AGEING IN

JAPAN

International Studies- T2 report

Supervisor - Prof. Monica Chaudhary

Enrollment No. Name Batch

15103297 Jitesh Pabla B8

15103311 Vaibhav Sharma B8

15103201 Ayushi Aggarwal B7

1. INTRODUCTION(前書き, MAEGAKI)
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast
of the Asian continent and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea
and the Philippine Sea in the south.
The kanji that make up Japan's name mean "sun origin", and it is often called the "Land of the
Rising Sun". Japan is a stratovolcanic archipelago consisting of about 6,852 islands. The four
largest are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku, which make up about ninety-seven percent
of Japan's land area and often are referred to as home islands. The country is divided into 47
prefectures in eight regions, with Hokkaido being the northernmost prefecture and Okinawa
being the southernmost one.

The Japanese Flag

1.1 CAPITAL:​ Tokyo

1.2 GOVERNMENT
Japan has a constitutional monarchy, headed by an emperor. The current emperor is Akihito; he
wields very little political power, serving primarily as the symbolic and diplomatic leader of the
country.
The political leader of Japan is the Prime Minister, who heads the Cabinet. Japan's bicameral
legislature is made up of a 465-seat House of Representatives and a 242-seat House of
Councillors. Shinzō Abe is the current Prime Minister of Japan.

1.3 POPULATION
Japan is home to about 126,672,000 people. Today, the country suffers from a very low birth
rate, making it one of the most rapidly aging societies in the world. The Yamato Japanese ethnic
group comprises 98.5 percent of the population. The other 1.5 percent includes Koreans (0.5
percent), Chinese (0.4 percent), and the indigenous Ainu (50,000 people). The Ryukyuan people
of Okinawa and neighboring islands may or may not be ethnically Yamato.
1.4 LANGUAGES
The vast majority of Japan's citizens (99 percent) speak Japanese as their primary language.
Japanese is in the Japonic language family, and seems to be unrelated to Chinese and Korean.
However, Japanese has borrowed heavily from Chinese, English, and other languages. In fact, 49
percent of Japanese words are loanwords from Chinese, and 9 percent come from English.

1.5 RELIGION
Most Japanese citizens practice a syncretic blend of Shintoism and Buddhism. Very small
minorities practice Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Sikhism.
The native religion of Japan is Shinto, which developed in prehistoric times. It is a polytheistic
faith, emphasizing the divinity of the natural world. Shintoism does not have a holy book or
founder. Most Japanese Buddhists belong to the Mahayana school, which came to Japan from
Baekje Korea in the sixth century.
In Japan, Shinto and Buddhist practices are combined into a single religion, with Buddhist
temples being built at the sites of important Shinto shrines.

1.6 GEOGRAPHY
Japan is largely mountainous and forested, with arable land making up only 11.6 percent of the
country. The highest point is Mount Fuji, at 3,776 meters (12,385 feet). The lowest point is
Hachiro-gata, which sits at four meters below sea level (-12 feet).
Positioned astride the Pacific Ring of Fire, Japan features a number of hydrothermal features
such as geysers and hot springs. The country suffers frequent earthquakes, tsunamis, and
volcanic eruptions.

1.7 CLIMATE
Stretching 3,500 km (2,174 miles) from north to south, Japan includes a number of different
climate zones. It has a temperate climate overall, with four seasons.
Heavy snowfall is the rule in the winter on the northern island of Hokkaido; in 1970, the town of
Kutchan received 312 cm (over 10 feet) of snow in a single day. The total snowfall for that
winter was more than 20 meters (66 feet).
The southern island of Okinawa, in contrast, has a semi-tropical climate with an average annual
temperature of 20 Celsius (72 degrees Fahrenheit). The island receives about 200 cm (80 inches)
of rain per year.

