Procreation just ain't what it used to be.
Last month, the Japanese government announced that the nation's birthrate fell in 2003 to an all-time low of 1.29. The rate, which measures the average number of times a woman gives birth in her lifetime, dropped from the previous low in 2002 of 1.32. Here in Tokyo, the birthrate is just 0.9978, which means the capital has the dubious distinction of being the first area in the country with a fertility rate below 1.
This was in the newspapers the morning I went to Yokohama to visit my friend Keiko, so I happened to mention it over lunch. What a mistake! My casual remark set off a furious tirade about how she couldn't find a yochien (kindergarten) for her daughter.