Japan is dying and nothing works. Coming soon to Europe

Japan has been losing population for years and closing public services across much of its territory, while concentrating activity in Tokyo. Policies to raise the birth rate have not reversed the trend.

## Fewer young people, more elderly

Japan has a demographic problem that cannot be fixed with quick patches. Every year there are fewer young people and more elderly, and that combination shows across the whole country. The Japanese population has been shrinking since 2011, according to official censuses, and the fertility rate stands at around **1.2 children per woman**, well below replacement level.

The government has tried everything. Dating apps so young people can meet, subsidies for families to move to the countryside, or attempts to robotise nursing homes. None of these measures has changed the underlying trend.

## Infrastructure falling apart

The result is visible across the territory. Train and bus lines, schools and public services are closing in areas where there are no longer enough people to keep them running. Bridges and roads are being abandoned because there is neither budget nor users.

Tokyo works as a shop window. The capital concentrates activity and tourism, but the rest of the country is emptying out. The abandonment of the **Fukushima** region after the **2011** nuclear accident was a turning point, although the phenomenon started earlier.

## The immigration debate

Part of the public debate points to migrants as beneficiaries of this situation. It is a reading that circulates without data to back it up and that does not explain why Japan, with a restrictive immigration policy, keeps losing population. Immigration is not the cause of the ageing, although some present it as a threat.

Europe is watching closely. Several countries in the south and east already share low birth rates and ageing populations. Japan is ahead on that path.