How Japan tries to solve its population problems | DW News

Japan's government wants families to move out of the crowded capital, Tokyo, and therefore has significantly boosted a one-time grant to kick things along. It's now worth 1 million yen per child, that is about 7,500 US dollars. The incentive is part of an official push to breathe life into declining towns and villages. A whopping 30 percent of Japan's population now lives in greater Tokyo. Tens of thousands of people move there each year, hollowing out other parts of Japan which have aging populations. Can these efforts be a sustainable solution to some of Japan’s long-term demographic problems?

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[WilkinsonX]

It’s crazy to me that the Japanese have to bribe citizens to leave Tokyo, even though Tokyo leads the world in Godzilla related homicides.

[anonnymous]

The problem is companies. Instead of luring people to the countryside they should lure companies to the countryside. If jobs exists, enough money will exist to create or revive schools and hospitals.

[Folksgarm]

I am living in Japan right now and the problem of depopulation you can see everywhere outside of the big cities, especially deep in the mauntains or the islands.
There are several programs to get young people to move to the countryside and quite a few ARE motivated. As mentioned in the video, the contryside is missing most things young people or families need: Schools, hospitals, shops, infrastructure and convenience (I hear that a lot) e.t.c. Also the education in Japan has a very strict hierarchical top-down, organisation, where the top schools and universities lie in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka etc. Everyone wants to go there, since it directly effects your job opportunities later on in life. Provincial Schools or Universities have bad funding (money is distributed by a ranking system whre Tokyo Univ. is #1) and also bad reputation. Parents usually want a good education for their children. Above all, many people who participate in the various state programs, e.g. getting a 1 year training to be a farmer, getting paid an average wage during that time, sometimes housing included, and than a financial backing to set up your own business, fail due to the lack of recognition from the old countryside population. In Japan you have to listen to the elders, you cannot go against them or question their decisions. Nothing will be done if the older people and the ones in high position, like mayors, do not agree with it - and you rely on them at least somewhat if you want run a small business. In short: the people who move to the countryside do usually not have the support of the local population, who will look down on them because of their status and/or age. How does this improve the personal situation for younger people in contrast to what they already have in the cities?
This in combination with the aforementioned makes the countryside very unattractive for most. I doubt that 1 mio. Yen/ 7500USD is a convincing argument to counter the problems... a one-time payment for a long-term inconvenient situation. That is the experience I have personally heard from people who moved or have friends who moved. Despite all of it, I personally still prefer the countryside in Japan by a lot - as long as I can earn some money there! The most beautiful place to be.

[homemedia]

Same is here in South Korea. It's very rare to see kids and young people in rural areas.

[csr]

Japan seem to be facing a similar issue as we in Sweden: our govts have completely neglected rural areas.
There are no schools, no upper education, few shops and often even no buses or trains, often very far to the closest hospitals or even smaller clinics, and then they wonder why people won't move out of the cities. There are quite a few places what is slowly turning into ghost towns, and some were only elderly lives, because it makes no sense for young couples with work and kids to go there.
Yeah, the houses tend to be cheap, but cost of living is high and it's just impractical in general.

[c.i.j.]

As somebody who lives in Tokyo with his wife, I would love to move outside of Tokyo but the challenges are:
Worse health care
Worse education
Less opportunities
Worse support systems
Lower salaries
Less places to engage your children in

Tokyo is simply extremely convenient and life outside of Tokyo is extremely inconvenient.

[BenShutUp]

Good luck Japan 🇯🇵 However these incentives aren’t nearly enough and are probably too late too. There are massive systemic and cultural issues that have worked against large families, new immigrants, have done much to discourage childbearing. But I’m still rooting for y’all to improve and grow soon enough.

[RickPossible]

People, particularly young people, go wherever the jobs go, I don't know how many folks would be willing to move to a small town with few jobs for less than $10, 000 USD

[RC]

There is a lot of people who would like to move to Japan, but it’s very difficult to learn Japanese and they are very wary of bringing in immigration….

[doriginalkillua]

Ask a Japanese person why their population is declining and you'll get a unique answer each time. They'll either say it's because of the high tuition fees, the lack of childcare services, the end of arranged marriages with people becoming more choosy, the grueling work culture and lack of work/life balance, and now this expert says it's because women are getting more educated. So fascinating.

Policies like this makes me think that Japan nowadays is just stumbling through life. It's like all their good ideas were used up during their economic miracle. Or maybe, just maybe, it's because their politicians are fossilized dinosaurs and can't think of any better and new ideas.

Knowing that Japan has one of the largest debt to GDP ratio (second to Venezuela), adding an another deficit to subsidize people to repopulate rural areas instead of long term and effective planning really makes you wonder.

[BavarianHobbit]

In Bavaria(Germany) we do not really face this problem. Towns and villages are often actually growing or at least the population is stable.
The Bavarian government made smaller towns of 5k+ inhabitants more important by placing important government institutions there.
Additionally our industry isn't concentrated in the big cities or at least not as much as in other countries. It is not rare for a small town to have several companies and factories that are producing something that is exported globally.
Sure we also have population decline and an aging population but our rural areas still manage to prevail.

[ИванЦветанов-хэ]

That problem is worldwide except the countries with highest birth rates.

[zyanide]

I used to live in Bangkok. Not as crazy as Tokyo but busy enough. During COVID, our family moved to out of town because we can work online.

We never turned back. I understand the fear or concerns before moving. But once you got out, you got out.

Now, if we go to Bangkok, we cannot understand anymore how we survived that city before.

[truthalonetriumphs]

They can create retirement communities in rural areas. Offer retirees equivalent exchange for their Tokyo property plus cash. The Tokyo property can be sold to younger people. The retirement communities will need healthcare workers and doctors supporting a small community of younger people.

[sonny]

Mark san, the interviewee is absolutely right. Although he doesn’t shout out loud, the linguistic element is pretty crucial. You don’t have to be perfect, but you’ll need to be able to conduct day to day conversations. Outside of Tokyo or other major cities, not many people speak foreign tongue.

[SamiLo]

I lived in Japan for 2 years. I would love to move back and live in the country.

[aurorapaisley]

How about having a less toxic work culture and a balanced work to life living conditions

[cricketclassics]

Why don't they give work from home.. Most of this problem will be solved.

[ЖекаИванов-шб]

A highly educated woman from a university in Tokyo tells us the biggest demographic challenges of Japan are people moving to Tokyo and highly educated women postponing birth of a first child

[lucasbecker]

When they say “Greater Tokyo”, they’re not referring to just the 1 city of Tokyo. They’re talking about 8 different prefectures. Tokyo the prefecture is only 14 million (including the tiny remote islands in Tokyo prefecture) and 9 million within the actual city itself.

So yes, that’s still a ton of people, but that means in the giant area that is the Tokyo metropolitan area there are still many many small towns like the one I lived in that are also feeling the side effects of everyone moving to Tokyo (the prefecture) or JouKyo-ing