1.8 ECONOMY
Japan is one of the most technologically advanced societies on Earth; as a result, it has the
world's third largest economy by GDP (after the U.S. and China). Japanese exports include
automobiles, consumer and office electronics, steel, and transportation equipment. Imports
include food, oil, lumber, and metal ores.
Economic growth stalled in the 1990s, but since has rebounded to a quietly respectable 2 percent
per year. Per capita GDP in Japan is $38,440; 16.1 percent of the population lives below the
poverty line.
1.9 HISTORY
Japan was settled about 35,000 years ago by Paleolithic people from the Asian mainland. At the
end of the last Ice Age, about 10,000 years ago, a culture called the Jomon developed. Jomon
hunter-gatherers fashioned fur clothing, wooden houses, and elaborate clay vessels. According to
DNA analysis, the Ainu people may be descendants of the Jomon.
The second wave of settlement by the Yayoi people introduced metal-working, rice cultivation,
and weaving to Japan. DNA evidence suggests that these settlers came from Korea.
The first era of recorded history in Japan is the Kofun (A.D. 250-538), which was characterized
by large burial mounds or tumuli. The Kofun were headed by a class of aristocratic warlords;
they adopted many Chinese customs and innovations.
Buddhism came to Japan during the Asuka period, 538-710, as did the Chinese writing system.
At this time, society was divided into clans. The first strong central government developed
during the Nara period (710-794). The aristocratic class practiced Buddhism and Chinese
calligraphy, while agricultural villagers followed Shintoism.
Japan's unique culture developed rapidly during the Heian era (794-1185). The imperial court
turned out enduring art, poetry, and prose. The samurai warrior class developed at this time as
well.
Samurai lords, called "shogun," took over the government in 1185, and ruled Japan in the name
of the emperor until 1868. The Kamakura Shogunate (1185-1333) ruled much of Japan from
Kyoto. Aided by two miraculous typhoons, the Kamakura repelled attacks by Mongol armadas in
1274 and 1281.

A photograph taken around 1860 showing a Samurai in full armor with sword. Within two
decades of this photo being taken the Samurai would effectively be abolished and Japan would
move to a conscript army that would largely consist of peasants.
A particularly strong emperor, Go-Daigo, tried to overthrow the shogunate in 1331, resulting in a
civil war between competing northern and southern courts that finally ended in 1392. During this
time, a class of strong regional lords called "daimyo" increased in power; their rule lasted
through the end of the Edo period, also known as the Tokugawa Shogunate, in 1868.
That year, a new constitutional monarchy was established, headed by the Meiji Emperor. The
power of the shoguns came to an end.
After the Meiji Emperor's death, the emperor's son became the Taisho Emperor. His chronic
illnesses kept him away from his duties and allowed the country's legislature to introduce new
democratic reforms.

2. JAPAN IN WORLD WAR I( 世界の中の

日本, SEKAI NO NAKA NO NIHON)
Japanese entry into WW1 began with the Anglo Japanese Alliance of 1902. Although the
cornerstone of this agreement, and its primary purpose, was mutual recognition of interests of the
parties in China, an obscure provision was the promise of support if either signatory became
involved in war with more than one Power. This clause was triggered when the British declared
war on Austria-Hungary on August 12​th​, 1914, having previously declared war on Germany on
August 4​th​. Accordingly, Japan declared war on both on August 23​rd​.

Japanese saw an opportunity to enhance their standing in the region by supplanting Germany and
to take another step towards recognition of Japan as a world power.
Japanese contributions to the Allied effort in WW1 :

● The capture of the German concession at Tsingtao (Qingdao) in northern China. The
Japanese led the attacking force which consisted of 23,000 Japanese and 1,500 British
and Indian troops taken from the Hong Kong garrison.
● The capture of the German Pacific colonies north of the equator, the Mariana (except
Guam), Marshall and Caroline Islands, which wasn’t a dangerous task as none of the
islands had a military garrison.
● The Japanese Navy secured the sea lanes in the Western Pacific and Indian Oceans, not
much of a challenge after the Germans withdrew their East Asiatic Squadron in
September 1914 and the Indian Ocean raider ​SMS Emden​ was destroyed by the
Australians in November 1914.
● At the end of 1916 the British asked for Japanese naval assistance in the Mediterranean.
A squadron of 3 cruisers and 14 destroyers was dispatched and took over all
anti-submarine escort and search duty in the sea lane between Suez and Malta. One
destroyer, the ​Sakaki,​ was torpedoed by the Austro-Hungarian ​U-27.​ Fifty nine sailors
died and the ship was never returned to service.
● In July 1918 Japan agreed to contribute 12,000 soldiers as part of the Siberian
Expeditionary Force, which included nearly 8,000 Americans, to secure, protect and
operate the Trans-Siberian Railroad. The Japanese occupied Vladivostok and their
 soldiers ventured as far into Russia as Lake Baikal. The Japanese stayed until the fall of
1920, losing about 5,000 men, mostly to disease and bad conditions.

