Japan and China
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Both imploding:
Japanese Prime minister Fumio Kishida pledged on Monday to take urgent steps to tackle the country's declining birth rate, saying it was "now or never" for one of the world's oldest societies.
Japan has in recent years been trying to encourage its people to have more children with promises of cash bonuses and better benefits, but it remains one of the most expensive places in the world to raise a child, according to surveys.
Births plunged to a new record low last year, according to official estimates, dropping below 800,000 for the first time - a watershed moment that came eight years earlier than the government had expected.
That most likely precipitated a further population decline in a country where the median age is 49, the highest in the world behind only the tiny city-state of Monaco.
"Our nation is on the cusp of whether it can maintain its societal functions," Kishida said in a policy speech at the opening of this year's parliamentary session.
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https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/10/asia/japan-ageing-population-women-opportunities-intl-hnk/index.html
With a history spanning more than 1,200 years, “hadaka matsuri,” or the naked festival, is Japanese masculinity on full display.
In February, as the number of male participants dwindled, the country’s oldest hadaka matsuri, at the Konomiya Shrine in central Japan, welcomed 41 women to take part for the first time.
“One reason to permit women to participate in such a traditional festival is due to the shortage of men,” said Mikiko Eto, emerita professor who specializes in gender politics at Hosei University in Tokyo.
“The number of young men is declining rapidly. Women should be welcome because of shortage of male participants, so we’ve been very welcome.”
