In 2024, 720,988 babies were born in the country, marking the ninth consecutive year of decline in child births.

Japan's population has been shrinking for 15 years, with huge implications for the country's economy, national defense, and culture. Now, policymakers are working to boost birth rates.

However, analysts believe that these subsidy-based policies alone are still insufficient. An article published in Asia Times in February 2025 argued that Japan's birth crisis is not merely a ...

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech ... paid for by those who can afford it. Japan is likely to cover parents’ hospital fees for childbirth from April 2026 as the country ...

TOKYO – Japan’s Health Ministry is set ... to address the country’s declining birth rate. One proposed approach in the policy approved on May 14 by a panel of experts involves fully covering ...

The Japanese government should cover out-of-pocket childbirth fees, an expert panel said, as the aging nation seeks to reverse its declining population and shrinking pool of tax-paying workers.

Plummeting birth rates and ageing population leave closed-off country 'no choice' but to admit foreigners, but tensions are growing with newly arrived Muslims ...

Japan is likely to cover parents’ hospital fees ... The health ministry adopted a childcare policy package in 2023 to reverse the declining birth rate by supporting new families financially.