This community's quarter century without a newborn shows the scale of Japan's population crisis

[brooklynite]

CNN

During that quarter century without a newborn, the village population shrank by more than half to just 1,150 – down from 6,000 as recently as 40 years ago – as younger residents left and older residents died. Many homes were abandoned, some overrun by wildlife.

Kawakami is just one of the countless small rural towns and villages that have been forgotten and neglected as younger Japanese head for the cities. More than 90% of Japanese now live in urban areas like Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto – all linked by Japan’s always-on-time Shinkansen bullet trains.

That has left rural areas and industries like agriculture, forestry, and farming facing a critical labor shortage that will likely get worse in the coming years as the workforce ages. By 2022, the number of people working in agriculture and forestry had declined to 1.9 million from 2.25 million 10 years earlier.

Yet the demise of Kawakami is emblematic of a problem that goes far beyond the Japanese countryside.

[roamer65]

1. The future of the United States.

[brooklynite]

2. I won't be around to worry about it...,

Never wanted children. Happy with my life.

[roamer65]

4. Same here.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

3. no...too many people want to migrate to USA

[roamer65]

5. Not if it's broken up and in chaos.

GQP keeps up this divisive anti-abortion crap and it just may happen.

Shades of 1860.

[uponit7771]

6. Children are too expensive people won't have them

[Hekate]

7. People will not be able to avoid having children in a country without contraception or ob/gyns

Old 1930s show tune says: “The rich get richer and the poor get children”

In case it’s not totally clear: I am referring to America

[uponit7771]

8. +1