𝘍𝘶𝘮𝘪𝘰 𝘒𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘢 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘑𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦: 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯, 𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘺𝘴𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵’𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘵𝘸𝘰-𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 “𝘨𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘺” 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭. 𝘒𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘢 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘑𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘦.
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𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘑𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘫𝘰𝘣 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯. 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯, 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴. - Nao Imai
Young Japanese have not suddenly become preternaturally resistant to family life. It has been developing according to economic reality.
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𝘐𝘯 𝘑𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘯, 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘺 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘮 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘫𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯. 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴. - Source: Mainichi Shimbun
Journalist Masashi Kawai, writing in Shukan Shincho, begins with the headline: “Dystopian Japan.”
It’s not only soaring life spans vs plunging birth rates. It’s the precipitous decline in the number of women of child-bearing age. Suppose, optimistically, that the currently rising disinclination to marry and have children – owing to economic constraints, social acceptance of alternative lifestyles and psychological adaptation to both – reverses itself. Even so, a baby boom would hardly follow.
𝘈 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦-𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘑𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦. 𝘐𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘷𝘪𝘨𝘰𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘫𝘰𝘣𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭-𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵-𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘶𝘳𝘦 – 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳. 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦. - Michael Hoffman
I have so many friends who are Japanese and some who left Japan to move other places ... I often talk with them about the situation ... growing situation in Japan and how as a culture and country it's been closed off and trying so hard to keep itself kind of purely Japanese to the point of stagnating on so many fronts. The reluctancy to share culture, to effectively export culture, to bring IN new influences etc ... to potentially lose so much because of stubbornness and stagnation is awful.
Mathematically ... even if everyone started having babies then what happens ... you start directing those kids into specific jobs that need to get filled and there just becomes this entirely #PsychoPass type society of "this is what you're good at, this is what we need, this is what you will do" ... and don't get me started on valuing men more than women and how that has also influenced this issue. So many manga and TV dramas have been made about ALL of these issues and concerns forever.
Yes, exactly.
The solution is easy. Much easier than convincing people to have more kids they can't afford.
Encourage immigration and make it worthwhile for people to employ immigrants and for immigrants to stay.
@tyghebright This is Japan we're talking about 😂 They don't DO immigration ... that's the last thing they ever want. This has been the case for a while and part of the problem. Stubborness ... ethnocentrism ... racism ... and anyway ... it's way too late now.
𝘙𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴; 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥𝘴, 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘴, 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘪𝘱𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘸𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘹 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘐𝘯 𝘑𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘯, 𝘪𝘵 𝘯𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴. - Michael Hoffman