"Japan Sinking" Warning Sound... "If Low Birthrate Is Not Solved, It Will Disappear"

Morii Masako, Japanese Prime Minister, "Birth Rate Plummeting"
"If Current Trend Continues, the Country Will Disappear"

A Japanese politician pointed out that if Japan fails to solve its low birthrate problem, the country could eventually disappear.

Mori Masako, an aide to the Japanese Prime Minister, said in an interview with Bloomberg News on the 5th (local time), "If this (low birthrate) trend continues, the country will disappear."

[Image source=Pixabay]

Earlier, the number of births in Japan last year fell below 800,000 for the first time in history. According to the preliminary population statistics released by Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare on the 28th of last month, the number of births last year was 799,728, a 5.1% decrease from the previous year. Since the related statistics began in 1899, this is the first time the annual number of births has fallen below 800,000.

This appears to be related to the impact of COVID-19, which led to a decrease in marriages and a tendency to postpone pregnancy and childbirth. The annual number of marriages in Japan decreased from 600,000 in 2019 to 530,000 in 2020 and 510,000 in 2021.

Mori, the aide, said, "People living in this era of extinction will suffer tremendous damage," adding, "It is especially fatal to children." He continued, "The birthrate is not gradually declining but is in a vertical free fall," expressing concern that "children born in this era will be thrown into a distorted, shrunken society that does not function properly." He emphasized, "We must do everything possible to slow down the plummeting birthrate and reduce the damage."

The Japanese government has identified countermeasures against low birthrate as one of the most important policies this year. Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio stated at a New Year's press conference on January 4th that the low birthrate issue is an urgent task that can no longer be postponed and promised to create "two-dimensional (異次元)" measures. "Two-dimensional" means "a new dimension" or "bold and different from existing measures." It is reported that the Japanese government is rushing to prepare countermeasures against the low birthrate, including a significant increase in the related budget.

Meanwhile, South Korea is also struggling with low birthrate and population aging as much as Japan. Last year, South Korea's total fertility rate recorded 0.78, ranking last among OECD member countries and marking an all-time low.

In response, Bloomberg News reported on the 22nd of last month that "South Korea's population is declining as more people die than are born," and "South Korea's birthrate, one of the lowest in the world, is declining again, exacerbating the economic problem of population aging." The media pointed to female discrimination, high housing prices, and the burden of education costs as the background of the low birthrate.