Japan’s demographic crisis is deepening faster than expected, with the number of births this year on track to fall below even the government’s most pessimistic projections.
Archived version: https://archive.is/20251228215131/https://slguardian.org/japans-birth-rate-set-to-break-even-the-bleakest-forecasts/
Disclaimer: The article linked is from a single source with a single perspective. Make sure to cross-check information against multiple sources to get a comprehensive view on the situation.
There are three solutions to adjusting the so-called ‘replacement rate:’
Options 1 and 2 haven’t worked too well, and option 3 can cause a lot of political issues.
Not sure there’s a good way to avert the end-game.
Edit: actually there are two other solutions: cloning, and senecide (killing the elderly). It’s dystopian SciFi and totally unethical, but they’re there.
I’d argue that Japan has historically done pretty well at the first. I don’t find the healthcare system here perfect, but I have many elderly in-laws who get great care. There’s probably going to be a decline in quality and/or availability as the issues persist, though.
3 leads to more than just “political issues”, you are replacing your country’s people and culture with others that will in all likelihood have far higher birth rates
Not “replacing” unless you bring in like 50k+ immigrants per year and give them disproportionate power over everything. Immigrants bring their culture, but they’re always the ones who have to adapt.
Currently Japan brings in 153k in the last year, and 175k in the year before - and these are net stats
And? Where does this xenophobic train of go?