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.

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 ...

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 ...

The Japanese government should cover out-of-pocket childbirth fees, an expert panel said, as the aging nation seeks to ...

Japan has been struggling to cope with a combination of anaemic economic growth and a shrinking population for over 30 years. 2025 marks the tipping point when the rising costs outstrip the country's ...

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 ...

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