Japanese flag during World War 1

For their participation, Japan was accorded full recognition as a combatant by the Allies, with
voting power at the peace conference equal to each of the Western Front powers. Japan also got
four years of freedom to pursue aggression against China without European objection.

Japan wanted Permanent recognition of their annexation of German territories already occupied
and a declaration of racial equality. At the conference, the Japanese delegation proposed an
amendment after Article 21 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, Part I of the Versailles
Treaty, by adding this provision.
“The equality of nations being a basic principle of the League of Nations, the High Contracting
Parties agree to accord as soon as possible to all alien nationals of states, members of the
League, equal and just treatment in every respect making no distinction, either in law or in fact,
on account of their race or nationality.​ ”
On April 11​th​, 1919 this amendment was carried by a vote of 11 to 8. However, U.S. President
Woodrow Wilson, who was the chairman, ruled that, due to the strongly-voiced objections by
British Commonwealth, Belgian, Portuguese and even American interests, approval required
unanimity. All compromise negotiations failed; the amendment was defeated.
Japan didn’t get permanent sovereignty over the captured territories, either. Instead, the League
of Nations granted Japan a Class C Mandate, which recognized that the lands would be “best
administered under the laws of Japan as an integral part of Japanese territory”, and so they were
until Japan’s defeat in WW2.
3. JAPAN IN WORLD WAR II(第二次世界
大戦の日本,DAINIJISEKAITAISEN NO
NIHON)
There were two major places where World War II took place. These places are sometimes called
theaters of war. One theater of World War II was in Europe, the other was in the Pacific. The
Pacific theater of war included Japan, China, Korea, the Philippines, and many more islands and
countries in Southeast Asia.

The Japanese army presses forward in the Pacific theater during World War II

3.1 LEADING UPTO THE WAR

Japan wanted to become a strong country and a world leader. However, because Japan was a
small island country, they had to import many natural resources. Some Japanese leaders felt they
needed to gain more land by conquering other countries.
In 1937 Japan invaded China. They wanted to dominate all of Southeast Asia. They joined the
Axis alliance with Germany and Italy in 1940 by signing the Tripartite Pact. In 1941 a former
General of the Army, Hideki Tojo, became Prime Minister of Japan. He had been a strong
supporter of Japan joining the Axis Powers. Now that he was Prime Minister, Tojo wanted Japan
to attack the United States.

3.2 PEARL HARBOR

Although the US was trying to avoid getting involved in World War II, Japan was worried that
the US would try and stop them from taking over some countries in Southeast Asia. They
decided to attack the US Navy hoping they could sink enough ships to keep the US from ever
attacking Japan.
On December 7, 1941 Japan attacked the US Navy at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. They surprised the
US and sunk many ships. However, this attack did not have the effect the Japanese had hoped.
The US joined the Allies in World War II the next day. The attack at Pearl Harbor united the
Americans with the goal of defeating the Axis powers, and especially Japan.

3.3 THE WAR

The Japanese quickly took over much of Southeast Asia and were well on their way to
dominance by 1942. However, the US won a critical battle called the Battle of Midway on June
4, 1942. Badly outnumbered, the US Navy sunk four Japanese aircraft carriers and forced the
Japanese to retreat. Winning this battle gave the Americans cause for hope and was a turning
point in the war in the Pacific.
After the Battle of Midway the United States began to fight back against the Japanese. They
fought to take over strategic islands in the Pacific. One of the first major battles was over the
island of Guadalcanal. After fierce fighting the US was able to take the island, but they learned
that fighting the Japanese was not going to be easy. There were many battles over islands in the
South Pacific, these included Tarawa, Saipan, and Iwo Jima. Iwo Jima took 36 days of fighting
to take the island. Today a statue of marines raising a flag on the island of Iwo Jima serves as the
Marine Corps Memorial in Washington DC.

