BBC World News:

Japan sounds alarm on birth rate

By Jonathan Head
BBC correspondent in Tokyo

More and more pushchairs are staying empty in Japan

The Japanese government says urgent policy changes are needed to persuade women to have more children.

Japan currently has one of the lowest birth rates in the world. Discrimination in the workplace and poor government policies have been blamed for deterring many Japanese women from having children.

But the government says that unless the trend is reversed quickly, the shortage of children risks doing damage to the economy.

The decline in Japan's birth rate is so severe they have invented a word for it - 'shoshika', meaning a society without children.

Unless women here start having more babies, the population in Japan is expected to shrink more than 20% by the middle of this century. Nearly half would be elderly, placing impossible burdens on the health and pension systems.

An official White Paper which has just been published recommends that the government now focus all its efforts on women born during Japan's last baby-boom, who are now in their 20s and 30s, in a final push to reverse the trend.

Today, record numbers of women in this age group are unmarried and without children. But it is not clear what kind of policies would work.

The government has already introduced a so-called 'Angel Plan', then a 'New Angel Plan', and most recently a 'Plus One Proposal' - all intended to offer more child-care facilities and other benefits for working mothers.

But the biggest obstacle to having families could be social attitudes. Men are still expected to spend long hours at the office and little time at home, while there is pressure on women to give up work when they have children.

A former prime minister who is in charge of the governing party's committee on population famously told women to stay at home and breed.

It is attitudes like that, still commonplace here - and not policies - which Japanese women say are putting them off getting married.
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I've been following this story for a while, and there is more to it than just this, but it is interesting.

Another part of the story:

BBC World News:

Japan's women wary to wed
It is nearly 15 years since Japan's economy ground to a halt, triggering a period of introspection about the country's values and its place in the world. In the first of a special series, BBC News Online's Sarah Buckley reports on women's changing attitudes to marriage.

Increasing numbers of women are turning to dogs for comfort
Multi-coloured collars, premium chews, and cat picture books line the shelves at a swanky emporium in Ebisu, upmarket Tokyo.

Veronique is just one of a string of establishments catering for a boom in Japanese dog owners.

But its success seems as much due to a rejection of marriage as a new-found love for the canine.

"There are lots of women who have dogs as their family or child," said Rie Shimozono, the shop's owner. "They carry the dog in a bag so that they are always spending time with it."

Gazing through the window was Kazoko Endo, with Fukusuke, her daschund, in tow. She is typical of an increasing number of 30-something women in Japan - successful, single, and childless.

"Of course we will get married to someone," said Kazoko, referring to her and her dog. But the very fact that she was not even dating at 38 suggested it was not a priority.

Twenty years ago, women like Ms Endo would have had a wedding ring on her finger and children at her feet.

The white dress is losing its appeal for many Japanese women

But changing expectations, both of relationships and careers, mean women across Japan, from school-leavers to members of the royal family, are grappling with a choice between traditional roles and modern freedoms.

The dilemma left more than one in four Japanese women aged 30-34 still unmarried, in 2000.

As a result women are having children much later, if at all. Japan's birth rate dipped to just 1.29 children per woman last year, one of the lowest in the developed world, from 1.54 in 1990.

Hiroe Shibata, 35, who works for a multinational pharmaceutical company, said her priority was her career.

"I'm not against marriage. It's just not happening to me now," she said, pointing out that long working hours followed by evening school left her with no time to date.

She said she loved children, but when asked if she worried about her biological clock, she replied: "If I have the time, then I'll have to think about it."

No second best


Their husbands work long hours; child care is limited; baby sitters are expensive; and if women decide to work part-time, they are paid less than half that of a full-time worker

Even women with less pressing commitments did not seem in a hurry to tie the knot.

Yumiko Koshi, 33, was one of a number of women waiting to see pop idols Tokio last week. Bands originally marketed at teenagers are becoming popular with 30- and 40-something females unfettered by family life.

Yumiko said she wanted to get married, but only if she "found a nice guy". She said she had a boyfriend, but did not see him as marriage material. "It's fun to play with him but I don't think he's reliable enough as a husband. Sometimes he can't make decisions."

"Maybe I might have a lonely old age, but I can't just marry somebody not so good and have a hard time."

According to Sumiko Iwao, author of The Japanese Woman, many women no longer see marriage as an important goal.

"I guess they do not plan to stay single, they just don't meet with the kind of people they want to marry. They don't feel obsessed with being a housewife. If you find a good husband, that's fine, and if you don't, that's also fine.

"Japanese women tend to be very practical and very pragmatic. What are the benefits of getting married?"

