Yusuke Narita, assistant professor of economics at Yale University prompted an uproar from different sectors when he implied that the best way to resolve Japan’s rapidly aging population is “seppuku” of the elderly or mass suicide.
“In the end, isn’t it mass suicide and mass ‘seppuku’ of the elderly?” he said in a New York Times interview.
However, Narita also clarified to the New York Times that he was taken out of context, yet added that euthanasia could become mandatory in the future, a remark that generated additional counterattacks.
He claims that this would allow younger generations to proceed with their way in business, politics and other aspects of society that the older generation refuses to leave.
Narita Famous or Infamous?
Yasuke’s commentaries not only made people enraged, but also made him famous and won him an audience as he now has more than 569,000 Twitter followers.
He frequently shows up in Japanese media wearing casual clothing and presents himself much like a radio shock jock, his Twitter bio proclaiming: “The things you’re told you’re not allowed to say are usually true.”
Narita was asked to defend his views in a class and did by showing a clip from the 2019 film Midsommar, in which a cult forces an older member to jump off a cliff.
“Whether that’s a good thing or not, that’s a more difficult question to answer,” Narita said. “So, if you think that’s good, then maybe you can work hard toward creating a society like that.”
His opinions got fresh attention when social media discovered them in January, with a sociologist proclaiming them as “hatred toward the vulnerable.”
Narita told the Times he was “primarily concerned with the phenomenon in Japan, where the same tycoons continue to dominate the world of politics, traditional industries, and media/entertainment/journalism for many years.”
He likewise maintained that what he said was meant as a metaphor for how an older generation must be “phased out” and he has since then softened his language. Nonetheless, the outrage continues.
While Dr. Narita asserts that his words have been taken out of context, he does highlight the need to remove more of the senior figures in government and economic leadership roles so that the next generation can take the reins.
Dr Narita must be friends with Thanos (from the Endgame movie).
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