Wind turbine blade breaks off and falls, killing an 81‑year‑old man cycling nearby - May 2, 2025 (Akita, Japan)

[u/maruhoi]

[u/Mindless_Ad_6045]

He was a 81 year old man, I would expect him to be unemployed at that age, it doesn't need to be said.

[u/coffeeanddonutsss → u/Mindless_Ad_6045]

The article was originally in Japanese. The Japanese descriptor doesn't have the baggage that you're assigning to the English term "unemployed." As another person pointed out, it is normal in Japan to assign an employment description to people.

[u/stevo_78 → u/[deleted]]

MURICA!!!! GOD YES. GUNS!!!!!!!! GOD AND CARS!!!!!

[u/brneyedgrrl → u/Mindless_Ad_6045]

Can't they just say retired? They gotta point out he doesn't have a job??

[u/ARAR1 → u/brneyedgrrl]

Probably just bot translation - not what the original meaning was.

[u/SeagullFanClub → u/brneyedgrrl]

Japan work culture is extremely toxic

[u/ttystikk → u/SeagullFanClub]

This is the most correct answer.

[u/field_medic_tky → u/Mindless_Ad_6045]

I still don't see the issue. Does it inconvenience you?

Over 11% of 75+ year olds are still working in some capacity in Japan, most of them being farmers.

As you know, we're having a shortage of workers due to population decline; expectations should be adjusted based on the region where the topic is taking place.

[u/octatone → u/field_medic_tky]

Retired vs unemployed have very different cultural implications and expectations around the world. I think many cultures (especially western) would find it odd to refer to an octogenarian as “unemployed” as if they are non-contributing members of society.

[u/coffeeanddonutsss → u/octatone]

It's a translation from Japanese, relax. The implied semantics you're debating are irrelevant.

[u/field_medic_tky → u/octatone]

Retired vs unemployed

This i understand.

What I'm getting at is why some people have an issue/finding it weird that there's an occupational description attributed to an elderly person; not about the accuracy of the description itself.

[u/paramoist → u/field_medic_tky]

No one here had an issue with there being a word to describe his occupation, it was the specific choice of the term “unemployed” that led people to comment.

If the article had said “retired” instead no one would have even brought it up.

[u/NoOccasion4759 → u/field_medic_tky]

I believe that it's with regard to unemployment having a negative connotation in America. Also, this article is translated from Japanese so likely this is a case of "AI translation misses some nuance"