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July 16, 2025
 

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GRAYING POPULATION

Declining birth rates in China are driven by a myriad of causes, such as a shrinking childbearing-age population, lifestyle changes, the one-child policy’s lasting effects, an oversupply of men and high youth unemployment.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 30, 2025
Why China’s marriage crisis matters
According to China’s 2020 census, 61% of babies are born to women aged 20 to 30. But the number of women in this cohort dropped from 111 million in 2012 to 73 million in 2024.
The Bank of Korea complex in Seoul. South Korea's economic growth is hindered by structural challenges like high living costs, a tough job market and an aging population.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 26, 2024
The Bank of Korea moves beyond monetary policy
Many Koreans are pessimistic about the future, which reflects the intense competition that defines their lives, from education to employment.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 10, 2022
Forget about Brad Pitt in his latest movie; the bullet train is the real star
A new movie finally gives top billing to Japan's most famous train. But it comes during troubled times for the fabled Shinkansen.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 19, 2019
The economic challenge of Japan's aging crisis
What should the Abe administration do to mitigate the damage?
EDITORIALS
Jan 22, 2019
Addressing serious recidivism among the elderly
Repeat offenses by the nation's elderly population are an increasingly serious problem that demands attention and action.
JAPAN
Nov 5, 2018
Think tank says applicants for planned blue-collar visas should have college degrees
A newly launched think tank researching policies for accepting more foreign workers said Monday that as a condition for new visa statuses currently being discussed in the Diet, the government should require prospective applicants to have a college degree.
EDITORIALS
Jun 26, 2018
Fill the gap in nursing care workers
Action must be taken now to ensure the supply of nursing care workers meets the rapidly rising demand.
COMMENTARY / World
May 30, 2018
Making the most of Asia's aging populations
With the right policies, Asian economies can mitigate the risks of this demographic trend and capitalize on their 'silver dividend' to become more productive, resilient and dynamic than ever.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Apr 14, 2018
Japan faces up to the prospect of losing a middle-class war
Modern middle-class life, you could reasonably argue, generates more happiness among more people than any other ever conceived. It has been extravagantly derided — as bourgeois, soulless, spiritless, narrow, boring, mindlessly acquisitive and so on. But back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 2, 2017
Japan has to spend a little less on its well-off elderly
Lowering pension and medical benefits to well-off elderly people looks like Japan's least-bad option to rein in its debt.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 20, 2017
Japan's booming and now needs more immigrants
Japan is favoring more machines over increased immigration to bolster its dwindling workforce, but that solution won't increase domestic consumption.
EDITORIALS
Jan 10, 2017
Redefining the 'elderly' age
As the rapid graying of Japan's population continues, a proposal has been made to redefine the "elderly" age to be in line with people's changing perceptions as to when their golden years begin. In the face of mushrooming social security costs in an aging society, the government plans to start making...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 1, 2016
Brexit vote demonstrated the power of the old
Seniors have a unique set of interests and understanding of economic trade-offs — all of which policymakers ignore at their peril.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 5, 2016
Social engineering backfires on graying China
China's powerful bureaucrats are finding that human behavior cannot be fully controlled or predicted.
EDITORIALS
Nov 2, 2015
Beijing scraps the one-child policy
The one-child policy may be gone in China, but the the one-child mentality remains.
EDITORIALS
Oct 18, 2015
Leaving jobs for nursing care
The Abe administration needs to take concrete steps to stem the flow of people who quit their jobs because they must care for ailing relatives.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 1, 2015
The future is gray for the developed world
Over the next three decades, the developed world is set to contend with many challenges related to rapid societal aging
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 14, 2015
How to cope with Japan's demographic transformation
Japan must take steps to make it easier for women to work while raising families and to extend the nation's healthy life expectancy.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 30, 2015
Is the U.S. government going back to the 1930s?
The U.S. government is slowly becoming an agency for taking care of the elderly.
EDITORIALS
Jun 15, 2015
Migration of elderly residents
Should the government promote the migration of the greater Tokyo area's elderly residents to rural parts of the country to avert a crisis in welfare services for senior citizens?
Students in Japan struggle with Japanese language and math sections on national exam
The correct answer rate for the Japanese language section on a national test dropped to 67.0% from 67.8% the previous year among elementary school sixth-graders.
Japan team finds ancient ocean full of squids
The ancient ocean was full of squids, whose population exceeded that of fish or ammonites, a Japanese research team mainly from Hokkaido University has found through a new method using technology.
Japan researchers identify gut bacteria strain that boosts anticancer drugs
Researchers at the National Cancer Center Japan say a new type of gut bacteria named YB328 could help unlock the potential of cancer immunotherapy.
Tourists in Japan have telemedicine options before calling 119
Foreign tourists at Tsukiji Outer Market in Tokyo. More than 1 million international visitors have a medical issue in Japan every year.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan
After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
Japanese scientists discover clue to why women burn more fat than men
Scientists say a recently-published study could help explain why women are typically less prone to weight-related conditions and may lead to new therapies that target calorie-burning mechanisms.
Music idol and anime fandom merch is big business
Businesses who cater to fandoms gathered at Tokyo Lifestyle Week for the second annual Oshikatsu — Merch Collection Expo, a trade show devoted to fandom goods.
U.S. urges clarity on Japan’s role in potential war over Taiwan, report says
A Ground Self-Defense Force member conducts a military drill with an anti-ship missiles unit, at the GSDF's base on Miyako Island in Okinawa Prefecture in April 2022.
Tourists in Japan have telemedicine options before calling 119
Foreign tourists at Tsukiji Outer Market in Tokyo. More than 1 million international visitors have a medical issue in Japan every year.
Is Japanese skin really ‘too smooth’ for Hideo Kojima’s games?
Hideo Kojima, the leading auteur in Japanese video games, has skirted controversy in the wake of the release of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan
By Megha Wadhwa

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