Demographics of Japan

File:Japanese Birth and Death rates.png

Birth and death rates of Japan since 1950

Japan's population, currently 127,463,611, experienced a high growth rate during the 20th century, as a result of scientific, industrial, and social changes. Population growth has more recently decreased, because of falling birth rates and almost no net immigration. High sanitary and health standards has led Japan to have one of the highest life expectancy in the world, at 81.25 years of age as of 2006. The population started declining in 2005, as the 1.067 million births were exceeded by the 1.077 million deaths. Assuming current birth and death rates and no major change in immigration policies, the 2005 population of 127 million will decline to 100 million in 2050, and 64 million in 2100--and keep falling. The main problem will be the financial crisis that comes from having a higher and higher Dependency ratio (that is, nonworking young and old compared to working ages.)

Japan is an urban society with only about 5% of the labor force engaged in agriculture. Many farmers supplement their income with part-time jobs in nearby towns and cities. About 80 million of the urban population are heavily concentrated on the Pacific shore of Honshū and in northern Kyūshū. Metropolitan Tokyo (東京都, not be be confused with Greater Tokyo）with approximately 12 million; Yokohama with 3,555,473; Osaka 2,624,129; Nagoya 2,190,549; Sapporo 1,854,837; Kobe 1,513,967; Kyoto 1,466,163; Fukuoka 1,325,611; Kawasaki 1,290,426; and Kitakyushu with 1,000,211 each account for part of this population. Japan faces the same problems that confront urban industrialized societies throughout the world: over-crowded cities, congested highways, air pollution, and rising juvenile delinquency, though often at much lower rates than in North America and elsewhere.

Japanese society is linguistically homogeneous with small populations of primarily Koreans (0.6 million), Chinese/Taiwanese (0.5 million), Brazilians (300,000 - many of whom are ethnically Japanese), and Filipino (190,000) . Japan has indigenous minority groups such as the Ainu and Ryūkyūans, and social minority group like burakumin. Japanese citizenship is conferred jus sanguinis, and monolingual Japanese-speaking minorities often reside in Japan for generations under permanent residency status without acquiring citizenship in their country of birth, although legally they are allowed to do so, some 10,000 Zainichi Koreans convert every year. Approximately 98.6% of the population is pure Japanese (though technically this figure includes all naturalized people regardless of race)--unheard of for a first world country. And 99% of the population speaks Japanese as their first language. Japan has total of 200,000-some residents of European and North American nationalities, most are temporary residents and a small percentage are naturalized citizens.

Population density

Japan's population density is 339 persons per square kilometer according to the United Nations World Populations Prospects Report as of July 2005. It ranks 30th in a list of countries by population density, ranking directly above India (336 per km², 31st), and directly below Belgium (341 per km², 29th). Japan's population density has helped promote extremely high land prices. Between 1955 and 1989, land prices in the six largest cities increased 15,000 %. Urban land prices generally increased 40 % from 1980 to 1987; in the six largest cities, the price of land doubled over that period. For many families, this trend had put housing in central cities out of reach. The result was lengthy commutes for many workers; daily commutes of up to two hours each way are not uncommon in the Tokyo area. Since about the year 2000, after a decade of declining land prices, residents have been moving back into central city areas (especially Tokyo 23 wards), as evidenced by 2005 census figures. Despite the large amount of forested land in Japan, parks in cities are smaller and scarcer than in major West European or North American cities, which average ten times the amount of parkland per inhabitant.

National and regional governments devote resources to making regional cities and rural areas more attractive by developing transportation networks, social services, industry, and educational institutions in attempts to decentralize settlement and improve the quality of life. Nevertheless, major cities, especially Tokyo, remain attractive to young people seeking education and jobs.

Age structure

Like other postindustrial countries, Japan faces the problems associated with an aging population. In 1989, only 11.6 % of the population was sixty-five years or older, but projections were that 25.6 % would be in that age category by 2030. That shift will make Japan one of the world's most elderly societies, and the change will have taken place in a shorter span of time than in any other country.

This aging of the population was brought about by a combination of low fertility and high life expectancies. In 1993 the fertility rate was estimated at 10.3 per 1,000 population, and the average number of children born to a woman over her lifetime has been fewer than two since the late 1970s (the average number was estimated at 1.5 in 1993). Family planning was nearly universal, with condoms and legal abortions the main forms of birth control. A number of factors contributed to the trend toward small families: late marriage, increased participation of women in the labor force, small living spaces, and the high costs of children's education. Life expectancies at birth, 76.4 years for males and 82.2 years for women in 1993, were the highest in the world. (The expected life span at the end of World War II, for both males and females, was fifty years.) The mortality rate in 1993 was estimated at 7.2 per 1,000 population. The leading causes of death are cancer, heart disease, and cerebrovascular disease, a pattern common to postindustrial societies.