3.4 THE ATOMIC BOMB

Finally in 1945 the Japanese army had been pushed back to Japan. However, the Japanese would
not surrender. American leaders felt that the only way to get Japan to surrender would be to
invade the main island of Japan. However, they feared this would cost the lives of up to 1 million
US soldiers.
Instead of invading, President Harry S. Truman decided to use a new weapon called the atomic
bomb. The first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945. It completely
destroyed the city and killed thousands and thousands of people. Japan did not surrender.
Another atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. This time the Japanese decided to
surrender.

3.5 JAPAN SURRENDERS

On August 15, 1945 Japanese Emperor Hirohito announced that Japan would surrender. Later on
September 2, 1945 the Japanese signed a surrender treaty with US General Douglas MacArthur
aboard the battleship USS Missouri. This day was called V-J Day which means Victory in Japan.

4. AGEING POPULATION(エイジング人
口,EIJINGU JINKŌ)
4.1 WHAT IT MEANS
Population aging is an increasing ​median​ ​age​ (i.e. Increase in proportion of elderly people and
decrease in proportion of under 16s) in the ​population​ of a region due to declining ​fertility rates
and/or rising ​life expectancy​. Most countries have rising life expectancy and an ageing
population, trends that emerged first in ​developed countries​, but which are now seen in virtually
all ​developing countries​. This is the case for every country in the world except the 18 countries
designated as "demographic outliers" by the ​UN​. The aged population is currently at its highest
level in human history. The number of people aged 60 years and over has tripled since 1950,
reaching 600 million in 2000 and surpassing 700 million in 2006.

4.2 AGEING IN JAPAN

As science and medical technologies improve, it is natural for people to live longer, healthier
lives. This is generally (and rightfully) seen as a good thing, as lives that are both longer and
healthier provide more opportunities for people to fill those lives with fulfilling activities.
Japan’s life expectancy has increased steadily over the past century, and currently stands as the
highest in the world at almost eighty-four years
The aging of Japan outweighs all other nations, with it being purported to have the highest
proportion of ​elderly citizens​ and is experiencing a “super-aging” society. The number of
Japanese people with ages 65 years or older nearly quadrupled in the last forty years, to 33
million in 2014, accounting for 26% of Japan's population. In the same period, the number of
children (aged 14 and younger) decreased from 24.3% of the population in 1975 to 12.8% in
2014.​]​ The number of elderly people surpassed the number of children in 1997, and sales of ​adult
diapers​ surpassed diapers for babies in 2014. This change in the demographic makeup of
Japanese society, referred to as ​population ageing​]​ has taken place in a shorter span of time than
in any other country.
People aged 65 and older in Japan make up a quarter of its total population, estimated to reach a
third by 2050. Japan had a post war baby boom between 1947 and 1949. The law of 1948​ ​led to
easy access to abortions, followed by a prolonged period of low fertility, resulting in the aging
population of Japan.​ ​According to projections of the population with the current fertility rate,
over 65s will account for 40% of the population by 2060,and the total population will fall by a
third from 128 million in 2010 to 87 million in 2060. Economists at ​Tohoku University
established a countdown to national extinction, which estimates that Japan will have only one
remaining child in 4205.
 Japan's demographic age composition from 1940 to 2010, with projections out to 2060J

5. CAUSES(原因,GEN'IN)
The ageing of the Japanese population is a result of one of the world's ​lowest fertility rates
combined with the ​highest life expectancy​ and suicide epidemic.

