It is possible that one day, Japan is among its population more than one child under the age of 14. This is in any case what Hiroshi Yoshida reveals, professor at the Center for Research on the Economy and the Society of Agees, at Tohoku University.
The researcher has developed a conceptual clock highlighting the Japanese demographic decline, while displaying in real time the number of children in the country. The clock shows the number of children alive for the current year, as well as for previous years, and follows its decrease every second.
Based on the official data of the Japanese statistics office, Hiroshi Yoshida managed to estimate the day when the number of children under the age of 14 falls to … one. And according to his calculations, this day should take place on January 5, 2720, in 695 years.
The latest studies, which report a decrease in the infant population of 2.3%, have advanced the date of more than 100 years compared to the estimate made by Hiroshi Yoshida in 2023. The researcher achieves estimates around these figures since 2012, as the Japan Times.
Japan has faced a significant decrease in its population for several years, which should go from 121 million inhabitants in 2023 to 80 million by 2100. This decrease is mainly explained by a decrease in the number of marriages and an increase in the number of singles among the Japanese.
Indeed, at the end of the first half of 2024, the number of births in Japan has reached its lowest level since 1969, according to figures communicated by the government: between January and June 2024, the country recorded 350,074 births, a decrease of 5.7% compared to the same period in 2023.
A dating application to relaunch weddings
Japanese leaders, aware of the urgency of the situation, multiply initiatives to try to stop this infernal dynamic which strikes the country, qualifying themselves this demographic trend as alarming. In Tokyo, in order to relaunch the birth rate, the government has even launched a meeting application.
To strengthen the feeling of urgency within the Japanese company, the website of the dating application claims that “Marriage is a decision based on everyone’s values, but Tokyo’s metropolitan government strives to create a dynamic in favor of marriage so that those who plan to marry one day can take this first step.”
From France, this problem may seem surprising and the means deployed, unusual. Although we are not faced with a demographic decline as marked as in Japan, the number of births has decreased sharply between 2022 and 2023: 678,000 against 726,000, a drop of 52,000 births.
This disturbing trend was also underlined by Emmanuel Macron, who spoke of the need for a “Demographic reset”. So, let’s not be surprised if applications for meetings sponsored by the government soon came to see the light of day in France.
