News that another Mayan
calendar has been discovered, giving humanity an extra 7000 years
beyond 2012, was released this week and the gullible folk among us let out a
collective sigh of relief.
But
things aren’t looking so good for Japan.
On
Friday, a group of researchers at Tohoku University’s ‘Economics of Age’
department released a population clock which predicts that in 999 years time,
there will be no children under 15 years old left in Japan.
At the
moment there are 16.6 million children aged 15 and under in Japan, according to
the Ministry of Internal Affairs and communications.
Lead
researcher Hiroshi Yoshida told the Japan Times that
he released the clock as a wake-up call for Japan’s would-be parents.
“By
indicating it in figures, I want people to think about the problem of the
falling birthrate with a sense of urgency,” he said.
The
clock, which can be seen on the university’s website, shows that Japan’s
population drops by one person every 100 seconds.
In
a press
release, Yoshida said the population clock research was started in honour
of Children’s Day (March 5th) but “Children’s Day 3011 will not
come” if Japan’s birthrate continues to decline at its current rate.
Japan’s
birthrate has been a source of worry since it fell below 2 in 1975. Currently,
Japan’s birth rate is 1.39 however it is expected to be as low as 1.35 in 50
years.
Meanwhile, Japan
Today reports that Japan’s life expectancy is expected to rise even
further to from 86.39 years in 2010 to 90.93 years in 2060 for women and from
79.64 years to 84.19 years for men.
The
website also says that Unicharm, a feminine hygeine and diaper company, has
reported that sales of its adult diapers has “slightly surpassed” those for
babies for the first time.
The New
York Times reports that another demographic study shows that by 2040,
there could be one centenarian for every newborn in Japan.
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