5.1 HIGH LIFE EXPECTANCY

Japan's life expectancy in 2016 was 85 years. The life expectancy is 81.7 for males and 88.5 for
females. Since Japan's overall population is shrinking due to low fertility rates, the aging
population is rapidly increasing.
Factors such as improved nutrition, advanced medical and pharmacological technologies reduced
the prevalence of diseases, improving living conditions. Moreover, peace and prosperity
following ​World War II​ was integral to the massive economic growth of ​post-war Japan​, leading
to longer lifespans.Proportion of health care spending has dramatically increased as Japan's older
population spends time in hospitals and visits physicians.The advancement of life expectancy
translated into a depressed mortality rate
5.2 LOW FERTILITY RATE
Japan's ​total fertility rate​ (the number of children born to each woman in her lifetime) has been
below the replacement threshold of 2.1 since 1974 and reached a historic low of 1.26 in 2005. As
of 2016, the TFR was 1.41 children born/woman.
A range of economic and cultural factors contributed to the decline in childbirth during the late
20th century: later and fewer marriages, higher education, urbanization, increase in nuclear
family households (rather than extended family), poor work–life balance, increased participation
of women in the workforce, a decline in wages and lifetime employment along with a high
gender pay gap, small living spaces, and the high cost of raising a child.
Almost 90% of unmarried Japanese intend to marry, and yet the percentage of people who don't
continues to rise. Between 1990 and 2010, the percentage of 50-year-old people who had never
married roughly quadrupled for men to 20.1% and doubled for women to 10.6%. The Welfare
Ministry predicts these numbers to rise to 29% of men and 19.2% of women by 2035. The
government's population institute estimated in 2014 that women in their early 20s had a
one-in-four chance of never marrying, and a two-in-five chance of remaining childless.
Recent media coverage has sensationalized surveys from the Japan Family Planning Association
and the Cabinet Office that show a declining interest in dating and sexual relationships among
young people, especially among men. However, changes in sexuality and fertility are more likely
an outcome of the decline in family formation than its cause. Since the usual purpose of dating in
Japan is marriage, the reluctance to marry often translates to a reluctance to engage in more
casual relationships.
Many young people face economic insecurity due to a lack of regular employment. About 40%
of Japan's labor force is non-regular, including part-time and temporary workers. Non-regular
employees earn about 53 percent less than regular ones on a comparable monthly basis,
according to the Labor Ministry. Young men in this group are less likely to consider marriage or
to be married.
Although most married couples have two or more children, a growing number of young people
postpone or entirely reject marriage and parenthood. Conservative gender roles often mean that
women are expected to stay home with the children, rather than work. Between 1980 and 2010,
the percentage of the population who had never married increased from 22% to almost 30%,
even as the population continued to age, and by 2035 one in four men will not marry during their
childbearing years.

5.3 THE SUICIDE EPIDEMIC

While the elderly in Japan are living longer, many younger people in Japan are ending their own
lives early. Suicide is the leading cause of death for people aged 15-39. The increased suicide
rate means less people in the workforce, and less young people to have children and offset the
ever increasing average age. Japan’s suicide epidemic is an extremely complicated issue with a
long history. It is commonly believed that one reason for the prevalence of suicide in Japan is the
country’s history of samurai who were seen as being honorable for choosing to commit suicide
rather than losing battles. In more recent years, the image of an honorable suicide was reaffirmed
by the existence of the “kamikaze” pilots in World War II, who would crash their planes into
enemy ships. Even with these prominent examples of “honorable” suicides, the view of an
“honorable” suicide is being replaced by the stigma surrounding suicide shared by the most of
the rest of the world.
While suicide is less likely to be seen as honorable these days, there is still not adequate support
for programs designed to reduce suicide deaths. Mental health issues have a very negative stigma
in Japan and are usually taboo, with sufferers afraid to discuss any issues for fear of social
backlash. In addition to the stigma, there simply aren’t enough mental health care professionals
to care for those afflicted by mental illnesses. While Japan has psychiatrists that can prescribe
medicine for those suffering from mental illness, there is little understanding of the importance
of counseling. Mental health counselors do not have specific requirements to work, like they do
in countries like the United States, and there is no state-mandated training required. This means
that sufferers of mental illness, even if provided with counseling, cannot be sure that what they
are getting will actually help them. The seemingly obvious solution to this problem is to add
requirements for mental health counselors and to make the work they do more public and
accessible to those requiring treatment.
However, even if changes were made to the mental health care profession, the stigma in Japan
behind mental health in general and especially depression could make it hard for individuals to
use even helpful and easily accessible resources. In Japan, asking for help is sometimes not seen
as “culturally acceptable,” and this perception must be changed for any sort of help to be useful
to the Japanese public. While the Japanese government has begun some programs aimed at
suicide prevention, and the suicide rate has been decreasing for a few years, the fact remains that
suicide is a leading cause of death in Japan, and that seems unlikely to go away until Japanese
society is able to overcome its negative views on depression and mental health. Until this
problem is solved, the issue of the aging population will only be made worse by the prevalence
of suicide among younger people in Japan.

