Is Japan Shrinking?

 Is Japan Shrinking?

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHlUtWgKPkQ

The number of children in Japan has fallen to its lowest number since records began. There were 170,000 fewer children in Japan at the end of March 2018 than there were a year earlier. Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications issued a report on Friday showing the falling numbers of children. According to the statistics, the number of children aged 14 or under dropped for the 37th  year in a row. There was another record fall in the ratio of children to the overall Japanese population. This dropped to a new record low of 12.3 per cent and was the 44th year of decline in a row. This ratio is the lowest among countries in the world with a population of 40 million or more.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been trying to address the country's dwindling birth rate. He has introduced several measures to encourage lower-income families to have bigger families. However, these measures seem to be having little success. This is coupled with the fact that fewer Japanese people are getting married, which demographers say is a "ticking time-bomb" for Japan. The number of annual births fell below one million for the first time since the government began collecting data in 1899. Japanese demographers predict that by 2050, Japan will have 23 per cent fewer citizens. This means a rapidly aging society and a greatly  shrinking workforce.

As a consequence, Japan's government has lowered the age at which people become adults. It is the first time since 1876 that this has happened. From the year 2022, teenagers will become adults at the age of 18, which is two years earlier than the age at which adulthood currently legally happens. However, even though the age has been lowered, there are still certain things that will not change. The legal age for drinking alcohol, smoking and gambling will remain fixed at 20. The new law will enable 18-year-olds to get married without parental consent, and allow them to apply for loans and credit cards. Transgender men and women aged 18 and over will be able to apply to courts to have their gender officially recognized.

The new law has been passed in an effort to bring about social and economic change in Japan. The government hopes to see an increase in the number of young people getting married and starting families. This will help to address the nation's diminishing birth rate and ageing population. Greater financial freedoms could be a boost to the economy and provide more tax revenue. This is vital for a government struggling to cope with increasing pension and healthcare payments. Many of Japan's young people were more concerned about how the law would affect the traditional Coming of Age Day. This is a national holiday held in January in which 20-year-olds dress up in traditional kimonos to celebrate adulthood.

1. BIRTH RATE: Is a low or a high birth rate best for these things? Why? 

	High is best	Low is best
Family
Schools
Transportation
Workplace
Hospitals
Army

Vocabulary2. VOCABULARY Part I :

   Paragraph 1

1.	records	a.	Taking everything into account; as a whole.
2.	issued	b.	As said or written by (someone).
3.	according to	c.	Following consecutively, one after the other.
4.	statistics	d.	Pieces of evidence  or documentation about the past, especially an account of an act or happening kept in writing or some other permanent form.
5.	in a row	e.	The numerical relationship between two amounts, showing the number of times one value is contained in the other value.
6.	ratio	f.	Formally send out or made known.
7.	overall	g.	Facts or pieces of data from a study of a large quantity of numerical data / information.

    Paragraph 2

8.	address	h.	Combined.
9.	dwindling	i.	Someone who studies statistics such as births, deaths, income, or the incidence of disease, which show the changing structure of human populations.
10.	measures	j.	All the people in or available for work, either in a country or area or in a particular company or industry.
11.	coupled	k.	Gradually getting smaller and smaller in size, amount, or strength.
12.	demographers	l.	A process or procedure causing a problem that will eventually become very, very dangerous if no action is taken.
13.	time-bomb	m.	Plans or courses of action taken to achieve a particular purpose.
14.	workforce	n.	Think about and begin to deal with an issue or problem. VOCABULARY Part II :

     Paragraph 3

1.	currently	a.	Putting money on the chance of something happening (like a horse or dog winning, card games, lottery tickets, etc.) so you win more money.
2.	gambling	b.	Either of the two sexes - male or female.
3.	remain	c.	A building or room where a judge, judges, or a magistrate listen to civil and criminal cases and pass judgments.
4.	enable	d.	Give permission for something to happen.
5.	consent	e.	Make possible.
6.	courts	f.	At the present time.
7.	gender	g.	Continue to exist, especially after other similar or related people or things have stopped existing.

    Paragraph 4

8.	effort	h.	Absolutely necessary or important; essential.
9.	address	i.	A country's annual income from which it pays for public services.
10.	diminishing	j.	Help or encourage something to increase or improve.
11.	boost	k.	An attempt to try to do something.
12.	revenue	l.	Deal effectively with something difficult.
13.	vital	m.	Think about and begin to deal with an issue or problem.
14.	cope	n.	Getting smaller in size, amount, strength, etc.

 

 

3. SYNONYM MATCH: 

1.    fallen

2.    records

3.    issued

4.    statistics

5.    in a row

6.    address

7.    dwindling

8.    measures

9.    predict

10. greatly

11. lowered

12. happened

13. certain

14. consent

15. gender

16. effort

17. address

18. diminishing

19. concerned

20. celebrate

a.     plunging

b.    released

c.     consecutively

d.    actions

e.     documentation

f.      forecast

g.    deal with

h.    dropped

i.      considerably

j.      facts and figures

k.    worried

l.      sex

m.  attempt

n.    deal with

o.    occurred

p.    particular

q.    commemorate

r.      reduced

s.     decreasing

t.      agreement

5.Discussion - Number of Japanese children at record low

1. What problems are there with a falling birth rate?
2. What's the best number of children to have?
3. How can Japan's government increase the birth rate?
4. Is a shrinking population a good thing?
5. What more should governments do for children?
6. What things about children annoy you?

11. How can a leader encourage couples to have more children?
12. What support does your government give to families?
13. Why do you think fewer Japanese people are getting married?
14. Why is a low birth rate a "ticking time-bomb"?
15. What things about children make you smile?
16. What problems does an ageing workforce create?
17. What questions would you like to ask Japan's prime minister?

 

6.Role play I

Role  A – Better Healthcare You think better healthcare is the best way to deal with a shrinking population. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their ways. Also, tell the others which is the least effective of these (and why): increased immigration, stopping emigration or downsizing the economy.

Role  B – Increased Immigration You think increased immigration is the best way to deal with a shrinking population. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their ways. Also, tell the others which is the least effective of these (and why): better healthcare, stopping emigration or downsizing the economy.

Role  C – Stop Emigration You think stopping emigration is the best way to deal with a shrinking population. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their ways. Also, tell the others which is the least effective of these (and why): increased immigration, better healthcare or downsizing the economy.

Role  D – Downsize the Economy You think downsizing the economy is the best way to deal with a shrinking population. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their ways. Also, tell the others which is the least effective of these (and why):  increased immigration, stopping emigration or better healthcare                      OR ·    Procreation Campaign ·    Tax Breaks for Big Families       Free Schooling       More Working Visas       Nn  ROLE PLAY II: m  Role  A – Getting Married You think getting married is the best thing about being an adult. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their things. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why):  Role  B – Independence You think independence is the best thing about being an adult. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their things. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why):  Role  C – Money You think money is the best thing about being an adult. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their things. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why):  Role  D – Working You think working is the best thing about being an adult. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their things. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why):         OR ·                 No parental rules ·                 Driving a car ·                 Credit cards ·                 Having children