It's no secret that the birth rate in Japan is in constant decline - now it turns out that it has crossed another symbolic red line: for the first time since registration began, the number of births per year was less than 800,000.
According to the Ministry of Health in Tokyo, last year 799,728 boys and girls were born in the Land of the Rising Sun - half of the number of births in 1982.
At the same time, last year also recorded a record number of deaths (since World War II): slightly more than 1.58 million.
Kindergarten children at a ceremony at Sensoji Temple in Tokyo.
The birth rate is not enough, photo: AFP
Japan has been dealing with the problem of an aging population for years: its life expectancy is one of the highest in the world and one in every 1,500 citizens is 100 years old or older.
On the other hand, the fertility rate stands at 1.3 children per woman - much less than the 2.1 required to maintain a stable population.
In fact, for more than a decade the death rate has been higher than the birth rate.
The economic meaning is that Japan's population is aging, but the labor force is actually shrinking, and with it the ability to finance the social payments required for the elderly population.
Prime Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida.
"To double the support for raising children", photo: E.P
"We are on the verge of not being able to fulfill our social obligations," warned Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in January.
"In thinking about making our economy and society sustainable, we place support for raising children as a priority. Japan can no longer wait for a solution to the low birth rate."
According to Kishida, Japan should double the expenses to support raising children and in April a dedicated government agency will even be opened to concentrate the effort in the field, but it is doubtful whether money is the key to everything.
Among the reasons for the low birth rate - the high cost of living and a constant decrease in household income, a limited space for living, and the distance from the extended family, which could lend a shoulder.
And if that's not enough, the approaches to marriage and building a family have also changed in recent years, with many couples postponing the decision.
A senior citizen walking in Tokyo.
1 out of every 1,500 people is 100 years old or older, photo: AP
The demographic problem is an exposed nerve in Japanese society.
A few weeks ago Yusuke Narita (37), a professor of economics at Yale University, who previously called for adults to commit mass suicide, was in the headlines.
"I feel that there is one solution: isn't this a mass 'spoko' at the hands of the elders?", said Narita back in 2019, who enjoys a large following on social networks.
Last year he repeated his claim and demonstrated the approach in a film about a cult, which sends its elders to jump off the cliff.
"Whether it's good or not, that's a more complex question. If it's good, maybe we should work to build such a society."
In response to questions from the New York Times, Narita said that his words were taken out of context, and that his intention was generally to open barriers to young Japanese, whose social mobility is "limited in a society run by old men", but it seems that his message found attentive ears far beyond the specific context - and drew many condemnations.
By the way, Japan is not alone in the story.
In neighboring South Korea, the fertility rate per woman is the lowest in the world - and has decreased even more in the last year.
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