Summary of my speech in an english seminar in Osaka. I spoke about the Population crisis in Japan as a part of a duo.

1. PART 2: Evaluation of and Possible Solutions to Japan’s Population Crisis
Articles:
1. Q/A on Evaluating (rating) the Current Situation
Title:”What is the best solution to Japan’s shrinking population problem?”
Source: Quora (International Question-Answer Forum)
Link : Most Upvoted Answer from https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-best-solution-
to-Japans-shrinking-population-problem
2. Media Article discussing Possible Solutions
Title:”Two solutions to the challenges of population aging” by Milena Nikolova
Source: Brookings Institute, Washington DC (May 2016)
Link : https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2016/05/02/two-solutions-to-the-
challenges-of-population-aging/
3. Research Paper analysing Problems with the Current Reforms
Title:”The Issue of Japan’s Aging Population” by Dallin Jack
Source: University of Chicago Law School (2016)
Link :https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/international_immersion_program_paper
s/35/
Summary of Article 1(Quora):
”What is the best solution to Japan’s shrinking population problem?”
By Balaji Viswanathan, Sep 15, 2017 (Most Upvoted - 4.3k Upvotes)
“Japan is a very dense country with limited resources. It is not a bad thing for their population
to adjust to a more manageable level. It is not as big a catastrophe as some claim to be. There
has to be some adjustments made:
1. People live longer and thus they also have to plan for a much longer work life. Retiring at 60
is not an option anymore at a time when we live to 90. To work until 90, you need to avoid
burning up with over work. Decent work life balance is needed in Japan.
2. More immigration of highly qualified professionals - since there are lesser young people you
need to import young blood to continue relevance in new tech.
3. Government has to slowly restore the culture of having families and stronger families
encourage more children.”

2. As opposed to popular opinions in Japanese Forums (Nandemochousa - July 2015):
Summary of Article 2(Brookings – Two Possible Solutions):
Two Solutions Focused on Work
Encouraging and rewarding paid and unpaid work among the elderly could be a pivotal(main)
part of the solution. To implement such a strategy, policy-makers could consider:
(i) A gradual retirement scheme allowing older individuals to lower their working hours yet
remain in the workforce and pay taxes until a later age(a Phased-in retirement Scheme).
(ii) Creating options for and rewarding volunteering, care, and artistic activities among older
society members (“about 25 percent of U.S. residents volunteer, providing 7.9 billion hours,
$184 billion of service”), without it amounting to direct social welfare.
Summary of Article 3(Chicago Univ. – Issue of Aging Population):
The Womenomics Plan :
Where companies are pressured and incentivized (rewarded) to hire more women and give
more leadership positions to women, contributing to overall output and increasing taxable
income for social programs.
66 percent of Japanese women aged 15 to 64 are employed—a number much higher than
most developed countries but many of these women are only able to work part-time or
contract-based jobs.

3. Severe lack of affordable daycares to which working mothers can take their children.
Fewer than 2% of residents in Japan are foreign. Even with an optimistic increase in the fertility
rate, it would take about 200,000 immigrants per year to keep the population over 100 million.
Comprehension Questions: (1 min. each)
Q1) What are the similarities and/or contradictions between popular answers on
international (English) online forums and the actual situation of the Aging Crisis?
Q2) What is considered as the Principal (main) Barrier to the Womenomics Plan? Why
has it been occurring?
Group Discussion: (3-4 min. each)
Topic 1) On a Scale of 1 to 10, how would you personally evaluate the Aging situation
of Japan? (1-Net Positive Effect, 3-Non-Issue, 10-Grave Catastrophe/Disaster). State
any reasons freely.
Topic 2) What do you think could be the best approach to tackle the Aging Crisis in
Japan? You may use the chart below as reference.
Source: International Comparison of the Social Environment regarding the Declining Birthrates and
Gender-Equality Summary Report, Council for Gender Equality(2005)
http://www.gender.go.jp/english_contents/basic_data/resarches/pdf/english-1.pdf
“Social Environment Indices” for the US vs Japan, normalized from 0 to 100