Public policy, the media, and discussions with private citizens revealed a high level of concern for the implications of one in four persons in Japan being sixty-five or older. By 2025 the dependency ratio (the ratio of people under fifteen years plus those sixty-five and older to those aged fifteen to sixty-five, indicating in a general way the ratio of the dependent population to the working population) was expected to be two dependents for every three workers. The aging of the population was already becoming evident in the aging of the labor force and the shortage of young workers in the late 1980s, with potential impacts on employment practices, wages and benefits, and the roles of women in the labor force. The increasing proportion of elderly people in the population also had a major impact on government spending. As recently as the early 1970s, social expenditures amounted to only about 6 % of Japan's national income. In 1992 that portion of the national budget was 18 %, and it was expected that by 2025, 27 % of national income would be spent on social welfare.

In addition, the median age of the elderly population was rising in the late 1980s. The proportion of people aged seventy-five to eighty-five was expected to increase from 6 % in 1985 to 15 % in 2025. Because the incidence of chronic disease increases with age, the healthcare and pension systems, too, are expected to come under severe strain. The government in the mid-1980s began to reevaluate the relative burdens of government and the private sector in health care and pensions, and it established policies to control government costs in these programs. Recognizing the lower probability that an elderly person will be residing with an adult child and the higher probability of any daughter or daughter-in-law's participation in the paid labor force, the government encouraged establishment of nursing homes, day-care facilities for the elderly, and home health programs. Longer life spans are altering relations between spouses and across generations, creating new government responsibilities, and changing virtually all aspects of social life.

A homogeneous society

By world standards, the Japanese enjoy a high standard of living, and nearly 90% of the population consider themselves part of the middle class. Most people express satisfaction with their lives, and take great pride in being Japanese and in their country's status as an economic power on a par with the United States and the European Union. In folk crafts and in right-wing politics, in the new religions and in international management, the Japanese have turned to their past to interpret the present. In doing so, however, they may be reconstructing history as a common set of beliefs and practices that make the country look more homogeneous than it really is.

In a society that values outward conformity, individuals may appear to take a back seat to the needs of the group. Yet it is individuals who create for themselves a variety of life-styles. They are constrained in their choices by age, gender, life experiences, and other factors, but they draw from a rich cultural repertoire of past and present through which the wider social world of families (see Japanese family), neighborhoods (see Japanese neighborhood), and institutions gives meaning to their lives. As Japan set out to internationalize itself in the 1990s, the identification of inherent Japanese qualities took on new significance, and the ideology of homogeneity sometimes masked individual decisions and life-styles of postindustrial Japan.

Migration

Between 6 million and 7 million people moved their residences each year during the 1980s. About 50 % of these moves were within the same prefecture; the others were relocations from one prefecture to another. During Japan's economic development in the twentieth century, and especially during the 1950s and 1960s, migration was characterized by urbanization as people from rural areas in increasing numbers moved to the larger metropolitan areas in search of better jobs and education. Out-migration from rural prefectures continued in the late 1980s, but more slowly than in previous decades.

In the 1980s, government policy provided support for new urban development away from the large cities, particularly Tokyo, and assisted regional cities to attract young people to live and work there. Regional cities offered familiarity to those from nearby areas, lower costs of living, shorter commutes, and, in general, a more relaxed life-style then could be had in larger cities. Young people continued to move to large cities, however, to attend universities and find work, but some returned to regional cities (a pattern known as U-turn) or to their prefecture of origin (a pattern referred to as J-turn).

Government statistics show that in the 1980s significant numbers of people left the largest cities (Tokyo and Osaka). In 1988 more than 500,000 people left Tokyo, which experienced a net loss through migration of nearly 73,000 for the year. Osaka had a net loss of nearly 36,000 in the same year. However, the prefectures showing the highest net growth are located near the major urban centers, such as Saitama, Chiba, Ibaraki, and Kanagawa around Tokyo, and Hyogo, Nara, and Shiga near Osaka and Kyoto. This pattern suggests a process of suburbanization, people moving away from the cities for affordable housing but still commuting there for work and recreation, rather than a true decentralization.

