This year, the Era name in Japan changed from Heisei to Reiwa and people are at the dawn of a new age, the age of globalization.
Accordingly, Japanese people should face many issues.
I would like to write about "Should Japan try to stop the decreasing population? Or is it a natural phenomenon, and Japan should allow itself to become a smaller country?"
Hi there!
I am Aizou from Japan.
this is me :))
・100% Japanese (mother and father Japanese, grandma, grandpa as well)
・From Hiroshima
・Like watching horror stuff
・English skills suck (I'm studying, and it's improving probably)
・I'm 18 years old (forever)
・Very Hentai, I mean, supposed to be cuz I'm Japanese
・Inflexible in my way of thinking (but anything I say is no offense)
・Why I started this? It's because I want to share what I think with you guys
・Waiting for your comment!
Let's get started
Japanese population has been shrinking rapidly, and the workforce participation rate is on a decline. It might cause tardy economic growth. To make matters worse, Japan also has a rapidly-aging population due to advanced medical technologies, which show the potential for an increase in average longevity. In fact, one out of two Japanese people is going to be over 50 years old in 2020. It is likely that Japan will lack human resources.
The government should have exactly stopped these issues from happening with the second-generation baby boomers. However, the government implemented policies benefiting seniors like establishing welfare facilities instead of the child-rearing facility when the second-generation baby boomers were marriageable age. It was because senior citizens have tended to go to the polls in comparison to youths, and the government has procrastinated youths. As a result, the population does not increase now and the percentage of unmarried people is higher and higher every year.
The mass media has stirred up that news, but those things are actually not really bad as you might think. It can be helpful for Japan to pay attention to how Sweden dealt with its aging population, and it is likely that the working environment is going to be improved in associated with the population shift in the future.
Japan has an issue of reduction in the workforce, but it is not a pessimistic one. The solution is not to accept immigration. Even without immigration, Japan actually can build their workforce with women.
In Sweden, women’s workforce was necessary from the declining birthrate and the aging population in the 1960s and women’s social advancement increased sharply thanks to the government’s efforts. It is supposed to be a good opportunity for women’s social advancement in Japan which the proportion of women in managerial posts is still low and there is also discrimination between men and women in the workplace.
Thus, it is essential for the Japanese government to improve and extend systems for women in order to follow what Sweden has attained. According to the article of Nikkei, the Swedish government made policies of “to build child-rearing facilities”, “permission of abortion” and, “to equalize male and female salaries” to advance women’s society (高見, 2014).
Therefore, Japan also should solve a problem of children on nursery school waiting lists first of all, and make adequate systems that women can make use of their abilities as a regular position without anxieties about leaving from and return to a job.
Japan has a population of over 100 million people now. Although Japan and Germany have the same amount of land, Germany has about 80 million people. The UK and Italy have about 60 million people, and they are a smaller country than Japan. New Zealand, which has the same area as the UK, has a population of 4.5 million people. Moreover, in Japan, about 70% of the area is a mountainous region, which is not suitable for living or cultivation, and only about 30% of the area is habitable.
So, there are obviously too many people in Japan. It has caused problems like traffic jams and wasteful spending. If the population of Japan declines and the number of senior increases, the number of 24-hour stores such as convenience stores and franchise restaurants which have become a basis of overwork would decrease, and also the work environment in Japan would improve.
Japanese people would have no choice but to boost productivity with AI and reduce industrial wastes. It is possible that resources in Japan would increase and preserve the environment because of depopulation. Japanese’ livelihood would be affluent rather than needy.
However, some people strongly advocate the question of who will pay social security in Japan with an extended life expectancy. In this regard, it would be good to change the system of retirement at the age of 65 at a company and raise the age. In fact, there are many seniors who lose their motivation and become depressed after retirement, so Japan has many unmotivated seniors that companies could hire as an adviser because they are experienced abundantly.
If those people become the workforce, it will be an economic power and a good excuse for the government to delay the timing of payment of pension. It means that Japan should reduce the cost of the aged society because it is too expensive to carry on. As an example, the Japanese economic and social researcher insists that “streamlining of the pension system is in progress among industrialized countries.
In practical terms, by raising the starting age to receive benefits to 65 within ten years and decreasing the amount of each payment by 20% in ten years, hikes in pension premiums could be avoided” (Harada, 2003). That is a really good idea for Japan to women and even seniors could be the workforce so that Japan does not have to rely on immigration too much.
In conclusion, a social environment in which women and seniors are able to work is necessary for Japan. To realize that, Japan has to change the working environment and provide maternity leave, even paternity leave, and fields in which women can take advantage of their abilities after delivery as Sweden has done. And Japanese people are suffering from the working environment, but it is going to be better because stores open all night will decrease with depopulation.
All the Japanese government has to is cost-cut social security and promote seniors to come back to work. That must make Japan a more livable country.
The population decline seems a serious problem but matured society actually faces a declining population originally. Consequently, we do not have to be afraid of it, even if it was highly publicized all over the world by the media. It is more important to grow and be happy as an individual than to grow up as a country. If you want to be happy under any circumstances, it is the most necessary to accept the present situation surrounding you and think about how to improve from there.
What do you think?
≪References≫
高見幸子 (2014) 仕方がないとあきらめないで 働く女性へ スウェーデンから見る日本
Retrieved from: https://style.nikkei.com/article/DGXNASFK01008_R00C14A5000000
Yutaka Harada (2013) Is there reason to be pessimistic about Japan's declining population?
Retrieved from: http://www.glocom.org/opinions/essays/20030916_harada_is/index.html