Japan suffers lowest number of births on record as population shrinks

[Aepsilons]

Is looking for a girl friend or maintaining a relationship in Japan difficult? Surely guys there would want to start a family, have kids. I can't imagine there are better things in life than to have a beautiful family, even for workaholics or what not.

Not necessarily difficult. Its just that some guys or girls are so busy -- literally working sometimes 50 to 70 hour work weeks. This is so common, so much that social life is really affected. I mean, some folks just take it to the extreme where they sacrifice social life for career. Japanese younger generation are -- sexual -- believe me you. We are. Just that not many of us are finding it important to marry or have kids until we're at a comfortable level with our profession(s)/ career(s). I can find a girl easy, but is marriage on my mind? No. Just not a priority, yet. I think most of my fellow comrades would agree with me.

 

[sahaliyan]

The birth rate of northeast China is even lower than Japan

 

[Aepsilons]

The birth rate of northeast China is even lower than Japan

What's the reason for this ? I had always assumed that Manchukuo was a very fertile place.

 

[sahaliyan]

And contraception played an important role in this,you can see,people still sex with their partners a lot,but they can sex without baby,in the past,things were different,the technology of contraception developed well in 20 th century.
And people's mind changed,they should take care well their children,gave their good education,make them success in modern society,if you have too many children,things are hard for you,because how can you take care so many children and make them well?Also the price of houses is expensive,people should work hard to buy houses,should work hard to earn more money,they have no time to take care too many children
And many young people just want fun,they don't want to have baby,because have many babies,they should spend times in their children,what about the times to play or fun?

 

[Yizhi]

What's the reason for this ? I had always assumed that Manchukuo was a very fertile place.

northeast china's economy was not very good for a few decades (compared with coastal areas) and most state-owned stuff were in northeast. most of those are out of strategical thinking rather than economical ones... besides neighboring north Korea and Siberia...
wherever state sector dominates, one-child policy is strict...and lots of young northeastern-er move to other parts of the country for opportunities...so it's not such a surprise.
with one child policy gone we can expect more kids, but not too many...

 

[Aepsilons]

northeast china's economy was not very good for a few decades (compared with coastal areas) and most state-owned stuff were in northeast. most of those are out of strategical thinking rather than economical ones... besides neighboring north Korea and Siberia...
wherever state sector dominates, one-child policy is strict...and lots of young northeastern-er move to other parts of the country for opportunities...so it's not such a surprise.
with one child policy gone we can expect more kids, but not too many...

I think this is a phenomena affecting Northeast Asia as a whole. I know that the reproduction rate in Korea is also quite lower, actually even lower than Japan's. Now hearing that this is also happening in Manchuguo , its quite alarming. In regards to China, the CCP should really reverse this 1 child policy -- as a way to address this demographic issue. As for Japan and Korea, I think lowering taxes, increasing more resources for pregnant women, encouraging prenatal care, and encouraging birthing should be done nation-wide.

 

[Yizhi]

I think this is a phenomena affecting Northeast Asia as a whole. I know that the reproduction rate in Korea is also quite lower, actually even lower than Japan's. Now hearing that this is also happening in Manchuguo , its quite alarming. In regards to China, the CCP should really reverse this 1 child policy -- as a way to address this demographic issue. As for Japan and Korea, I think lowering taxes, increasing more resources for pregnant women, encouraging prenatal care, and encouraging birthing should be done nation-wide.

i think this is somewhat about gender equity...
for ppl to be stable, 2 kids per women, while in reality we need female to be at least comfortable to think about having 3...
which is almost impossible if she still wants to persue career...1 kid you can work, 2 you have some difficulty to balance with job, 3 kids means you have to be a stay at home mom...it's unfair to ask women to give up economical independence just to raise kids. also very insecure(divorce...)
plus us east Asians are obsessed with education...we just can't watch our kids do poorly in school...so we will sacrifice quantity for quality...which dosen't help ppl growth....

