Demographic Crisis in Japan against the Background of Attempts to Build Family-friendly Social Policy Tools
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.20.2023.87.06Keywords:
demographic crisis, low fertility rate, ageing population, JapanAbstract
Albite Japan has been experiencing unfavourable demographic changes for socioeconomic development for at least half a century, it is only in recent years that we have noted measures there aimed at no longer preventing the demographic crisis itself, but at mitigating its effects. All available statistical data confirm the demographic trend observed in the country, characterised on the one hand by an increase in life expectancy (which in itself is inherently a positive trend), and on the other by a low fertility rate (which reflects negatively on both the sustainability of the social fabric and the development of the national economy). In other words, it eventually leads to an extremely rapid ageing process in Japanese society. This rapidness can be judged when we contrast Japan’s natural change rate of -2 in 2007 with an alarming-609 per thousand population in 2021.1 The purpose of the article is therefore, firstly, to identify the sources of the demographic crisis in Japan, and secondly, based on them, to carry out a comparative analysis of the case in question to determine factors which have a decisive influence on the problem and to detect whether their occurrence is characteristic only for the Land of the Cherry Blossoms. All this can be referred here to Japan’s current social policy and constitute answer the question of whether it is, or not, overdue in the context of the titular issue.
Downloads
References
“Rising Child Costs 63 Million Yen: Study,” The Japan Times Online, 15 May 2001, at https:// www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2001/05/15/national/raising-child-costs-63-million-yen-study/.
“The Constitution of Japan,” Prime Minister of Japan and His Cabinet, https://japan.kantei.go.jp/constitution_and_government_of_japan/constitution_e.html.
Atoh M., “Japan’s Population Growth During the Past 100 Years,” in F. Coulmas, H. Conrad, A. Schad-Seifert, G. Vogt (eds), The Demographic Challenge: A Handbook about Japan, Leiden 2008, at https://doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004154773.i-1199.7. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004154773.i-1199.7
Dower J.W., War Without Mercy: Race and Power in the Pacific War, New York 1993.
Frątczak E., “Population Ageing in Poland,” in A. Hoff (ed.), Population Ageing in Central and Eastern Europe: Societal and Policy Implications, London 2016.
Fukuda N., Marriage and Fertility Behaviour in Japan: Economic Status and Value-Orientation, Singapore 2016, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0294-6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0294-6
Fukuda S., “The Socio-Economic Status of Women and Marital Fertility in Post-War Japan: Effects on Education, Employment and Family Structure on Parity Transitions,” The Journal of Population Studies, vol. 40 (2007), pp. 79-100.
Hashimoto M., “Economics of Post-War Fertility in Japan: Differentials and Trends,” Journal of Political Economy, vol. 82, no. 2, pt 2 (1974), pp. 170-194, https://doi.org/10.1086/260299. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/260299
IPSS, The Fifteenth Japanese National Fertility Survey in 2015: Marriage Process and Fertility of Married Couples: Attitudes toward Marriage and Family among Japanese Singles, 2015, at http://www.ipss.go.jp/ps-doukou/j/doukou15/doukou15_gaiyo.asp.
IPSS, 人口統計資料集. 表４－２０人工妊娠中絶数および不妊手術数：1949〜2018年, 2020, at https://www.ipss.go.jp/syoushika/tohkei/Popular/P_Detail2020.asp?fname=T04-20.htm.
IPSS, 全国, 生命表データ: 出生数, 1 March 2022, at https://www.ipss.go.jp/p-toukei/JMD/00/STATS/Births.txt.
Jinguji M., “Pre-implantation Tests of Fertilized Eggs Get Green Light from April,” The Asahi Shimbun, 10 January 2022, at https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14518896.
Johnson P., A History of the Modern World: from 1917 to the 1980s, London 1983.
Katagiri Y., Jwa S.C., Kuwahara A., Iwasa T., Ono M., Kato K., Kishi H., Kuwabara Y., Harada M., Hamatani T., Osuga Y., “Assisted Reproductive Technology in Japan: A Summary Report for 2020 by the Ethics Committee of the Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology,” DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/rmb2.12434
Reproductive Medicine and Biology, vol. 22(1) (2023), pp. 1-10, https://doi.org/10.1002/rmb2.12494. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/rmb2.12494
Kato M., Women’s Rights?: The Politics of Eugenic Abortion in Modern Japan, Amsterdam 2009, https://doi.org/10.5117/9789053567937. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5117/9789053567937
KYODO, “Japan Enacts Legislation Making Preschool Education Free in Effort to Boost Low Fertility Rate,” The Japan Times Online, 10 May 2019, at https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/05/10/national/japan-enacts-legislation-making-preschooleducation-free-effort-boost-low-fertility-rate/.
McDonald P., “Low Fertility and the State: The Efficacy of Policy,” Population and Development Review, vol. 32(3) (2006), pp. 485-510, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1728-4457.2006.00134.x. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1728-4457.2006.00134.x
MEXT, School System, at https://www.mext.go.jp/en/policy/education/overview/index.htm.
MHLW, Handbook of Health and Welfare Statistics 2021: Major Indexes of Vital Statistics (Number and Percent) by Year, 2021, at https://www.mhlw.go.jp/english/database/db-hh/1-2.html.
