Spoiler alert: it’s not looking good! Buckle up for the deep dive on the birthrate crisis and rapidly increasing aging population in Japan. 

Words mentioned

田舎 inaka - countryside

少子高齢化 shoushikoureika - declining birthrate and aging population 

退職 taishoku - retire, resign 

合コン goukon

住民税 juuminzei - municpial/residence tax 

マタハラ matahara - pregnancy/maternity discrimination and harassment

市役所 shiyakusho - city hall

母子手帳 boshitechou - maternity health record notebook

Got questions or want to share your story? Send us an email at [email protected]

Sources:

Conservative party leader: hysterectomies can fix birthrate

https://www.asahi.com/sp/ajw/articles/15503088

Fertility rates:

 https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h02015/

Population

https://www.asahi.com/sp/ajw/articles/15361310

Prefectures with the highest aging rates

https://www.heartpage.jp/contents/magazine/08-00145/amp#section04

Population projections/predictions 

https://www.jcer.or.jp/english/new-population-projection-how-does-it-differ-from-the-old-one#:~:text=How%20will%20the%20New%20Projection,the%20sustainability%20of%20the%20system.

How many people are retired in Japan right now? 

https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h01796/

Survey done by “mama no wa”

https://www.mama-no-wa.jp/blog-kodomoumanai/

Onomichi apologizes for offensive pamphlets

https://wtop.com/world/2023/07/japanese-city-apologizes-after-advising-pregnant-women-to-cook-clean-and-give-husbands-massages/

Single parents

https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2023/06/23/single-mothers-in-japan-face-discrimination-and-barriers-to-support_6036057_4.html#

https://borgenproject.org/families-with-single-mothers-in-japan/#:~:text=In%20Japan%2C%2056%25%20of%20families,corporate%20stigma%20and%20government%20negligence.

Disappearing towns

https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/society/general-news/20240424-182212/

https://medium.com/tokyo-fintech/japans-municipalities-at-risk-of-extinction-775cf3e30fa4#:~:text=The%20analysis%20reveals%20seven%20prefectures,the%20exception%20of%20Miyagi%20Prefecture.

Additional sources:

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-53409521#

Life expectancies 

https://www.worldometers.info/demographics/life-expectancy/

Time stamps

00:00 Arashiyama/life update

06:06 politician wants to sterilize women

08:32 birth/aging crisis intro & disclaimers

12:05 potential problems 

13:05 life expectancy 

14:35 population

16:06 birth rates

20:13 population decline in most prefectures

26:29 how fast will the population decrease

31:33 why don’t people want kids?

43:02 marriage/birth stats

44:35 what’s the govt doing

48:11 why ppl don’t want kids - our thoughts

57:38 single parents - stigma

1:00:44 dying towns