This is the most terrible crisis in Japan, and the tragedy is irreversible. May 5 is Japan's children's day. It's not long, but it's shocking to see a news from Tokyo sent by Xinhua news agency that day: the total number of children in Japan has set a new record. That is to say, the number of children in Japan is sharply decreasing, but the aging problem is very serious.
Relevant reports are as follows:
According to the latest conjectural statistics released by the Ministry of general affairs, as of April 1, the total number of children under 15 years old in Japan was 15.33 million, a decrease of 180000 compared with the same period last year, a 38 year decrease in a row, and a new record low.
Data show that among 15.33 million children, 7.85 million are boys and 7.48 million are girls. At the same time, the proportion of children in the total population was 12.1%, which was 0.2 percentage point lower than that of the same period of last year, a decline of 45 consecutive years and a record low.
The number of children and the proportion of children in the total population both set the lowest records in history, reflecting the severe trend of Japan's fewer children.
The total number of children in Japan has been decreasing since 1954, when it reached the peak of 29.89 million. Although it increased during the second baby boom period from 1971 to 1974, it has been declining since 1982.
Two things to watch:
First, the number of children in Japan is decreasing year by year.
Second, the proportion of children in Japan's population is decreasing, with each passing year.
What will the future look like without children?
Just think about it and you'll shiver.
In the words of some friends, whether there will be Japan in 1000 years' time is a problem.
This reminds us of another report in the financial times last year:
Japan is building a main road to the greater Tokyo area, passing through a small piece of undeveloped, shrubby grassland. According to the general practice, as long as the owner requests to hire a competent lawyer, the Ministry of land, resources and transportation of Japan will have to pay rich compensation for land acquisition.
But to the surprise of the Japanese government, they can't find the landowner at all. The land was last registered in 1904 and owned by a woman born in the Meiji era.
The officials burrowed into the historical archives. They eventually found 148 heirs - which is just the beginning of the trouble, because eight of them have emigrated. After nearly 200 letters and visits, the government gave up. A court ruled that road construction continued. The whole process took three years & hellip; & hellip;
What's going on?
The answer is Japan's population problem. The dead die, the left leave, and the rest are old. They don't care about this land at all.
This is the most terrible crisis tragedy in Japan
In addition to the above children's data, a series of data can be found:
The number of new born people in Japan will be 941000 in 2017, the lowest since the statistics were available in 1899, falling below 1 million for two consecutive years.
The estimated number of deaths in Japan in 2017 was 1.344 million, an increase of 36000 over the previous year. Compared with the previous year, Japan's population naturally decreased by 403000 in 2017, which was the first time that the index exceeded 400000.
In 17, the number of civil marriage registration in Japan dropped to 600000, the lowest since World War II, and 14000 less than the previous year.
There are fewer and fewer children and more and more old people. People are less and less fond of marriage and having children. What's the point of house and land?
This article of the financial times further analyzes that:
In the past, as Japan's population continued to expand on these small islands, every piece of land was precious; but as the population decreased, more and more land lost the opportunity to use it.
Some land becomes worthless, you have to pay asset taxes, you have to maintain it. More and more Japanese are praying to others to take their land - not even a cent.
According to statistics, there are about 20% of the land in Japan, which is equivalent to the land area of Denmark. There is no owner who can be contacted immediately.
According to the Chinese website of Nikkei, in some rural areas of Japan, people over 65 years old account for the majority of the total number of local residents, and empty houses are spreading like a plague.
In 2015, the population of 90% of the towns and villages (equivalent to towns and townships) was decreasing. Due to the serious "empty city" phenomenon, the police and firefighters were busy dealing with the security risks in the vacant buildings. Every year, 500 schools are closed in Japan.
See:
First, the Japanese have a strong sense of property rights and rarely encounter forced demolition and levy, which needs to be affirmed.
Second, what is the value of land and houses when there are no people? So you will see the news that some places in Japan give away houses for nothing.