While the country's rapidly graying demographics again headlined the internal affairs ministry's latest census, the annual report also highlighted the fact that only the Tokyo area is seeing significant population growth, due primarily to an influx of younger people.
At the same time, a larger presence of foreign residents was observed in all but one prefecture.
According to the census released Wednesday by the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry, the country's population as of Jan. 1 declined from a year earlier at its fastest pace since 1968, the year the survey began.