The subject of Japan’s shrinking birth rate — called shoshika in Japanese — is something I write about a lot, since it’s talked about often in Japan. While most modern democracies have low birth rates, Japan’s is among the lowest with just 1.22 children per couple, which compares with 2.05, 1.66, and 1.89 for the U.S., U.K. and France. But why are so few babies being born in Japan? Well, there are many different trends at work, including the hyper-urbanized world where most Japanese live today, the changing roles of women in society, and the ongoing effects of Japan’s long economic crisis. People definitely get married and start having children later than they used to, too — back when I arrived in Japan in 1991, it was common for girls to worry about being “Christmas Cakes” if they didn’t get married by the age of 25, since no one wants to buy a Christmas Cake after December 25th. With so many options available to Japanese people these days, this kind of thinking is unheard of now. Japan’s stressed-out society doesn’t help the situation either, and I know of several women who are undergoing fertility treatment to get pregnant.
But J-List’s staff isn’t taking the problem Japan’s falling population lying down. No, we’re doing our part to raise the population, and we’ve got good news: Tomo, the J-List employee who keeps our site stocked with interesting DVDs, Blu-Ray discs and other products, is the proud father of a new son, little Motoharu, who was born safely to his mother yesterday. Congratulations to the proud parents!
Japan is running out of children as its birth rate falls. But J-List isn’t giving up!
