Sunday 15 January 2012

Japan's New 20 Year-Olds

The Japan Times, 1 January 2012:
"The number of people aged 20 years old this New Year's Day is estimated at 1.2 million, falling to less than half its peak of around 2.4 million in 1970 for the first time....
"Of the 1.2 million people that reached adulthood in the last year, 620,000 are men and 600,000 women."
In 2011 the respective figures were 630,000 and 610,000.
In 1992 they were 1,100,000 and 970,000.
It's a disaster for Japan that for a long time the birthrate is very low and that there is consistently a large excess of males to females.
This situation is exacerbated by foreign men being allowed to live and work in Japan through marriage.
On 12 May 1982 (during the Falklands Conflict!) the European Commission of Human Rights determined in favour of three women whose husbands were not allowed to live and work in the UK.
On 28 May 1985 the European Court of Human Rights ruled similarly.
Meanwhile, in 1982 the decision was taken in Japan to allow foreign men to live and work in Japan through marriage. The law came into effect on 1 January 1985.
Those at the Council of Europe, which clearly brought about pressure ("gaiatsu") on Japan, cannot like the Japanese. P.S. 10 June 2012: BBC World Service It's a Dog's Life reports that the average Japanese woman has only 1.39 children. Young men, it was said, are afraid of rejection by young women. Dogs are viewed as a substitute for children.