>>92
Do stuff like this and national strength is bound to decline, obviously
Do stuff like this and national strength is bound to decline, obviously
Shocking: Chinese makers now hold nearly 50% of Japan's TV market
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/c2bca30ba1871a2a74a8c6f7db33284f70d5ccd9
Chinese home appliance giant 🇨🇳Hisense took the #1 spot with a 40.4% share, while 🇨🇳TCL came in third at 9.5% — together the two companies command 49.9% of the market.
Hisense, which claimed the top spot, acquired Toshiba's (formerly Toshiba Visual Solutions) TV brand "Regza," and boosted Regza's competitiveness through supply-chain sourcing and business-division restructuring. On top of that, Hisense has also been waging an aggressive low-price offensive under its own brand, and has carved out a solid position in the Japanese market.
Backed by excellent cost performance, it's winning over Japanese consumers too, and the old idea that "if you're buying appliances, buy Japanese" seems to be fading.
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/c2bca30ba1871a2a74a8c6f7db33284f70d5ccd9
Chinese home appliance giant 🇨🇳Hisense took the #1 spot with a 40.4% share, while 🇨🇳TCL came in third at 9.5% — together the two companies command 49.9% of the market.
Hisense, which claimed the top spot, acquired Toshiba's (formerly Toshiba Visual Solutions) TV brand "Regza," and boosted Regza's competitiveness through supply-chain sourcing and business-division restructuring. On top of that, Hisense has also been waging an aggressive low-price offensive under its own brand, and has carved out a solid position in the Japanese market.
Backed by excellent cost performance, it's winning over Japanese consumers too, and the old idea that "if you're buying appliances, buy Japanese" seems to be fading.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “[Sad News] Chinese person: “I long for a school life like in Japanese anime… in China it’s study, study, study all day!!!!”“.
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