6. EFFECTS (効果,KŌKA)
The aging and decline of the working-age population has triggered concerns about the future of
the nation's workforce, the potential for economic growth, and the solvency of the national
pension and healthcare services.

6.1 SOCIAL
Demographic trends are altering relations within and across generations, creating new
government responsibilities and changing many aspects of Japanese social life.
the low birthrate and high life expectancy has also inverted the standard population pyramid,
forcing a narrowing base of young people to provide and care for a bulging older cohort even as
they try to form families of their own.
Elderly Japanese have traditionally commended themselves to the care of their adult children,
and government policies still encourage the creation of sansedai kazoku (three-generation
households), where a married couple cares for both children and parents.
.In 2015, 177,600 people between the ages of 15 and 29 were caring directly for an older family
member. However, the migration of young people into Japan's major cities, the entrance of
women into the workforce, and the increasing cost of care for both young and old dependents
have required new solutions, including nursing homes, adult daycare centers, and home health
programs. Every year Japan closes 400 primary and secondary schools, converting some of them
to care centers for the elderly.

6.2 POLITICAL
The increasing proportion of elderly people has a major impact on government spending and
policies. As in the early- 1970s, the cost of public pensions, health care and welfare services for
the aged amounted to only about 6% of Japan's national income. In 1992 that portion of the
national budget was 18%, and it is expected that by 2025 28% of national income will be spent
on social welfare.Because the incidence of chronic disease increases with age, the health care
and pension systems are expected to come under severe strain. In the mid- 1980s the government
began to reevaluate the relative burdens of government and the private sector in health care and
pensions, and it established policies to control government costs in these programs.
With the increasing older population and decreasing young population, 38% percent of the
population will be people aged 65 and older by 2065. This concludes that Japan has the highest
amount of public debt in the world because of the low fertility rates and aging population.
Japan's government has spent almost half of its tax revenue trying to recover from their debt.
According to IMF, Japan has a 246.14 debt percentage of GDP making it the highest public debt.

6.3 ECONOMIC
The Japanese labor market is already under pressure to meet demands for workers, with 125 jobs
for every 100 job seekers at the end of 2015, as older generations retire and younger generations
become smaller in quantity.
The decline in the working population is impacting the national economy. It is causing a
shrinkage of the nation's military as well. A study by the UN Population Division released in
2000 found that Japan would need to raise its retirement age to 77 (or allow net immigration of
17 million by 2050) to maintain its worker-to-retiree ratio.

7. SOLUTIONS (解決策, KAIKETSUSAKU)

7.1 WORK LIFE BALANCE
Japan has focused its policies on the work-life balance with the goal of improving the conditions
for increasing the birth rate. To address these challenges, Japan has established goals to define
the ideal work-life balance that would provide the environment for couples to have more children
with the passing of the Child Care and Family Care Leave Law, which took effect in June 2010.

The law provides both mothers and fathers with an opportunity to take up to one year of leave
after the birth of a child (with possibility to extend the leave for another 6 months if the child is
not accepted to enter nursery school) and allows employees with preschool-age children the
following allowances:
● up to five days of leave in the event of a child's injury or sickness,
● limits on the amount of overtime in excess of 24 hours per month based on an employee's
request,
● limits on working late at night based on an employee's request, and
● opportunity for shorter working hours and flextime for employees.