For most people in Japan, where unmarried parents are still rare, the main "benefit" is children. And that is the point at which modern freedoms clash headlong with traditional expectations.

Hiroe Shibata explained: "If you get married, your parents expect you to have a baby. If you have a baby, it's going to be very difficult to manage your work and bring up children."

Tokyo views on Masako and marriage

In pictures

No-one is more aware of this tension than Japan's Princess Masako. On entry to the Imperial family she has been forced to give up her high-flying diplomatic career to concentrate on bearing a male heir. Earlier this year she was diagnosed with a nervous disorder due to stress.

Her unique role obviously brings its own strains. But many women are finding the sacrifice of hard-won economic success and freedom for childbirth tough.

"I think that being a mother reinforces the female role - once you have kids you have some responsibilities to be shared with your partner," said Hiroko Mizushima, a lawmaker specialising in gender equality for the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan.

However, Ms Mizushima cited government research, from 1995, which suggested full-time working men spent 26 minutes each weekday on domestic chores, compared to 3 hours, 18 minutes by full-time working women. The data may now be outdated, but Ms Mizushima said the balance had not changed.

Other disincentives are that their husbands work long hours, child care is limited; baby sitters are expensive; and if women decide to work part-time, they are paid less than half that of a full-time worker.

Ryuko Ishikawa, a family psychiatrist, believes 30-something women are not prepared to "repeat their mothers' mistakes" in settling for the role of housewife. But she said many of her female clients' ambitions were not supported by their husbands.

She referred to the Japanese saying 'deru kugi wa utareru' - the 'nail that sticks out will get hammered'. It is used to denote the person who upsets the social norm.

"Now, women are becoming 'deru kugi' - are sticking out. There's very few males who would say 'that's right, we have to support you.' Instead they (the women) are being hammered," said Dr Ishikawa.

One of those women, caught up in the conflict between the present and the past, appears to be Princess Masako.

"I think Masako-san is a good example of the typical Japanese 'deru-kugi' - the capable woman. I don't think she's ill. I think she's normal," Dr Ishikawa said.
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So your thoughts?

P.S. I'm not married yet either!

Lastly, Japan considers immigration to supply workforce:

BBC World News
Japan mulls multicultural dawn

In the third of a special series on Japan, BBC News Online's Sarah Buckley reports on how an ageing population is forcing people to reconsider attitudes to immigration.

The name Sony summons visions of all things Japanese. Yet its board chairman, Iwao Nakatani, recently called for mass immigration, opening Japan to different faces and influences.

Mr Nakatani is worried because Japanese are living longer, yet having fewer children. The result is a shrinking workforce which threatens economic growth.

Tokyo residents' views on more immigration

In pictures

In recognition, the government is thinking of loosening its restrictive immigration policy.

But any changes may come as a shock to a nation where registered foreigners make up just over 1% of its population.

Yoko Nakamura, a 52-year-old woman in Tokyo, said that living in Europe and Australia had shown her the advantages of Japan's uniformity.

"Everyone has the same hair colour and the same eye colour. You feel maybe the guy next to you is feeling the same way, so it's a good feeling to be homogenous," she said.

It is difficult to know how common this attitude is. Of those interviewed on the streets of Tokyo, as many were enthusiastic as alarmed about an influx of foreign workers.


FOREIGN LABOUR FORCES
Japan: 0.2% of population
UK: 3.6% of population
Germany: 9.1% of population
Luxembourg: 55.1% of population

For many foreigners living in Japan, however, discrimination is a real problem. Treatment appears to be determined by a range of factors - from socio-economic status to ethnic background.

Gemba, a Senegalese who works in a topless bar in the red-light district of Kabukicho, said: "Every day, I feel discriminated against. Japanese people don't like foreigners.

"If you are inside a train, the Japanese will not sit close to the foreigners."

Indians Moorvakku and Aarthi said they were treated well

He said he had overheard people talking about him in Japanese as though he were stupid.

But the situation is complex, affected by factors like profession, income and appearance.

Aarthi Muniswamy, an Indian IT worker from Chiba prefecture, said her nationality carried positive associations in Japan.

"In some parts of Japan they think people from India are very brainy," she said.

Regional tensions

Faced with calls to relax immigration restrictions, the government has shown some flexibility. The immigration bureau is in talks with the Philippines about accepting Filipino care workers - badly needed to help look after Japan's elderly.

Click here for Japan's ageing trends

The difficulty, however, comes when considering unskilled labourers, who are currently not allowed to work in Japan.

And they are just the kind of people Japan needs most as its population ages, according to Tony Laszlo, director of an anti-discrimination organisation in Tokyo.

