Japan's Population Decline and Immigration
- 24 October 2023
- 12:00pm – 1:00pm
- Online
- https://dajf.org.uk/event/japans-population-decline-and-immigration
- +44 (0)20 7486 4348
- events@dajf.org.uk
- Tweet
Japan’s population decline has accelerated in recent years. In 2022, all of Japan’s 47 prefectures reported a population drop for the first time, and the overall population decline was the largest since records began in 1968. Low birth rates and low immigration of foreign nationals have been the main contributing factors. Assuming the trend continues, Japan’s population could decrease 25% by 2050, and over the next 30 years its GDP could shrink from its current position as 3rd in the world to 8th, with wide-ranging consequences for everything from economic growth to national security and defence.
In this webinar, the speaker will talk about the multiple factors contributing to Japan’s population decline, as well as the different measures being considered to address the issue, including immigration policies. Will Japan implement policies to encourage immigration? If so, what kind of changes will be needed in Japanese society? And what other policy responses will be needed, in both the short and long term?
About the contributors
Menju Toshihiro
Menju Toshihiro is a Managing director of the Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE). Joined JCIE in 1988 after working for the Hyōgo prefectural government for 10 years. Specializes in grassroots international exchange and immigration issues. Has worked as an adjunct lecturer at Keiō University and chaired the Shinjuku Multicultural Community Building Committee. Currently serves as a member of the Cultural Affairs Council of the Agency for Cultural Affairs. Was a participant in the November 2018 roundtable discussion “Immigration Policy for a Shrinking Nation,” which won the 2018 Readers’ Choice Award for the monthly journal Bungei Shunjū. His latest book, Jinkō bōkoku: Imin de umarekawaru Nippon (Demographic Decline and Japan’s Immigrant-Driven Rebirth), can be purchased here.
Brad Blitz (Chair)
Brad Blitz is Professor of International Politics and Policy and head of the Department of Education, Practice and Society at University College London. He is a frequent contributor on matters of migration, refugees, humanitarian assistance and human rights and has appeared on television and radio including BBC News, Sky News, National Public Radio, as well as in print media. He recently acted as Principal Investigator for the ESRC-DFID funded EVI-MED project on refugee reception systems in the Mediterranean and is co-investigator of a £15.4 million ‘hub’ on Gender, Justice and Security, funded by the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) Recent publications include Migration and Freedom: Mobility, Citizenship, Exclusion (2014).
