JAPAN’S DECLINING BIRTH RATE A NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT

Written by Michael Thervil

JAPAN’S DECLINING BIRTH RATE A NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT | PHOTOGRAPHER UNKNOWN

[Japan birth rate] When it comes to geopolitics, one of the reason why Japan has consistently failed to resist American pressure is due to its declining birth rate. If not resolved will lead to the demise of the people and culture of Japan in the foreseeable future. It was recently reported by the Japanese Health Ministry that there was a 5.7% drop in births in Japan last year which resulted in only 686,061 Japanese babies being born in 2024. It was also reported that the fertility rate in Japan fell from the expected 2 births per family to 1. This combined with the fact that the eldest of Japan have been dying off in significant numbers, has led to the shrinking of the population of Japan. The question many Sociologists and Demographers around the world are asking is why?

Although there is no single and clear answer to this question, there are, however, several factors that make answering this question complex. Speaking directly with a Japanese journalist, she provided a special insight into why birthrates have been declining in Japan over the years. The first two issues she highlighted were that Japanese women have taken on too much responsibility in terms of domestic duties and pursuing their careers. According to her, the juggling act of attempting to balance a career and engaging in domestic duties have become overwhelming for many Japanese women. All of this has led to Japanese women being “burnt out”.

According to her, this in conjunction with the fact that Japanese men don’t do enough to not only help women in the home with domestic duties but spend all their time working and at times overworking makes matters even worse. Adding insult to injury, our source also stated that Japanese women are treated “less than” and in some cases “treated like slaves” in Japanese culture. Our source also stated that the “youth in Japan seem to have no hope for the future”. When asked why she thinks this is; she stated that:

“Those in power in Japan are too conservative and have not adapted to the changing times.”

For the youth in Japan, it's easy to see how this can be a real problem. As they watch the world change into more liberal ideas in terms of cultural diversity, they can feel as if they are “stuck in the past”. Our source also provided another big issue as to why Japan has such a declining birth rate and that is because of racism and nationalistic pride. She stated that within Japanese culture, the older generations tend to frown upon both interracial marriages and interracial relationships while the younger Japanese population seems to be more open to the idea of dating and marrying people who aren’t Japanese.

Our source also revealed that the youth aren’t interested in getting married because of financial reasons. While the cost of living is considered to be expensive by many people in Japanese, the cost of having and raising a family is perceived as even greater. This is despite Japan having a relatively high employment rate and workers working 40 hours a week and mostly more. With elderly Japanese dying at a faster rate than they can be replaced is leaving Japan in not only a socio-economic quagmire, but the declining population of Japan is now presenting itself as a national security risk. Many fear that if the Japanese government doesn’t correct this issue, then the ramifications could put Japan in the position to be subjugated on the world stage.