According to recent research taken by demographers, Japan has always had problems with its population. In 91 B.C. researchers believe that Japan had a very high population and was worried about using up their resources. But, despite their attempts to decrease their population by the year 721, Japan had a population of 458 million. Then its population was diminished to an all time low of 18 million from 1603 to 1867. And then in 1872 the population grew rapidly yet again. And then in 1930 it grew even more followed by its steady decline in the present. Japan has always been trying to stabilize their population without much success.
Japan’s problem was brought on by a number of things. One being their large industrious society. More people in Japan move to the big cities and do not have children. And although this would normally be a very serious problem for the citizens of Japan, for fear of dying out, it was not serious for a long time. In 2005, Japan’s population reached its peak at 127 million. However, after that it is expected to decline to 105 million by
2050. Japan’s birth rate is expected to decline 30% in the future. Japan has known about this serious problem and has taken action against it. Japan tried to initiate the “Angel Plan”, which was a program to support child rearing, without success. The program was basically a counseling service designed to encourage working people to have children.
Many people have tried to figure out why Japanese women are less likely to have children. Japanese women are more inclined to marry at a later age and thus having children at a later age or not at all. Only 27.9 percent of women in Japan, according to a recent survey, said that they want to have children. And women of Japan are less likely to
reproduce for fear of overpopulation. In the 1930’s, Japanese women were encouraged to have children to fight the war effort. At the same time abortion clinics were shut down. Japan’s population greatly increased, but because they feared overpopulation people stopped having children. People of Japan are so used to this lifestyle that they just don’t have children as much as they used to.
Another huge problem Japan faces is its lack of immigration and high suicide rate. For years Japan has had little to no immigration coming into their country. And at the same time more and more citizens of Japan are committing suicide. The reason is Japan’s industrious lifestyle. Because so many people are competing for jobs in Japan, everybody isn’t going to get one. This is cause for high stress levels and that can lead to suicide.
If Japan does die out, then other countries will suffer as well. Although Japan’ industrious society is the main cause for their population problem, it has made them have a very strong economy. They export many goods to some countries, what will happen to them if Japan dies out?