7.2 WOMENOMICS
While there are fewer younger Japanese people in general, a simple way to increase the
workforce is by increasing the labor participation rate among women. Japan is a very traditional
society, and despite the high level of working women, often women are not expected to hold jobs
to help support their families. It is more usual for wives to raise children and leave the full-time
work to the husbands. However, as there are less young people to work the jobs necessary in
society, women who have left the workforce to have children or who are otherwise not employed
can step in and perform that role. In addition, these women and those already working can
progress to more leadership positions, which will not only strengthen women’s rights, but also
bring Japan up to the international standard of more egalitarian business and employment
practices.
The aims of womenomics are to improve the condition of women specifically, by providing
women with opportunities for meaningful work opportunities even after marriage, and Japan as a
whole, by increasing the workforce and thus the GDP of Japan.
Some policies have focused on engaging more women in the workplace, including:
● longer maternity leave and
● legal protections against pregnancy discrimination, known in Japan as matahara (
maternity harassment)

These policies could prove useful for bringing women back into the workforce after having
children, but they can also encourage the women who opt not to have children to join the
workforce.
However, "Womenomics," the set of policies intended to bring more women into the workplace
as part of Prime Minister Shinzō Abe's economic recovery plan, has struggled to overcome
cultural barriers and entrenched stereotypes. A major setback to the womenomics theory is that
there is a severe lack of affordable daycares to which working mothers can take their children.
While Abe has promised to lower the waitlist to zero, the waitlist in fact increased eight percent
in 2015. In addition to the overall lack of daycares and the long waiting lists to even be
considered for daycare, the quality of daycares seems to be deteriorating, with abuse and
harassment being commonplace. As women are either unable or unwilling to leave children in
daycares, these women are often left with no choice but to stay home with the children instead of
returning to work. Because Abe’s womenomics relies on increasing the workforce by increasing
the number of women in the workplace, naturally women with children will need some way to
make sure their children are taken care of during the day while at work.

7.3 CHILD CARE

It is hard to find people willing to work in a daycare. Many daycare workers complain that the
work is difficult and the pay is not enough to compensate for the stress involved in caring for
children. There are more than enough licensed daycare workers to meet the needs of society, but
many of these workers choose to either not work or take a more profitable job instead of staying
in the daycare system. This is thus an area where simply increasing the workforce won’t help,
because the shortage of workers comes from the undesirability of the work itself and not because
of a shortage of available persons to do the work. There are two possible ways to counter this
problem, namely, by making the work easier or increasing the compensation. Just as
technological advances can increase production and manufacturing, the use of technology could
lessen the stress of daycare workers. A system of human and drone daycare workers could
monitor more children while requiring less workers. There are already robots in development in
Japan that could fill this role. By lowering the stress on daycare workers, this could both increase
the productivity of current workers and incentivize other workers to enter the daycare field,
which would then allow more children to enter the daycare system so that parents can work.
Another simpler answer is to increase wages for daycare workers.

7.4 ELDERLY CARE

The Japanese government has introduced other policies to address the growing elderly
population as well, especially in rural areas. Many young people end up moving to the city in
search of work, leaving behind a growing elderly population and a smaller workforce to take care
of them. Because of this, Japan's national government has tried to improve welfare services such
as long-term care facilities and other services that can help families at home such as day-care or
in-home nursing assistance. The Gold Plan was introduced in 1990 to improve these services and
attempted to reduce the burden of care placed on families, followed by long-term care insurance
(LTCI) in 2000. These plans have been upgraded and revised over the years to provide more
local welfare services and institutions in rural areas, yet the rapidly increasing elderly population
makes these efforts difficult to maintain.

7.5 IMMIGRATION
A seemingly obvious solution to Japan’s ageing population is to increase immigration. Allowing
more young people into Japan from abroad would help bring the average age down and provide
more people to work the jobs that need filled. This would provide the government with more
taxable income, solving many of the issues related to the aging population all in one fell swoop.
This method, however, is one which the Japanese government has been reluctant to pursue,
despite its obvious merits.The issue stems from the fact that fewer than 2% of residents in Japan
are foreign, and many of those counted as foreign are Japan-born “zainichi” Koreans who are
Japanese in everything but blood only. The homogeneity of Japan is not due to Japan’s lack of
appeal to foreigners; Japan actively restricts immigration, citing fears of increased crime by
foreigners and the desire to be united as “one nation, one language, one people.” The Japanese
people have a strong sense of national unity, and the fact that the almost all Japanese citizens are
full-blooded Japanese strengthens this unity on an ethnic level. The general public has been very
hesitant to accept any immigration plan that increases the amount of foreigners in any significant
amount.
Japan's government is first trying to increase tourism rates which increases their economy and
brings in foreign workers. The government has also recruited international students which allow
foreigners to begin work and potentially stay in Japan to help the economy. However, Japan is
strict when accepting refugees into their country. Only 27 people out of 7,500 refugee applicants
were granted into Japan in 2015. Though, Japan provides high levels of foreign and humanitarian
aid. In 2016, there was a 44% increase in asylum seekers to Japan from Indonesia, Nepal, and the
Philippines. Since Japan did not desire low-skilled workers to enter, many people went through
the asylum route instead. This allowed immigrants to apply for the asylum and begin work six
months after the application. However, it did not allow foreigners without valid visas to apply for
work.
Consistent immigration into Japan may prevent further population decline, therefore, it is
encouraged that Japan develops policies that will support large influx of young immigrants.

