Japan's population decline

[wjfox]

I think this probably warrants its own thread now.

Here we can discuss the ongoing trend, the societal and economic implications, Japan's response and efforts to reverse it, and what it might mean for other nations in the future.

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Japan’s population drops by nearly 800,000 with falls in every prefecture for the first time

Wed 26 Jul 2023 06.10 BST

Every one of Japan’s 47 prefectures posted a population drop in 2022, while the total number of Japanese people fell by nearly 800,000. The figures released by the Japan’s internal affairs ministry mark two new unwelcome records for a nation sailing into uncharted demographic territory, but on a course many other countries are set to follow.

Japan’s prime minister has called the trend a crisis and vowed to tackle the situation. But national policies have so far failed to dent population decline, though concerted efforts by a sprinkling of small towns have had some effect.

Wednesday’s new data showed deaths hit a record high of more than 1.56 million while there were just 771,000 births in Japan in 2022, the first time the number of newborns has fallen below 800,000 since records began.

Even an all-time high increase in foreign residents of more than 10%, to 2.99 million, couldn’t halt a slide in the total population, which has declined for 14 years in a row to 122.42 million in 2022.

In January, prime minister Fumio Kishida said that addressing the birthrate was “now or never” and warned, “Our nation is on the cusp of whether it can maintain its societal functions.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/ ... ths-deaths

[raklian]

I think one of solutions they might propose is to relax their strict immigration policies, like allowing dual citizenship, increasing the asylum limit, increasing the number of criteria to qualify for the long-term resident visa, etc.

For a long-term solution, they have the option of allocating some funding to the research and development of artificial wombs and care robots.

[Powers]

If Japan is in trouble then imagine South Korea

[erowind]

Degrowth isn't a bad thing, there are plenty of young Japanese stuck in office life or working for restaurant chains that could take care of elders or work in industry instead. The real crises is that capitalism values office life and mcdonalds over elder care and industry.

[wjfox]

Japan population: One in 10 people now aged 80 or older

4 hours ago

For the first time ever, more than one in 10 people in Japan are now aged 80 or older.

National data also shows 29.1% of the 125 million population is aged 65 or older- a record.

Japan has one of the lowest birth-rates in the world and has long struggled with how to provide for its ageing population.

It has the world's oldest population, measured by the proportion of people aged 65 or up, the United Nations says.

That proportion stands at 24.5% in Italy and 23.6% in Finland, which rank second and third respectively.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-66850943

[Tadasuke]

How about reducing all the most unnecessary work and all the most unnecessary, supererogatory and redundant things? Going the way of healthy and moderate minimalism to achieve peace, free time and better physical as well as mental health. Try to introduce ways which slow down aging (even when only slightly), introduce more well-working exoskeletons, more actually useful robots, more actually useful and good AIs, less pointless stuff that only takes place, time and energy. It is possible.