THE EXTINCTION (demise) OF LOCAL ( Provincial )
AUTONMOUS BODY
( Municipali
ties
)
7/June
k.
Inokuchi
The shocking estimation was announced on 8th May 2014 that 50% of local
autonomous
body will extinguish naturally in the near future because of the
reduction of the population. ( news of the prediction that 50% of autonomous local
bodies ) will be eliminated in the near future due to the rapid aging and decline in
population was released on May 8th 2014 .) Report says ( The report says ) that even if
we increase the birth rate we ( the birth rate increased, Japan ) could not evade this
extinction of local autonomous body. ( reverse this decline. )
This estimation was done by the non-government group “Japan policy council”
They found that 30 years after 2010, the number of ladies, ( women ) aged 20 to 39 years,
who are the majority of giving birth ( that is those of normal child bearing age, ) will
decrease more than 50% at the 896 local autonomous body out of total 1,800. ( in 896
localities of a total of 1,800 that currently exist in Japan. )It becomes 49.8%. ( According
to these figures only 49.8% of local entities will remain viable. ) These 896 autonomous
bodies were named “Extinctive City” (Extinguishable City??) ( Disappearing Cities )and
contain high ( a high ) possibility of disappearance ( loss of status as an autonomous
local authority / body ) in the future if they don’t take proper counter measure.
( measures. ) In ( Of ) these 896 autonomous body, ( bodies, ) 526 were especially decided
( specially defined ) as “Higher possibility city of extinction” ( High Risk Disappearing
Cities )because the population of the city will be reduced less ( to less ) than 10,000
[after] 30 years from now.
Particularly at ( Of particular vulnerability were ) the 5 prefectures such as ( of ) Aomori,
Iwate, Akita, Yamagata and Shimane more than 80% of the local autonomous bodies
were proved as the “Extinctive City”. ( where more than 80% of independent municipal
localities may be dissolved / disbanded / amalgamated with more populous local bodies )
At the 24 prefecture of Japan, ( In 24 of Japan's prefectures ) this “Extinctive City” rate
became more than 50%. Among these ( those ) 24 prefectures, especially Akita
prefecture ( Akita prefecture in particular ) was the worst and ( most vulnerable with )
24 cities out of 25 [were] judged as the “Extinctive city”. On the other hand, even among
23 words at Tokyo, ( among Tokyo's 23 wards ) the Toshima was found as only word
which contains possibility of extinction. ( Toshima ward was the only one at risk of
losing it's autonomous status. )
The decrease of Japanese ( dramatic decrease in Japan's ) population had already
been pointed out ( postulated ) many years ago and it is not a new problem or surprise.
( or surprising phenomenon. ) So some ( In answer to this perceived crisis, some )
Government council has ( councils have ) been making the target which achieves 100
million Japanese population at the year 2060. ( formulating a plan to maintain a target
population of at least one hundred million people into and beyond the year 2060. )
But this time, this private council has calculated focusing ( also focused it's
calculations ) on the trend of the people’s flow from local area to urban area. ( population
flow from rural to urban areas. ) This is just a new and different research point from
previous research.
This council proved that roughly 12 million people had shifted ( migrated ) to urban
area ( areas ) from local area ( rural districts ) after the War and decided ( War. The
study concluded that ) this is the main reason of ( for ) the population deduction at the
local area. ( the decline in the rural population. ) Even now, every year, several ten
thousand people(??) ( tens of thousands of people ) are shifting into the urban area and
if ( moving to the cities. If ) this shifting ( trend ) continues in ( continues, in the ) future,
the half of the local autonomous body could not maintain himself because of the
decrease of the proper aged women for giving birth. ( half of the rural local bodies would
not be able to remain viable as independent entities due to the decrease in numbers of
women of child bearing age. ) They declare ( assert ) that at ( in ) the area where the
young people are reducing ( areas which are losing most of their young people ) it is
basically ( would basically be ) impossible to maintain autonomous body ( autonomy )
despite of the increasing of his birth rate. ( even if the birth rate increased. )
The shifting of population from the local area ( rural areas ) to the urban area
( urban areas ) has a close relation with ( has a close relationship with / is closely related
to ) the ratio of job offers to job seekers. In other words, the flowing out ( outflow ) of
[the] people from the local area continues ( rural areas will continue ) ) as long as there
is a job demand at the urban area. ( a demand for human resources from urban areas. )
The people’s aging is also continuing at the urban area and job demand for this “Aged
person care” will increase badly.( aging of the population is also a factor in the cities and
will further fuel an in creased demand for workers in the elderly nursing care industry. )
This situation also, with sure, accelerate the following of young people to the urban area.
( will further accelerate the flow of young people into urban localities. )
The council points out that not only increasing the birth rate to 1.8--2.1 from 1.4 at
present ( the current level of 1.4 ) but also we have to take some countermeasures
( other countermeasures will have to be taken ) to prevent the flowing of young people
from the local area to urban area. ( this trend. )
Practically ( There is a scheme to address this problem in a practical way called ) the
“Tiny work base” which is attractive for the young people shall be constructed and these
bases shall be linked with transportation system and network system. ( hoped to be
attractive to young people. It is planned for these bases to be linked via transport and
( ?Computer?) networks in order for them to be able to connect with each other and
larger industrial centers in Japan and overseas. ) Utilizing these systems, we can enrich
the educational facilities and ( of rural areas and )generally reduce the living cost
( living costs ) then we can realize the ( create a ) good and safe environment for [the]
young people to raise children.
Also regarding ( Also, in regards to ) the Japanese economy, we have to establish and
co-exist such 2 groups of working area as the global economic area which aimed for the
global competition and the local economic area which aimed for the local demand.( an
economic system which is able to compete with the world economy and also meet the
demands of the local economy. )
These are the countermeasure to prevent the people’s flowing into the urban area.
( extreme depopulation of the rural districts. )
But there is an opposite ( another ) opinion not to resist against the people’s flowing to
the urban area ( is against resisting this trend ) as it ( it's proponents say that it ) is a
natural tendency for the matured ( in a mature ) society.
Question 1: What do you think of the reason why ( is the reason ) people flow to urban
area? ( areas? )
Question 2: What is the best countermeasure to stop this flow and extinction? ( the
demise of rural entities? )
Or we don’t need to take any countermeasures?
Question 3: How is the situation in other developed countries such as USA, England or
New Zealand?