Single Lifestyle Causes Low Birth Rate in Japan, Ambassador Reveals

VIVA – Japanese Ambassador to Indonesia Kanasugi Kenji reveals the single lifestyle becomes one of the factors low birth rate in Japan. 

"This is just my opinion, but I think young people are now building their lifestyle as single people," Ambassador Kenji said when met on the sidelines of an iftar event with Indonesian Islamic leaders, in Jakarta, on Friday. 

By enjoying this lifestyle, young Japanese people don't need to feel burdened with the responsibility of getting married or having children, "Because by getting married and having children, they have to change their lifestyle and needs, so they prefer to be single and enjoying life like that," he explained. 

He also admitted that Japan is facing a population crisis, with the total fertility rate, the average number of children a woman will bear in her lifetime at 1,30 in 2021. 

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Dubes Jepang untuk Indonesia Kanasugi Kenji menyampaikan sambutan dalam acara buka puasa bersama para tokoh Islam Indonesia, di Jakarta, Jumat malam (14/4/2023).

Photo :

• ANTARA/Yashinta Difa.

A low birth rate of under 800,000 by 2022, according to government estimates, has prompted many schools in Japan to close for a lack of students.

Based on government data, about 450 schools close every year. Between 2002 and 2020, nearly 9,000 schools closed their doors for good, making it harder for remote areas to attract new and younger residents.

However, Ambassador Kenji says the schools were not actually closed but many were merged, "There were two schools that merged into one, so the number of schools (in Japan) decreased." 

In response to the population crisis, Kanasugi said that the Japanese government is doing its best to increase the fertility rate of its citizens by encouraging young people to get married and have more children.

The Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, has warned that the declining birthrate is causing Japan to barely maintain social functions. Therefore, solving the problem cannot be delayed any longer, Kishida said.

Kishida said that he wants the government to double the budget for child-related programs, and a new government agency will be established in April to focus on this issue. 

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However, Ambassador Kenji says the schools were not actually closed but many were merged, "There were two schools that merged into one, so the number of schools (in Japan) decreased."