Understanding the dynamics of regional growth and shrinkage in 21st Century Japan

Japan is shrinking. Under present trends government projections indicate that the country’s population may decrease in number by up to one third, from nearly 128 million people in 2008 to around 87 million by 2060 (NIPSSR 2012), ¹ due to a sustained fall in rates of human reproduction in the postwar era. In combination with steadily increasing life expectancy Japan is therefore one of the most rapidly ageing countries in the world. With 25 per cent of the population now aged 65 or over, Japan is now a ‘hyper-aged society’ and the consequences of ageing and depopulation are already appearing across the entire Japanese archipelago and throughout all areas of activity (Coulmas 2007: 5; MIC 2015).