 

[Aepsilons]

i think this is somewhat about gender equity...
for ppl to be stable, 2 kids per women, while in reality we need female to be at least comfortable to think about having 3...
which is almost impossible if she still wants to persue career...1 kid you can work, 2 you have some difficulty to balance with job, 3 kids means you have to be a stay at home mom...it's unfair to ask women to give up economical independence just to raise kids. also very insecure(divorce...)
plus us east Asians are obsessed with education...we just can't watch our kids do poorly in school...so we will sacrifice quantity for quality...which dosen't help ppl growth....

Very interesting analysis @Yizhi . 2 to 3 children is just right, and to satisfy our East Asian trait of continuing the name as well as preference for boy babies, 3 is a good number. I'm not going to try to pretend like it does not exist-- so I will be honest that in Japanese culture, there is a preference for boy babies than girls. Having 1 boy or 2 girls, or 2 boys and 1 girl is arguably a good combination. I agree with you that education is important -- and this is where the nuclear family dynamic comes to play -- its so important to have the grandparents (A-mah, A-yeh) take an active role in help raise the children -- in the case that both parents are working. From my personal experience -- this was the case. Both my parents worked and so when My siblings and I were growing up, both my grandparents (mother's and father's) side took turns in watching over us, raising. Later on, when our grandparents were much older and we , the grandchildren, were older, we took care of them in their dotage. It is part of the Filial Culture of East Asia. It is hard to continue this Filial culture if we are only having 1 child. Healthy number should be 2 to 3.

 

[Yizhi]

From my personal experience -- this was the case. Both my parents worked and so when My siblings and I were growing up, both my grandparents (mother's and father's) side took turns in watching over us, raising. Later on, when our grandparents were much older and we , the grandchildren, were older, we took care of them in their dotage. It is part of the Filial Culture of East Asia. It is hard to continue this Filial culture if we are only having 1 child. Healthy number should be 2 to 3.

you are lucky to have siblings..
i'm the product of one child policy, with both parents working in public sector (teachers..government..you get the idea), there is no way my parents can bypass it...
grandparents are helpful, but they are old too(need care), and in china's case, not very educated(though very kind and warm). parents are still the most important..
i think society has to step in someday(financially..at the end it's all about money). you can't entirely depend on grandparents...

 

[Audio]

Japanese Women Won't Marry Low-Income Earners, Reveals Poll - japanCRUSH

This list is, extremely generic with sensationalist bait title.....the low income comment was from an apparently older lady (aged69), perhaps she has medical bills to pay, the other reasons are just mundane.....nothing out of the ordinary.

As for fertility, if Hitomi Tanaka is up for grabs, i'd gladly offer some of my expertise in alleviating the problem.

 

[Kyoto]

IMO, if South Korea's birth rate is even lower, they'll be faced with the same problems as Japan soon enough. However, (I'm not trying to generalize) SK may have an even harder time since they've acquired a reputation for being racist.

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Yes, but Korea's economy is still growing well unlike Japan's. I think Japan's popular culture (anime, manga, karaoke) is more international and makes it more appealing to foreigners, I know quite a few young people who'd move to Japan as well as myself .

 

[CountStrike]

Yes, but Korea's economy is still growing well unlike Japan's. I think Japan's popular culture (anime, manga, karaoke) is more international and makes it more appealing to foreigners, I know quite a few young people who'd move to Japan as well as myself .

bro, are you otaku? LoL.. actually japanese pop culture is famous in the world. In indonesia anime, manga and idol is become daily entertainment for teenage. even one of the biggest idol group in japan make sister group in Jakarta. LoL..

 

[Zabaniyah]

Yes, but Korea's economy is still growing well unlike Japan's. I think Japan's popular culture (anime, manga, karaoke) is more international and makes it more appealing to foreigners, I know quite a few young people who'd move to Japan as well as myself .

It is very expensive to live there - in a rather ridiculous kind of way.

 

[halfilhal]

The tharkis of Asia prefer to utilize their time exploring new forms of tharakpan. No time for baby-sitting.

 

[Azizam]

How about taking highly qualified immigrants rather than taking in junks of peoole indiscriminately which will help Japan to avoid the problems that the Europe is facing right now? Or students who are pursuing their studies in limited subject areas defined by tge state according to its needs?

I for one would love to live in Japan.