he Japanese government is becoming more worried and desperate as the birth rate of Japan keeps dropping each year. The current Birth rate in Japan per 1000 people is 7.205, 1.3% lower than last year. Since 1973 when the birth rate per 1000 people was 18.194 the population slowly stopped reproducing and there are many factors that are causing this.

Japan has never asked for help or shared this critical information much with the western world, as they are proud of being an innovative and autonomous country that can take care of their own problems. The Japanese culture is unique and can be difficult to adapt to for foreigners therefore understanding this problem that no country has encountered before is difficult to envision a solution.

Factors affecting the reproduction rate

There are many factors at play here, some of which are hard to understand because of cultural differences. The bigger problem is that most of the Japanese population does not want to understand the implications of this problem, which right now may not seem that problematic, but in the future, it can lead to the ruin of Japan.

Japanese population disinterested in dating

Fewer people are committing to marriage or relationships in Japan, and this is because many people prefer to be single as it makes life much easier. Because of long working hours within Japan, a very workaholic life is practiced where there are very few opportunities to socialize.

This sort of lifestyle also leads to the Japanese population becoming more comfortable alone rather than living with someone else. Research shows that the younger generation within Japan is less interested in sex or a heterosexual relationship.

In the Japanese culture, families would usually arrange marriages for their children. In the 1930s 69% of marriages that took place were arranged marriages or as it is called in the Japanese culture Omiai. At the end of the 20th century, this tradition slowly started dying out. In 2015 arranged marriages presented only 5.2%.

The male population prefers sex with robots

Since 2017, when sex robots became mainstream in Japan, the male population turned their interest away from “complex women” towards robots to meet their sexual desires. However, the male gender within Japan goes further than just using sex robots for sex, but actually creates a strong relationship with these robots and treats them like wives.

Many western newspapers blame these sex robots are the key factor that will lead to the Japanese race becoming “endangered”. These sex robots are becoming quite advanced, with artificial intelligence that is pushed towards becoming more than just sex robots, but actual girlfriends that laugh at jokes and start casual chit-chat.

The market for these sex robots is becoming really big, and the phenomenon is not seen as taboo, therefore more and more men are turning to robots rather than “pretentious women” as described by many social researchers as being one of the reasons men turn to sex robots.

Most of the Japanese population still resisting foreigners

The Japanese culture is difficult to understand and adapt to as mentioned before, and that is one of the reasons many people do not choose to migrate to Japan when looking for work. However, because of the desperation of the Japanese Government, they are trying to push incentives for immigrants that are looking for work hoping this will also help increase the reproduction rate.

The resistance is coming from older Japanese generations that do not prefer to have western influences. The population of Japan and their government are having a small conflict as one of the incentives that are welcoming immigrants to work in Japan is a scheme that will also offer them citizenship with ease. Something that in the eyes of native citizens isn’t seen very well.

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Based on these factors the Japanese aren’t looking very good in the future. Besides not giving birth to many natives, the economy is also slowly being impacted and this impact will be amplified as the years go by.

What can be done?

The answer in practice would be simple, but you can’t force people to make babies, you can’t force people to have relationships and you certainly can’t force people to reproduce just for the sake of keeping the Japanese population alive.

There is a big debate about sex robots and if they should exist. In 2018 big campaign against sex robots started which states that this type of technology is unethical. This technology is also presented to diminish women around the world in a process of trying to replace them with robots.

The Japanese population also needs to be educated on the impact this constant decrease in the rate of reproduction is having on their whole country and eventually will have on their future. At the same time, we need to understand that the Japanese culture has developed a certain unique lifestyle in the 21st century that brought this problem to Japan.