7.6 INCREASING PRODUCTIVITY

The government has focused on medical technologies such as regenerative medicines and cell
therapy to recruit and retain more older population into the workforce. A range of small and
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have also pioneered new practices for retaining workers
beyond mandated retirement ages, such as through workplace improvements to create working
environments better suited to older workers as well as new job tasks specifically for older
workers.
While strictly increasing hours worked by the current labor supply would not work as a means of
maintaining production, an increase in productivity could work. It is possible that workers will
become more productive over time through improvements in production processes to the point
that increased productivity could offset or even outweigh the decreased number of workers. With
the development of technology, especially robotics, this seems like a plausible workaround for
the decreased workforce issue. Japan is a very technologically-advanced nation, with many
manufacturing jobs already currently being performed by robots. As more work becomes
automated, there becomes less of a need for physical bodies to do the same amount of work.
Japan’s economy would be able to maintain or even increase its current level of exports and
production, even with less people to perform the work.

7.7 SUICIDE PREVENTION

In Japan, there is a great need to reduce stigma on mental illness and increase awareness among
the population since individuals with mental illness suffer from the consequences of this stigma.
Increasing education, reducing negative attitudes, reducing discrimination and facilitating
contact by implementing deinstitutionalization should be achieved in order to reduce
stigmatization in Japanese society
Prevention can be done by developing a system to provide counseling on social networking sites
to schoolchildren suffering from bullying as well as promoting education in schools that
encourages troubled kids to cry out for help. For such efforts to work, teachers and school
officials must be counted on to act when distressed children ask them for help, and support needs
to be provided to enable them to do the job.
The education ministry and prefectural boards of education offer 24-hour telephone counseling
to schoolchildren. Given that elementary and junior high school students use digital social
networks more often than the phone for communications, the program calls for the use of SNS to
listen to and give advice to children who suffer bullying at schools.
The Japanese government introduced a program to address the causes of suicide which includes:
● reducing the number of work hours at companies — in view of the high-profile case of a
Dentsu Inc. employee who killed herself in 2015 after suffering from overwork-induced
depression
● efforts to monitor the mental health of company workers and stop workplace harassment
by managers and superiors
● building a system to prevent post-maternity depression by providing care for women right
after giving birth and support their child-rearing
● and promoting social awareness and understanding of LGBT issues to prevent
harassment against sexual minorities.

8. CONCLUSION (結論, KETSURON)

While the aging population of Japan is a difficult, multi-faceted issue, there are many approaches
that could be taken by the Japanese government to lessen its ill effects. Improvements in
technology could help Japan maintain current levels of output even with a decreased workforce.
Education and more support for mental health programs could reduce the number of suicides that
are so prevalent among young people. Increasing the number of women in the workplace would
not only improve the economy, but would also make Japan a more egalitarian society. While
dramatic reforms to the current daycare system would be necessary to allow many women to
return to the workforce, advances in technology could improve daycare workers’ experiences
and open the field to more efficient options. If daycares were more widely available,
improvements would be seen in the fertility rate, which would bring down the average age in
Japan and secure a profitable future. Finally, increasing immigration, though an unpopular
option, is something that is all but necessary if Japan truly wants to reverse the aging population.
All in all, in addition to free market improvements in technology, there are many legal routes
available to help fix Japan’s aging population problem, and the Japanese government should
pursue these as soon as possible, whatever the social backlash, to help solidify its position in the
world economy and prevent the country from losing all influence in the international spherea.