Tag - depopulation

 
 

DEPOPULATION

A man stands next to a robot in use at ROLEC Gehause-Systeme in Rinteln, Germany on Oct. 6
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 31, 2023
As baby boomers retire, German businesses turn to robots
Small and medium-sized companies are turning to automation as the gradual retirement of the post-war "baby boom" generation tightens the labor squeeze.
The simplest option for many Japanese industries facing labor shortages might be to do what the taxi sector is doing — keep people in the workforce longer.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 26, 2023
Octogenarian taxi drivers to the labor-crunch rescue
An option for many Japanese industries facing labor shortages might be to do what the taxi sector is doing — keep people in the workforce longer.
A woman takes her meal alone in Tokyo's Yanaka neighborhood. As the country ages, Japan's average caloric intake has been shrinking.
PODCAST / deep dive
Oct 20, 2023
Table for one? What depopulation in Japan means for dinner.
As Japan’s population ages and more people find themselves isolated, solving their dietary needs is shaping the way the country feeds itself.
Ground Self-Defense Force members take part in a military review in Asaka, Saitama Prefecture, in October 2018.
JAPAN
Oct 15, 2023
'Not proud at all': Japan struggles to recruit for Self-Defense Forces
Experts have said that the country's armed forces could be weakened because of a lack of personnel.
A woman takes her meal alone in Tokyo's Yanaka neighborhood. As the country ages, Japan's average caloric intake has been shrinking.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Oct 9, 2023
Downsizing dinner: Aging Japan is eating less
As older citizens' shrinking appetites lead to less on the plate, businesses are having to adjust to a new market.
A worker in a factory that makes seats for BMW in Shenyang, China, on Sept. 11. China, facing an economic slump, wants to make its industrial northeast more productive, turning to policies that some economists say have outlived their time.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Sep 27, 2023
Slowing and in debt, can China’s industrial heartland be revived?
The country, facing an economic slump, wants to make its northeast more productive, turning to policies some economists say have outlived their time.
The Nikkei stock index on June 1. Japan equity has gained 95% since 2020, the highest rate among G7 nations.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 25, 2023
Japan shows how to defeat secular stagnation
Outperforming other G7 countries on several economic indicators, Japan is demonstrating how prosperity can grow despite a shrinking population.
An agricultural robot used in Ota, Gunma Prefecture. The agriculture ministry is currently supporting the development and testing of related technologies by companies in 217 districts across Japan.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 25, 2023
As farmers gray, Japan pins hopes on robots and smart agriculture
The agriculture ministry is currently supporting the development and testing of related technologies by companies in 217 districts across Japan.
Couples prepare to have their photo taken during a wedding photography shoot on a in Shanghai on Sept. 6.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 19, 2023
Fewer 'I dos' ruin the party for China's $500 billion wedding industry
The trend is worrying officials trying to revive marriage rates and birth rates, which dropped to record lows last year.
Delivery trucks at a parking area along the highway in Chiba Prefecture in April
JAPAN / Society
Sep 14, 2023
Japan set to expand visa framework to tackle driver shortage
The planned expansion of the visa framework is to attract foreign nationals to the logistics industries and to address the driver shortage problem.
Kohei Saito, a philosophy professor at the University of Tokyo who appears regularly in Japanese media to discuss his ideas, at home in Tokyo on March 16.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 7, 2023
Can shrinking be good for Japan? A Marxist bestseller makes the case.
Saito has tapped into what he describes as a growing disillusionment in Japan with capitalism’s ability to solve the problems people see around them.
Nihon Coffin showcases its products at Endex Japan 2023, an annual funeral and cemetery exhibition that was held at Tokyo Big Sight from Aug. 29 to 31.
BUSINESS
Sep 4, 2023
End-of-life companies look to innovate as Japan's deaths keep rising
A record 1.57 million people died in 2022, up from 1.25 million in 2012, and facilities to store dead bodies are becoming increasingly scarce.
The trend of people getting married later could be causing a vicious cycle of fewer children begetting fewer children, says Takuya Hoshino, senior economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 30, 2023
Third of Japan's 18-year-old women may never have children: study
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has promised to tackle the country's population crisis with "unprecedented" measures.
As China slips into deflation, one word is popping up more and more to describe the gloomy atmospherics: "Japanification."
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 30, 2023
'Japanification' for China? It should be so lucky.
China is not on the path to global dominance nor set for collapse, and observers should consider the various shades of gray in analyzing these countries.
The color of a red torii gate in Bushidaira, Saitama Prefecture, still stands out against a vibrant green backdrop.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Aug 18, 2023
Exploring the eerie beauty of Japan's abandoned villages
Depopulation and an aging society have turned parts of the countryside into tourist attractions for those eager to explore a forgotten era.
Chef and restaurant owner Rikuo Morimoto, who runs the restaurant Andante in Tokyo, on May 1. A 2019 government report estimated that about 1.27 million small business owners would be 70 or older by 2025 and have no successors.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 6, 2023
'Era of mass closures': The Japanese firms with no successors
A 2019 government report estimated that about 1.27 million small business owners would be 70 or older by 2025 and have no successors.
The population of Japanese nationals fell 801,000 in 2022 from a year earlier to 122,423,038, marking the largest drop since the survey began in 1968, government data showed Wednesday.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 26, 2023
Number of Japanese drops in all 47 prefectures for first time as foreign population surges
As of Jan. 1, Japan's population, including foreign residents, stood at 125,416,877, down around 511,000 from a year earlier.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 15, 2023
Japan university admissions seen falling by 130,000 by 2040s
The yearly number of university admissions in the 2040-2050 period was estimated to fall to around 500,000, down from about 630,000 last year, and education ministry estimate has found.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jul 10, 2023
Japan's fertility rate is likely even lower than it seems
The official statistic doesn't include foreign mothers, meaning children born to them and Japanese men are treated as if they were born to Japanese women.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 10, 2023
However war ends, Ukraine's diminished population will hit economy for years
Studies by the United Nations refugee agency show the vast majority of displaced Ukrainians want to return one day, but only around 1 in 10 plan to do so soon.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?