Shocking words from a Yale University professor who suggested mass suicide and 'seppuku' - the ritual imposed on samurai who dishonored the country - to combat Japan's aging population.
The news, reported by the New York Times, was relaunched by the international media, causing confusion.
Yusuke Narita, an economics assistant at Yale, defended his views: "I feel the only solution is clear enough," he had already said in 2021 when proposing his recipe.
And while specifying that his words at the time were relaunched 'out of context' - writes the Daily Mail - he reiterated to the New York Times that euthanasia could become mandatory in the future, allowing the younger generations to make their way in business, in politics and other aspects of society that the older generation refuses to leave.
Japan has a low birth rate and the largest public debt in the world with 1.34 births per woman, lower even than the USA (1.65).
Last year, the Rising Sun saw its population plummet by more than 600,000 people due to declining fertility rates and rapid aging.