Tag - depopulation

 
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July 27, 2024
 

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DEPOPULATION

The number of residents in Tokyo as of Jan. 1 rose by 0.03% from a year before, data shows, marking a year-on-year increase for the first time in three years, while the country's other 46 prefectures saw their populations continue to decline.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 25, 2024
Japan's population continues to fall even as foreign resident count rises
The number of foreign residents in Japan rose by 329,535 from last year to 3,323,374.
Diaper products for babies and adults are displayed at a factory of Daio Paper's subsidiary Elleair in Fujinomiya, Shizuoka Prefecture, in June.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 17, 2024
Japan's diaper-makers look to adult market for revenue as births fall
Japan's population is likely to decline by about 30% to 87 million by 2070, with 4 people in every 10 at the age of 65 or more, estimates show.
Beds that once were used by children to take naps at a kindergarten-turned-elderly center in Taiyuan, in China's northern Shanxi province, on July 2
ASIA PACIFIC / Society / FOCUS
Jul 13, 2024
Chinese kindergartens pivot to senior care as population ages
Some educational facilities are remaking themselves as a recreational center for people of retirement age and above.
Members of the Ground Self-Defense Force conduct drills in Shizuoka Prefecture in May.
JAPAN
Jul 8, 2024
Japan SDF hiring falls far short of target in fiscal 2023
The number of Self-Defense Forces personnel hired in fiscal 2023 totaled 9,959, only 51% of the Defense Ministry's target.
Starting from September, foreign employees on a work visa must abide by a new points-based system to keep working in Singapore.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 5, 2024
Singapore is making life tougher for global talent
The city-state could lose its position as a global business hub if it keeps tightening the rules for overseas employees in a political bid to appease local residents.
While the health ministry has been distributing educational material on blood donation to high school students since fiscal 1990, this will be the first time the campaign is extended to middle school students.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 2, 2024
Health ministry aims to educate middle schoolers in bid to raise blood donation rate
The ministry aims to have educational material on blood donation ready for middle schoolers in fiscal 2025 to encourage students to be future donors.
In the future, more tour operators and sites of interest may start marketing themselves based on travelers' preferences to set their own schedules.
LIFE / Travel
Jun 29, 2024
When Japan travels, it doesn’t mind going it alone
Regardless of the destination, more tour operators and regions are leaning on “travel as a form of self-care.”
The University of Tokyo, the only Japanese institution in the Times university rankings’ top 50, is considering raising tuition fees.
EDITORIALS
Jun 28, 2024
Japan’s universities must prepare for tough changes
Higher education institutions in Japan rarely rank among the world's top universities. To rise, they should tackle long-term issues like growing costs and fewer students.
Candidates for the July 7 Tokyo gubernatorial election Yuruko Koike (left), Shinji Ishimaru (center left), Toshio Tamogami (center right) and Renho pose for a photo after a public debate in Tokyo this week.
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2024
Tokyo governor candidates call for measures on low birth rate
Suggestions range from higher income for younger workers to subsidies for painless deliveries.
The total fertility rate dropped to 1.5 children per woman in 2022 from 3.3 in 1960 on average across OECD countries, a report from the organization has said.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 21, 2024
Birth rates halve in richer nations as costs weigh, OECD report says
Many in OECD member countries are now choosing to have children later in life or not at all, the report said.
GMO Internet Group is making a foray into the artificial intelligence and robot business to spread the use of such tech products and services in Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 19, 2024
Japan’s GMO takes aim at labor shortage with AI and robotics company
It will focus on matching robot and drone manufacturers and AI developers with businesses.
In 2023, 15.4% of China's population was over 65, a demographic milestone that typically slows economic growth.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 12, 2024
Is China too old to get rich?
By 2023, 15.4% of China's population was over 65, a demographic milestone that typically slows economic growth.
A government report says the excess concentration of population in Tokyo has not changed over the past decade.
JAPAN
Jun 11, 2024
Overconcentration in Tokyo unchanged over decade, government says
