Regarding the Nov. 29 article "Workforce may shrink by millions by 2030 (study says)" and similar sentiments: It would seem that both the government and media are intent on feeding us a steady diet of hysteria concerning Japan's graying population and contracting workforce, with nary a voice to the contrary.
But consider for a moment that Japan's population is at near historic numbers, nearly twice what it was before the war with China; that an alarming food self-sufficiency ratio of 40 percent makes it the world's largest net importer of food; and that it has virtually no oil, coal, uranium deposits or mineral wealth.
In a world already taxed by unsustainable development, in which global warming will most certainly negatively affect food security, and in which competition for dwindling resources will grow ever fiercer (and is already acting as a catalyst for wars), Japan would do well to allow its population to contract to levels at which it can provide its own food and energy, and at which its citizens can continue to enjoy their comfortable consumer lifestyles without exhausting the Earth's natural capital.
We spend billions of yen on defense against the threat of North Korean missiles, foreign terrorists and illegal immigrant hordes, yet we seem unprepared to take any defensive measures against our own gluttony and overreach. Shrill cries for more children and/or increased immigration -- or "units of taxable income" -- are myopic policies that ignore the real challenges that face this venerable archipelago.