Japan’s missing children: the population figures emote a sad trend

At the mere utterance of the word Japan, you are reminded of a rainbow of diverse achievements. It is both- heritage and a tradition. The shogun culture of the past is always unputdownable. And so is the the tradition of the samurai. Comic books to texts of inspiration, the shogun finds it’s rightful place under the sun everywhere as does the Japanese tradition of celebrating Buddha.

A country of a whirlwind past and where infrastructural and architectural heights stand- a marvel like no other today. And yet, Japan continues to be dulled by a sad reality that confronts it every single day. For now, nothing could worry it more than the constantly dwindling figures of its children.

It’s rather baffling to note that for the 37th year in a row, the number of children in Japanese population has fallen. This was the situation in the past. This is the situation in the current. A sad reality it surely is and one that is deeply rooted in the recent past as well. The country’s efforts to offset a severely ageing population, it appears, haven’t really gone down well. The figures from 2018- just released- point to a worrying picture. As on April 1, 2018- there are 15.53 million children under the age of 14.

If there was a really worrying time in Japan’s ebb, it is now. At a time where Japan rues much of its contemporary working population being in the hands of an ageing populace, the news regarding children’s population renders what could be a defining blow to the future. Experts believe that the downturn trend doesn’t seem to be ending anytime soon. As a standalone figure, this may not look too worrying or tense.

Where it’s current population is concerned, Japan stands at 126 million. Children make up 12.3% of the lot. This stark reality of the present stares blankly at what maybe an uncertain future. Need proof, here’s some. By 2060, the total population of Japan is expected to plummet further to 86.74 million. What has hurt the country a great deal, it is believed, is that the country has not been able to make up for it’s population spiral despite the foreign populace.

This is another worrying trend actually. Where other countries like Estonia and United States are concerned, that benefit from foreign populace by around 16 and 7 percent respectively, Japan’s foreign population has only contributed 1.3% to the overall population. Who knows what the baby shortage in Japan might actually lead to? It only seems real that the country is fighting many battles on different fronts. The working population, although, being the foremost and most sensitive end. One thinks that the presence of women participating in workforce might have solved the issue but unlike countries like Finland, Norway, France, issues like harassment, gender pay gap (25% vis-a-vis males), discrimination et cetera restrict the females to contribute to the economy.