[Has the Time for Forced Change Come!?] The Only Way for Japanese People Who Can't Let Go, Can't Quit, and Can't Change to Survive [Surely You're Different]

Recently I've started seeing the phrase "the Age of Air," and it caught my interest, so I looked into it in various ways.

Roughly speaking, here is what is said:

In short, it is said to be a turning point of the times.

That trend had already begun to appear, but it seems the energy for it to take off in earnest is now emerging.

So, this time, in Japan, where people simply can't change, I want to write about the guiding principles worth keeping in mind for those who take pride in being "different from the many Japanese who can't change," who see the great change of the times as an opportunity, and who want to make their lives richer.

2021: What is the "Age of Air"?

I was going to explain the Age of Air a bit more, but I found many easy-to-understand articles online already, so I'll quote a few.

In Western astrology, 2021 is said to be the year the "Age of Air" begins.

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In the coming "Age of Air," just as "air" is invisible, intangible things such as information and knowledge, communication and education will be emphasized, and it is said that people will seek, above all, to "know."

In other words, 2021 is a turning point of the times, when the world's values shift greatly from emphasizing "having" to emphasizing "knowing."

Toward an era of enjoying the freedom of "not owning"

In 2021, now the "Age of Air," the first thing to let go of may be the attachment to "having."

In fact, the way many people tidied their homes during last year's COVID self-restraint period was an event almost as if they foresaw the arrival of the "Age of Air," and all sorts of sharing services that encourage a life of "not owning" are appearing one after another.

Trends such as workations and moving to the countryside — much talked about now that the promotion of telework has freed people from being tied to where they live and work — also make you feel the "Age of Air."

I feel the world has acknowledged "the freedom born of not owning," and it has already begun to spread.

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Toward an era not bound to "one"

It would be better to stop being "bound" to one thing, one place, one set of values, and so on.

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Recently, more and more companies allow or even encourage side jobs.

If you think about the future flexibly, without being bound to one title, one role, or one way of doing things, great possibilities open up.

The "Age of Air" is one in which, if you remove the "boxes" and "frames" of company and community and set your mind to it, you can move more freely than before — so first, try removing the "frames" in your own heart.

Then, even without forcing yourself to let go, you'll naturally come to know the "things" you truly need.

Toward a society of horizontal rather than vertical connections

The "Age of Air," in which reason and intellect take priority, is an era of seeing everything from a flat perspective, and values will diversify.

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In the "Age of Air," things won't be valuable because they are authoritative brands; there will be more freedom to say, "For me, it's valuable for this reason."

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In the fields of news, information, and knowledge as well, in the "Age of Air" you can't blindly believe brands and authority.

In a sense, it is also an "age of skepticism" that questions the obvious, but that attitude will probably create the new values of "air."

Flexible ways of being "friends"

Even if you discover or realize something by working away at it alone, it won't deepen or spread unless there are people to communicate it to.

Thinking that way, it may be better to include "isolation" among the things to stop in 2021.

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Being freely chosen and able to keep an appropriate distance — that is what "friends" are, too.

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There's no need to reconnect relationships or values you felt relieved to cut off

Source: Enjoy the freedom of "not owning": things to stop in the new "Age of Air" (Forbes Japan) (This link was unavailable when checked in October 2026.)

The paradigm shift from the "Age of Earth" to the "Age of Air," decoded through keywords

Source: What is the "Age of Air"? Astrologer Keiko explains the new normal after the paradigm shift (mi-mollet)

First, throw away your old common sense

I think this applies especially to the Japanese, but to adapt to the Age of Air, throw away all of your common sense, every bit of it.

...Or rather, what on earth is common sense in the first place?

Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen (AlbertEinstein)

Now, please look over the "Age of Earth ⇒ Age of Air" table quoted earlier.

You can see that the words listed for the Age of Earth and the Age of Air are opposites, like the two sides of a coin.

Have three titles and jobs

Now, the question people tend to think about at this point is "Should I quit my company and start a business?"

In my case, I'm in the position of a company owner, so I'd like to say "you should start a business."

However, it isn't something I can recommend to everyone, and it isn't the essence either.

That sums it up, I think.

Starting a business certainly gives you freedom of time and frees you from being tied down, but sales may not be stable, and companies, individuals, banks, and others judge your trustworthiness severely.

In that respect, doing a side job while working as a company employee lets you "take the best of both," like this:

That's the appeal of this approach.

If you're a company employee, adopting that kind of approach is also an option.

By the way, if side jobs aren't allowed, or you have so much overtime that you have no room for it, change jobs right away.

If you're a business owner, I think you should make it possible to add more titles.

If it's a business you can build by extending your main one, the quickest options are probably these:

Those are good places to start.

Connections between people

Connections between people are also a key point of the big changes ahead.

For example, having nowhere to belong except your company will make for a life you don't want from now on.

Make technology the foundation of your work and life

Needless to say, using technology will remain essential.

Technologies that are already emerging, such as the following, need to become so routine that you don't even notice you're using them:

Yet you still hear things like these:

There are still lots of people who make "excuses" like these for not adopting technology, with genius-level skill, but we probably won't be seeing such companies or such people for much longer (good luck to them).

Study brain science and quantum mechanics properly

Business owners and businesspeople who study hard may be aware of this, but brain science and quantum mechanics have a very big impact on life.

On the other hand, many people will probably be left thinking "huh?"

I won't devote space this time to the details of the "energy" in brain science and quantum mechanics—please look it up if you're interested—but here is the gist:

Understanding these deeply is what determines the results of your life.

This world is full of mysteries.

And so on — there are countless things that raise endless questions, but sometimes the only explanation for them is "that's how the world works."

There are tons of other mysteries like these, but in other words, if you don't know the "absolutely unavoidable rules," you can't play the game of life to your advantage.

And neither brain science nor quantum mechanics was taught in school, and for many people they sit at the opposite pole from common knowledge.

That is exactly why you need to keep learning constantly.

Summary: your life is your own

If you've read this far, you may have noticed:

We—especially the Japanese, I think—have tended to be bound by curses like these:

Isn't it time to throw them all away completely?

Certainly, the "novel coronavirus," which arrived at the moment the Age of Earth turned into the Age of Air, was not something to welcome.

However, it may be only natural to see it as the trigger we needed to start living our own lives.