MHLW, Handbook of Health and Welfare Statistics 2021: Number and Percentage of Induced Abortion by Age Group, by Gear, 2021, at https://www.mhlw.go.jp/english/database/db-hh/2-1.html.
MHLW, Handbook of Health and Welfare Statistics 2021: Number of First Marriage and Its Percentage by Age Group, by Year, 2021, at https://www.mhlw.go.jp/english/database/db-hh/1-2.html.
MHLW, Handbook of Health and Welfare Statistics 2021: Total Fertility Rates, by Year, 2021, at https://www.mhlw.go.jp/english/database/db-hh/1-2.html.
MOJ, Maternal Health Law, Act No. 84 of 2013, Japanese Law Translation, 2013, at https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/2603#je_ch3at1.
Mydel R., Japonia w procesie przejścia od demograficznej dojrzałości do demograficznego schyłku, Kraków 2016.
Norgren T., “Abortion before Birth Control: The Interest Group Politics Behind Post-War Japanese Reproduction Policy,” The Journal of Japanese Studies, vol. 24, no. 1 (1998), pp. 59-94, https://doi.org/10.2307/132939. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/132939
OECD, Young population, at https://data.oecd.org/pop/young-population.htm#indicator-chart.
OECD, Elderly population, at https://data.oecd.org/pop/elderly-population.htm#indicator-chart.
OECD, Fertility rates, at https://data.oecd.org/pop/fertility-rates.htm#indicator-chart.
Ogawa N., Mason A., Chawla A., Matsukura R., “Japan’s Unprecedented Ageing and Changing Intergenerational Transfers,” in T. Ito, A.K. Rose (eds), The Economic Consequences of Demographic Change in East Asia, Chicago–London 2010, https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226386881.003.0005. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226386881.003.0005
Okazaki Y., An Analysis of Decline of Birth Rate in Japan, Tokyo 1967.
Ölschleger H.D. “Fertility and Mortality,” in F. Coulmas, H. Conrad, A. Schad-Seifert, G. Vogt (eds), The Demographic Challenge: A Handbook about Japan, Leiden 2008, https://doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004154773.i-1199.14. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004154773.i-1199.14
Retherford R.D., Ogawa N., Sakamoto S., “Values and Fertility Change in Japan,” Population Studies, vol. 50(1) (1996), pp. 5-25, https://doi.org/10.1080/0032472031000149016. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/0032472031000149016
Saito H., Jwa S.C., Kuwahara A., Saito K., Ishikawa T., Ishihara O., Kugu K., Sawa R., Banno K., Irahara M., “Assisted Reproductive Technology in Japan: A Summary Report for 2015 by The Ethics Committee of The Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology,” Reproductive Medicine and Biology, vol. 17(1) (2018), pp. 20-28, https://doi.org/10.1002/rmb2.12074.
Sato R., Shiraishi N., Bando R., Induced Abortion in Japan: A Demographic Analysis of Its Trends and Causes, Tokyo 2008.
Schoppa L.J., “The Policy Response to Declining Fertility Rates in Japan: Relying on Logic and
Hope Over Evidence,” Social Science Japan Journal, vol. 23(1) (2020), pp. 3-21, https://doi.org/10.1093/ssjj/jyz046. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ssjj/jyz046
Slany K., “Socjo-demograficzne aspekty „syndromu opóźniania” i jego konsekwencje dla polityki społecznej,” Obrazy życia rodzinnego z perspektywy interdyscyplinarnej. Roczniki socjologii rodziny, vol. 17 (2006), pp. 13-25.
Statistics Bureau – Ministry of Internal Affair and Communications Japan, Japan Statistical Yearbook 2023, 2022, 2-1 Total Population. B 1920 to 2021, at https://www.stat.go.jp/data/nenkan/72nenkan/zuhyou/y720201b00.xlsx.
Statistics Bureau – Ministry of Internal Affair and Communications Japan, Statistical Handbook of Japan 2021, 2021, at https://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/handbook/pdf/2021all.pdf#page=23.
Sugimoto Y., An Introduction to Japanese Society, Cambridge 2021, https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108661669. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108661669
The World Bank. Data, Fertility rate, total, at https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.TFRT.IN.
Tsubouchi Y., “Changes in Fertility in Japan by Region: 1920-1965,” Demography, vol. 7(2) (1970), pp. 121-134, https://doi.org/10.2307/2060404. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2060404
Tsutsui J., Work and Family in Japanese Society, Singapore 2020, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2496-3. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2496-3
Tsuya N.O., “Below-Replacement Fertility in Japan: Patterns, Factors, and Policy Implementations,” in R.R. Rindfuss, M.K. Choe (eds), Low and Lower Fertility: Variations across Developed Countries, Switzerland 2015. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21482-5_5
Ueno Ch., “The Declining Birth-rate: Whose Problem?,” Review of Population and Social Policy, vol. 7 (1998), pp. 103-128.
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, World Population Policies 2021: Policies Related to Fertility, New York 2021, at https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2021_wpp-fertility_policies.pdf.
Van de Kaa D.J., “Is the Second Demographic Transition a Useful Research Concept? Questions and Answers,” Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, vol. 2 (2004), pp. 4-10, https://doi.org/10.1553/populationyearbook2004s4. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1553/populationyearbook2004s4
Yamaguchi K., Takahashi S., Trends of Population Reproduction in Japan, Tokyo 1966.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