The government reported that the excess concentration of population in Tokyo has not changed over the past decade.
Legislation on measures to support child-rearing passes during the Upper House plenary session on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 5, 2024
Japan enacts bill to expand measures for tackling low birth rate
To pay for the changes, extra fees will be added to public medical insurance premiums.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is launching its own dating app to support people who want to get married.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 5, 2024
Tokyo government to launch dating app in bid to boost birth rate
Users will be required to submit documentation proving they are legally single and sign a letter stating they are willing to get married.
Many buildings in the shopping district of Anamizu, Ishikawa Prefecture, remain damaged five months after the area was hit by a powerful earthquake on Jan. 1.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 2, 2024
Over 100 businesses closed in municipalities hit by Noto quake
Many business owners are shutting down because reconstruction is slow, people are leaving the area and they have no one to take over in the future.
A government panel in charge of promoting women's active engagement in professional life has said gender wage gaps may be behind the outflows of young women from rural areas in Japan.
JAPAN / Society
May 28, 2024
Gender wage gaps seen behind outflows of women from rural areas
Experts have said that local governments need to make wage gap rectification part of regional revitalization efforts in order to stem outflows of women.
Toshio Itoya, a community leader in Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, says that people will come of their own accord if there is money to be made.
JAPAN / Society
May 21, 2024
Noto Peninsula faces youth exodus amid slow earthquake recovery
The inability to earn a living in quake-hit cities is making them seek greener pastures elsewhere, a community leader says.
Volunteers move furniture out of a house damaged by the Noto Peninsula earthquake in Anamizu, Ishikawa Prefecture, in April.
JAPAN
May 21, 2024
Ishikawa Prefecture unveils Noto quake reconstruction plan
Covering the nine years through fiscal 2032, Ishikawa Prefecture's plan features efforts to create disaster-resistant communities.
A couple looks out onto the Fukuoka nightscape. Due to its distance from Tokyo and its close proximity to South Korea and China, professor Tomoya Mori believes that Fukuoka is one of the few metropolitan regions of Japan that will see some form of growth in the decades to come.
JAPAN / Society / Perspectives
May 20, 2024
Why half of Japan's cities are at risk of disappearing in 100 years
Professor Tomoya Mori believes depopulation will alter the urban landscape of Japan in an unexpected way.
Japan's population continues to fall even as foreign resident count rises
The number of residents in Tokyo as of Jan. 1 rose by 0.03% from a year before, data shows, marking a year-on-year increase for the first time in three years, while the country's other 46 prefectures saw their populations continue to decline.
Ahead of the Olympics, Japan is still talking about the gymnast who won't be there
Japan's Shoko Miyata withdrew from the gymnastics team herself over her drinking and smoking, although it had already appeared as though the association was prepared to send her home from the team’s training camp in Monaco.
Japan’s minimum wage set for record ¥50 hike in major boost
Demonstrators rally to demand a big hike in minimum wages in Tokyo last week.
One dead, three missing as heavy rain batters Tohoku
Camera footage shows the Mogami River bursting its banks in Tozawa, Yamagata Prefecture, on Friday morning.
Brazil issues apology for persecuting Japan immigrants during WWII
Enea Almeida (right), chair of the Brazilian amnesty commission, shakes hands with the representative for Japanese immigrants on Thursday in Brasilia.
When did summer in Japan stop being fun?
Summer in Japan is now consistently brutal enough to drive you indoors and keep you there until autumn.
Japan’s minimum wage set for record ¥50 hike in major boost
Demonstrators rally to demand a big hike in minimum wages in Tokyo last week.
Japan loses top spot on strongest passport list to Singapore
Japan had the strongest passport for six years running from 2018, before being dethroned by Singapore on the 2024 list.
Why Japan's mysterious stash of classified funds escapes scrutiny
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi (right) during a meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Japan eyes gold — and the future — as Olympic men's soccer campaign begins
Japan midfielder Yu Hirakawa controls the ball during a match against the United States in Kansas City, Kansas, on June 11.

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By Alex K.T. Martin

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