Japanese are disappearing in slow motion and so far, there is no rescue plan. Every January, those turning 20 over the next twelve months celebrate their Coming-of-Age Day at shrines across the nation. Yet each year there are fewer of them. This year, only 1.2 million youth will turn 20, half as many as in 1970.
On U.N. calculations, the 2010 population of 127 million will shrink by a fifth, to 101.6 million in 2050. Moreover, the decline speeds up over time, with the population dropping by 6.65% between 2015 and 2030, but plummeting a whopping 13.4% from 2030 to 2050-far and away the worst growth projection in the world. Consider that Pakistan is expected to nearly double its population, to 335 million, in the same period. (Wall Street Journal)
More than 10 months after the Fukushima meltdown and Japan is still dealing with the fallout - this time the key industry of tourism is reeling from the catastrophe.
According to government figures released Tuesday, the number of foreign nationals entering Japan dropped 24.4% from a record of 9.45 million in 2010 to 7.14 million in 2011.
New entries of foreign nationals - a figure that excludes working or studying expatriates that may have returned after home leave - made a similarly dismal showing. The Immigration Bureau of the Justice Ministry said new entrants fell from 7.92 million in 2010 to 5.45 million in 2010, slumping 31.2%. (CNN)
Bird strikes are a chronic problem for pilots, but an incident Wednesday over the East China Sea involving a Japan Coast Guard patrol plane was particularly serious.
After hitting an albatross at around 5:10 p.m. at an altitude of 300 meters, the Bombardier DHC8-315 sustained a big hole in its nose, and the dead bird was stuck in it, coast guard officials said.
The hole was reportedly as wide as 1 meter.
But the patrol plane flew on and landed at its intended destination of Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, a little after 6 p.m. after leaving Naha at 2:50 p.m., the officials said. (Japan Times)
FamilyMart Co. plans to open 600 stores in Indonesia and the Philippines, tapping demand from young people as an aging population saps growth at home.
FamilyMart, Japan's largest convenience store chain in Southeast Asia, intends to have 300 stores in each country by 2015, Masaaki Kosaka, director of overseas operations, said in a Jan. 13 interview in Tokyo. He declined to say how much the expansion would cost.
FamilyMart joins larger Japanese competitors Lawson Inc. and Seven & I Holdings Co. in planning to open more stores in faster-growing Asian markets. The International Monetary Fund has forecast 5.6 percent economic growth this year in Southeast Asia, double its projection of 2.3 percent in Japan, as relatively young populations drive consumption. (Japan Times)
