How Japan Lost 3 Million People in Five Years - NYT
This blog began in May 2025, with a Financial Times video about Japan's demographic crisis. Now, slightly more than one year later, we come full circle with another report from Japan. Japan does not have the lowest birth rate in the world, but has been dealing with this issue longer than most and several post-growth phenomena are visible there.
Japan is a harbinger of the demographic headwinds that will soon buffet other developed countries. The shrinking population is already constraining Japan's economic growth, putting pressures on its health care system and causing labor shortages.
Among the hardest hit areas were the northern prefectures of Akita and Aomori, where the population shrank by about 8 percent from 2020 to 2025. Those areas are home to some of Japanβs oldest residents, and young people have left at a rapid rate because of stagnant wages and harsh winters.
The Japanese countryside is hollowing out as the population ages and young people leave to seek jobs in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and other cities. In some rural areas, schools are being converted into nursing homes and community centers. Millions of homes are vacant; government offices and hospitals are downsizing; and train lines are shutting down.
...
Japanβs biggest cities are managing to stave off demographic decline β for now. The population of the Tokyo metropolitan area, which includes Tokyo and the surrounding prefectures of Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba, rose slightly to 37 million in 2025. The area now accounts for roughly 30 percent of Japanβs total population.