JAPAN CASE STUDIES
POPULATIONS IN
TRANSITION: AGEING
POPULATION
The aging of Japan is thought to outweigh all other
nations, as the country is purported to have the
highest proportion of elderly citizens; more than
20% are over the age of 65 today
This aging of the population was brought about by a
combination of low fertility and high life
expectancies (i.e., low mortality).
A number of factors contributed to the trend toward
small families: high education, devotion to raising
healthy children, late marriage, increased
participation of women in the labor force, small
living spaces, education about the problems of
overpopulation, and the high costs of child
education. The leading causes of death are cancer,
heart disease, and cerebrovascular disease, a pattern
common to industrialized societies.
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
The age 65 and above demographic group increased
from 26.5 million in 2006 to 29.47 million in 2011, a
11.2% increase. The Japanese Health Ministry
estimates the nation's total population will decrease
by 25% from 127.8 million in 2005 to 95.2 million by
2050. Japan's elderly population, aged 65 or older,
comprised 20% of the nation's population in June
2006, a percentage that is forecast to increase to
38% by 2055
The aging of the population was already becoming
evident in the aging of the labor force and the
shortage of young workers in the late-1980s, with
potential impacts on employment practices, wages
and benefits, and the roles of women in the labor
force.
The increasing proportion of elderly people also had
a major impact on government spending. Millions of
dollars are saved every year on education and on
health care and welfare for children. social
expenditures amounted to In 1992 that portion of
the national budget was 18%, and it was expected
that by 2025, 27% of national income would be
spent on social welfare.
HAZARDS &
DISASTERS: JET
The 2011 earthquake off the Pacific coast of
Tōhoku, was a magnitude 9.0 (Mw) undersea
megathrust earthquake off the coast of Japan
that occurred at 14:46
It was the most powerful known earthquake
ever to have hit Japan, and the fifth most
powerful earthquake in the world since
modern record-keeping began in 1900
On 12 September 2012, a Japanese National
Police Agency report confirmed 15,883 deaths
6,143 injured, and 2,681 people missing across
twenty prefectures, as well as 129,225
buildings totally collapsed, with a further
254,204 buildings 'half collapsed', and another
691,766 buildings partially damaged
Around 4.4 million households in northeastern
Japan were left without electricity and 1.5
million without water
The tsunami caused nuclear accidents,
primarily the level 7 meltdowns at three
reactors in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear
Power Plant complex, and the associated
Early estimates placed insured losses from the evacuation zones affecting hundreds of
earthquake alone at US$14.5 to $34.6 billion. thousands of residents.
The Bank of Japan offered ¥15 trillion (US$183 Although Japan has invested the equivalent of
billion) to the banking system on 14 March in billions of dollars on anti-tsunami seawalls
an effort to normalize market conditions. The which line at least 40% of its coastline and
World Bank's estimated economic cost was
stand up to 12 m (39 ft) high, the tsunami
US$235 billion, making it the costliest natural simply washed over the top of some seawalls,
disaster in world history.
collapsing some in the process.
The tsunami resulted in over 340,000
As of March 2012, donations to areas affected
displaced people in the Tōhoku region, and
by the disaster totaled ¥520 billion and
shortages of food, water, shelter, medicine and 930,000 people have assisted in disaster
fuel for survivors.
recovery efforts