Japan’s Prime Minister has warned that his country will fall over an economic and social cliff unless it reverses its population decline. “Our country is on the brink of being unable to maintain the functions of society,” said Fumio Kishida at the beginning of this year’s Diet session.
Mr Kishida’s apocalyptic statement is by no means news. Japan’s population has been shrinking for years. Rural towns are being abandoned. The number of people in nursing homes is constantly rising. Schools are closing because there are no children to fill the classrooms.