Japanese economic success has led to an increase in certain types of external migration. In 1990 about 11 million Japanese went abroad. More than 80 % of these people traveled as tourists, especially visiting other parts of Asia and North America. However, about 663,100 Japanese were living abroad, approximately 75,000 of whom had permanent foreign residency, more than six times the number who had that status in 1975. More than 200,000 Japanese went abroad in 1990 for extended periods of study, research, or business assignments. As the government and private corporations have stressed internationalization, greater numbers of individuals have been directly affected, decreasing Japan's historically claimed insularity. Despite the benefits of experiencing life abroad, individuals who have lived outside of Japan for extended periods often faced problems of discrimination upon their return because others might no longer consider them fully Japanese. By the late 1980s, these problems, particularly the bullying of returnee children in the schools, had become a major public issue both in Japan and in Japanese communities abroad.

Discrimination & Minorities

Main article: Ethnic issues in Japan

Japanese society, with its ideology of homogeneity, has traditionally been intolerant of ethnic and other differences. People identified as different might be considered "polluted" —- the category applied historically to the outcasts of Japan, particularly the hisabetsu buraku, "discriminated communities," often called burakumin, a term some find offensive —- and thus not suitable as marriage partners or employees. Men or women of mixed ancestry, those with family histories of certain diseases, and foreigners, and members of minority groups faced discrimination in a variety of forms.

Foreign Residents

In 1991 there were 1.2 million foreign residents in Japan, less than 1.0 % of Japan's population. Of this number, 693,100 (about 57 %) were Koreans and 171,100 (some 14 %) were Chinese. Many of these people were descendants of those brought to Japan during Japan's occupation of Taiwan (1895- 1945) and Korea (1905-45) to work at unskilled jobs, such as coal mining. Because Japanese citizenship was based on the nationality of the parent rather than on the place of birth, subsequent generations were not automatically Japanese and had to be naturalized to claim citizenship, despite being born and educated in Japan and speaking only Japanese, as was the case with many Chinese and Koreans in Japan. Until the late 1980s, people applying for citizenship were expected to use only the Japanese renderings of their names and, even as citizens, continued to face discrimination in education, employment, and marriage. Thus, few chose naturalization, and they faced legal restrictions as foreigners, as well as extreme social prejudice.

All non-Japanese are required by law to register with the government and carry alien registration cards. From the early 1980s, a civil disobedience movement encouraged refusal of the fingerprinting that accompanied registration every five years. Those people who opposed fingerprinting argued that it was discriminatory because the only Japanese who were fingerprinted were criminals. The courts upheld fingerprinting, but the law was changed so that fingerprinting was done once rather than with each renewal of the registration. Some Koreans, often with the support of either the Republic of Korea (South Korea) or the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), attempted to educate their children in the Korean language, history, and culture and to instill pride in their Korean heritage. Most Koreans in Japan, however, have never been to the Korean Peninsula and do not speak Korean. Many are caught in a vicious cycle of poverty and discrimination in a society that emphasizes Japan's homogeneity and cultural uniqueness. Other Asians, too, whether students or permanent residents, face prejudice and a strong "us-them" distinction. Europeans and North Americans might be treated with greater hospitality but nonetheless find it difficult to become full members of Japanese society. Public awareness of the place of foreigners (gaijin) in Japanese society was heightened in the late 1980s in debates over the acceptance of Chinese and Vietnamese refugees and the importing of Filipino brides for rural farmers.

A small but noticeable number of Brazilian immigrants (around 250,000) also live in Japan, particularly those of Japanese descent.

Hisabetsu Buraku

Main article: Burakumin

Despite popular claims of Japanese homogeneity on the part of observers both foreign and domestic, three native Japanese minority groups can be identified. The largest are the hisabetsu buraku or "discriminated communities", also known as the burakumin. These descendants of premodern outcast hereditary occupational groups, such as butchers, leatherworkers, funeral directors, and certain entertainers, may be considered a Japanese analog of India's Dalits. Discrimination against these occupational groups arose historically because of Buddhist prohibitions against killing and Shinto notions of pollution, as well as governmental attempts at social control. During the Tokugawa period, such people were required to live in special buraku and, like the rest of the population, were bound by sumptuary laws based on the inheritance of social class. The Meiji government abolished most derogatory names applied to these discriminated communities in 1871, but the new laws had little effect on the social discrimination faced by the former outcasts and their descendants. The laws, however, did eliminate the economic monopoly they had over certain occupations. The buraku continue to be treated as social outcasts and some casual interactions with the majority caste was perceived taboo until the era after World War II.

Although members of these discriminated communities are physically indistinguishable from other Japanese, they often live in urban ghettoes or in the traditional special hamlets in rural areas. Some attempt to pass as ordinary Japanese, but the checks on family background that are often part of marriage arrangements and employment applications make this difficult. Myths and misconceptions tried to explain the origin of buraku as an alien pest appear to be fictious not realistic. Estimates of their number range from 2 million to 4 million, or about 2 to 3 % of the national population.

