Aging Japan Touts Joys of Parenthood

A couple of years ago, university professor Naohiro Ogawa was rushed to a big Tokyo hospital. Despite his emergency, doctors told him that no beds were available--unless he was willing to be placed in the maternity ward.

“They told me only about 10 babies are born there every month,” said Ogawa, who had his pick of beds in the nearly empty room.

That male patients now inhabit a once all-female domain is just one result of a rapid decline in Japan’s birthrate. Last year, the rate hit a low of 10.1 per 1,000 persons. This is a drop from 34.5 right after World War II and the lowest rate among such advanced countries as the United States, West Germany and Sweden.

While much debate has focused on how a shortage of offspring is rapidly turning Japan into the world’s most aged society, little has been said about whether the birthrate should--or can--be increased. But in a sign of new concern, Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu said in a March 2 policy speech, “We must make an effort to positively support the desire of young people to have children--the future of Japan depends upon it.”

One reason for the high-level concern is that government health officials predicted in 1986 that the birthrate would go up. But it did not. Last year, the number of births fell to 1.24 million, down 71,000 over the previous year. The fertility rate, or the average number of children a woman bears in a lifetime, declined to 1.66 in 1988, far lower than the 2.1 needed to keep a stable population level.

The decline worries executives of some industries. The Sporting Goods Manufacturers’ Assn., whose prime customers are schools, would like to ignite a political movement to stop the trend.

“Someone has to light a fire,” said director general Isao Mizuno.

Researchers say the major causes for the decline are delayed marriages and the rising costs of child rearing. They say parental pressure to marry and have children has declined, contributing to a steady rise in the average age of marriage in 1986 to 28.3 for men and 25.6 for women.

Increasingly, working women are either becoming attached to their careers or simply enjoy the financial independence that allows them overseas travel or other leisure activities. “The issue is whether marriage is attractive for women,” said Makoto Atoh, director of the Population Policy Studies Department of the Institute of Population Problems. An institute’s survey revealed that young unmarried people find more merit in singlehood than in marriage.

Marriage consultant and matchmaker Yoko Itamoto said today’s Japanese “women want a family, money and freedom.” She has been surprised at how young men lack any idea of helping their future wives care for children.

For men, marriage is often delayed because Japan’s corporate culture demands long working hours that leave little time for social life. “The reason why they are coming here is not because they are unpopular among women,” Itamoto said. “They don’t even have time for romance. They come here for an opportunity to meet a woman.”

Japan’s poor housing conditions are dissuading many young people from marriage, experts also point out. “It’s strange that healthy young people do not marry as the nation has become affluent,” said Shoji Yoneda, president of Future Forecast Institute Company. The drop of national fertility rate since 1985, according to Yoneda, “coincides with the time when land prices started to soar.”

“In Japan, a humane life is not guaranteed. Everything runs for the benefit of companies and not for the individual people,” said Keiko Kashiwagi, professor of psychology at Tokyo Women’s Christian University.