"In 10 years, 20 years, 50 years, you have to ask yourself who is going to be finding the holes in the tunnel and patching them up so people don't die, who is going to be climbing the buildings to wash the windows, who is going to be building bridges and fixing bridges, and the answer is you don't have these people," he said.

Tony Laszlo says Japan needs to embrace diversity
Illegal labour could take up some of the slack. Japanese authorities say there are 250,000 illegal immigrants, the majority of whom entered the country on a temporary visa and over-stayed. Many of these people are thought to work as unskilled labourers.

But the government wants to halve that number in the next five years, and it does not appear ready to legalise unskilled foreign workers.

Isao Negishi, assistant director to Japan's immigration policy planner, argued that doing so would threaten Japanese people's jobs in sectors like construction - an industry where work is currently scarce.

As the population continues to age, however, economic arguments against bringing in unskilled labour will weaken. Emotional arguments, though, will stand.

It is likely that any unskilled workers will come from countries which are geographically close - namely China and Korea. And of Japan's neighbours, it is these countries who still hold the strongest grudge against Japan's wartime behaviour.

Mr Laszlo said that relations with Korea had improved markedly over the last two or three years. The 2002 World Cup, which Japan and South Korea jointly hosted, helped ties, and there has been a recent upsurge in interest in South Korean culture.

China, though, continues to have delicate relations with Japan. The outrage sparked by a Japanese orgy in China last December, and the riots following Japan's victory over China in the Asian Cup earlier this year, have scratched wartime era wounds.

Hideko Yamamota, a 48-year-old Chinese woman born in Japan, said she had suffered discrimination.

"One of my teachers said: 'Why should I help a Chinese person get a job?' I was very upset. If there's crime and you are there, then you are questioned by police."

In light of such testimony, Japan's government faces a difficult choice between relaxing its immigration policy and possibly upsetting social stability, or jeopardising the country's long-term economic success.

I don't think the gov't should have any role in either promoting or discouraging pro-creation.

If Japan is having problems with labor needed, then it sounds like the third article is the answer--immigration.

I definately agree, but I also do not think Japan need worry so much about it either. There is definately some discontent on the part of women in Japanese society, but I also believe that once societal norms begin to change and women's status rises, the birth rate will get back to normal. Japan is undergoing a different type of women's movement, one that is not what Westerners would normally associate with such a movement. As opposed to protest, many are simply not participating in tradition. They have said no unless changes are made.

I find it fascinating!

More I learn about Japan less I can understand it

Well, this may be a good thread to learn and understand more about Japan!

Fascinating...thanks for the articles.

This a perfect form of a women's movement. Just don't do what the social norms tell you to do. And now the gov't is taking notice.

IMO, this is a way better approach than the American women's movement, not the original one (sufferage) but the 60's and 70's.

Americans got too into the protest of it all and hardly found any substance: the bra burning, the lesbian seperatists, the anti-childbearing group (Zero Population Growth) who wanted all children to be conceived on controlled baby farms so that women were not burdened by their uterus.

We got very few positive things from these protesters and activists. We children of that generation (gen x mostly) got divorced parents and screwed up childhoods. Positives: RvW, better salaries (but still not = to men), freedom to pursue a career w/o it being a scandal for your family.

But if Japanese women can hold out until the gov't makes some real changes in attitude and policy, then they will won what we are still fighting for.

The porn industry is doing everything it can to promote sexual activity with asians.

justicefornickbaker.org

I don't blame the women there for not wanting children and/or marriage. I applaud the women for standing their ground - maybe this will start a societal change that makes it more possible for women to have a career as well as a family.

Exactly, Japans employment system is fucked up, the whole country is. I remember reading a Roger Waters interview, he once said said that one of the reasons we should be proud to be British is because we don't see life as some fucking race to be the most technological advanced country at all cost and I happen to agree. Roger Waters! Giving a reason to be proud to be British!

This was edited after Hallucination explained it to me.

That is all well and good, and I enjoy Roger Water's music, but I am also proud to be Japanese.

We do not all feel the way Roger believes we do.

No it's not, the topic is about Japan, and it was mentioned that Japam wants immigrants. The site says that they want nothing more than to treat foreigners like shit to put off other foreigners from ending the country, so it's on topic thank you very much

I know, a lot's happening inside Japan to change the way things are there. Would be nice if Pearl Jam done a vote for change in Japan tour there!

I understand Hallucination, but I also want to add that not all Japanese people feel that way about immigrants.

I know, sorry if I suggested otherwise (was unintentional if I did)

No worries H!

I know you didn't.

It sounds like Japan could use a furtile, disease free gentleman like myself to help them repopluate. I may just be up for that task.