Ordinary Japanese claimed that membership in these discriminated communities can be surmised from the location of the family home, occupation, dialect, or mannerisms and, despite legal equality, continued to discriminate against people they surmised to be members of this group. Past and current discrimination has resulted in lower educational attainment and socioeconomic status among hisabetsu buraku than among the majority of Japanese. Movements with objectives ranging from "liberation" to encouraging integration have tried over the years to change this situation.

Ryūkyūans

The second largest minority group among Japanese citizens is the Ryūkyūan people. They continue to use several distinct Ryūkyūan languages. The Ryūkyūan people and language originated in the Ryūkyū Islands.

Ainu

The third largest minority group among Japanese citizens is the Ainu, who are thought to be related to the Tungusic, Altaic, and Uralic peoples of Siberia. Historically, the Ainu (Ainu means human in the Ainu language) were an indigenous hunting and gathering population who occupied most of northern Honshū as late as the Nara period (A.D. 710-94). As Japanese settlement expanded, the Ainu were pushed northward, until by the Meiji period they were confined by the government to a small area in Hokkaidō, in a manner similar to the placing of Native Americans on reservations. Characterized as remnants of a primitive circumpolar culture, the fewer than 20,000 Ainu in 1990 were considered racially distinct and thus not fully Japanese. Disease and a low birth rate had severely diminished their numbers over the past two centuries, and intermarriage had brought about an almost completely mixed population.

Although no longer in daily use, the Ainu language is preserved in epics, songs, and stories transmitted orally over succeeding generations. Distinctive rhythmic music and dances and some Ainu festivals and crafts are preserved, but mainly in order to take advantage of tourism.

Basic facts

Population: 127,463,611 (July 2006 est.) people in 47,062,743 households, 78.7 % in urban areas (July 2000). High population density; 329.5 persons per square kilometer for total area; 1,523 persons per square kilometer for habitable land. More than 50 % of population lives on 2 % of land. (July 1993)

Changes in the Population of Japan

Population growth rate:

0.02% (2006 est.)

0.05% (2005 est.)

0.08% (2004 est.)

0.11% (2003 est.)

0.18% (2000 est.)

Birth rate:

9.37 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

9.47 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)

9.56 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)

9.61 births/1,000 population (2003 est.)

9.96 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Death rate:

9.16 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

8.95 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)

8.75 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)

8.55 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.)

8.15 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 14.2% (male 9,309,524/female 8,849,476)

15-64 years: 65.7% (male 42,158,122/female 41,611,754)

65 years and over: 20% (male 10,762,585/female 14,772,150) (2006 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female

under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.73 male(s)/female

total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 3.24 deaths/1,000 live births

male: 3.5 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 2.97 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 81.25 years

male: 77.96 years

female: 84.7 years (2006 est.)

Total fertility rate:

1.4 children born/woman (2006 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

less than 0.1% (2004 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

12,000 (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:

500 (2003 est.)

Nationality:

noun: Japanese (singular and plural)

adjective: Japanese

Ethnic Groups: 99.4 % Japanese and 0.6 % other, mostly Korean (40.4% of non-Japanese) and some Chinese. Ainu, Ryūkyūans and hisabetsu buraku constitute native Japanese minority groups. Japan is one of the most homogenous countries on the planet, and although there have been many claims (mostly conjecture) about the Japanese being of a mixed background, nothing has been proven.

Foreign Citizens: More than 2.5 million (possibly higher because of the illegal immigrants), 14.9% up in five years. North and South Koreans 1 million, Chinese 0.5 million, Filipinos 0.5 million, and Brazilian 250,000 with others like Peruvian, American, Canadian, British, Indonesian, Thai, African, Iranian, Russian, and other nationals.

Marriage Status:

Over 15: Married Male 61.8%, Female 58.2%. Never married Male 31.8%, Female 23.7%.

25 - 29: Never married Male 69.3%, Female 54.0%.

30 - 34: Never married Male 42.9%, Female 26.6% (July 2000).

Religion: No reliable statistics exist since census does not have questions regarding religion. See Religions of Japan.

Net migration rate:

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Language: Japanese. Emphasis on English as a second language.

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 99% (2002 est.)

male: 99% (2002 est.)

female: 99% (2002 est.)

References

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  - Japan
• United Nations World Population Prospects (2004 revision). Data is for 2005.

External links

• The Dilemma Posed by Japan's Population Decline, discussion paper by Julian Chapple in the electronic journal of contemporary japanese studies, 18 October 2004.