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Asahi Shimbun
6 days ago
- Business
- Asahi Shimbun
Census shows record decline of Japanese, largest hike in foreigners
Tokyo is the only prefecture where the Japanese population increased in a latest population dynamics survey released by the internal affairs ministry. (Koichiro Yoshida) Trends that are changing the face of Japan are continuing, with the latest census revealing the largest-ever decline in the Japanese population while the increase in the foreign population is the largest ever. The internal affairs ministry on Aug. 6 released the population figures for Japan based on the basic resident register as of Jan. 1, 2025. The Japanese population was 120,653,227, a decrease of 908,574 (0.75 percent) from the previous year. This decline is the largest since the survey began in 1968 and marks the first time for the figure to exceed 900,000. Meanwhile, the foreign resident population was 3,677,463, an increase of 354,089 (10.65 percent) compared to the previous year. This increase is the largest since the data became available in 2013. The trends of declining birthrates, an aging population and concentration of the population in Tokyo continue unabated, the census shows. The Japanese population has been declining for 16 consecutive years since its peak in 2009, with the decrease reaching a record high for the fourth consecutive year. On the other hand, the foreign resident population has increased for three consecutive years. Although it temporarily declined during the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been growing by more than 10 percent annually since 2023. The combined total of Japanese and foreign residents was 124,330,690, a decrease of 554,485 (0.44 percent) compared to the previous year. The census shows that the accelerating decline of the Japanese population continues to be offset by the equally accelerating increase in the foreign resident population. In the past year, the number of Japanese children born was 687,689, a decrease of 41,678 from the previous year, marking a record low. At the same time, the number of deaths was 1,599,850, an increase of 20,123, marking a record high. The natural population change, or the difference between births and deaths, saw a decrease of 912,161. Looking at the Japanese population by age group, the working-age population (15–64 years old) was 71,235,169, a decrease of 505,950 from the previous year. Its share of the total Japanese population was 59.04 percent. On the other hand, the number of children aged 0–14 was 13,725,356, a decrease of 383,579. The elderly population aged 65 and over was 35,692,697, a decrease of 19,041 from the previous year. The proportion of children in the total Japanese population was 11.38 percent, a decrease of 0.23 percentage point, while the proportion of elderly people increased by 0.20 percentage point to 29.58 percent. These figures indicate a further intensification of Japan's aging population and declining birthrate trends. By prefecture, Tokyo was the only one where the Japanese population increased, as was the case the previous year. On the other hand, the foreign resident population increased in all prefectures.
Asahi Shimbun
03-06-2025
- General
- Asahi Shimbun
VOX POPULI: Rare photos of Hiroshima A-bombing show grim aftermath
The event 'Hiroshima 1945: Special Exhibition 80 Years after Atomic Bombing' opened at the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum on May 31 with many foreign visitors in attendance. (Photo by Koichiro Yoshida) There are few photographs left today that show what Hiroshima looked like immediately after the U.S. bomber Enola Gay dropped its nuclear payload on the city on Aug. 6, 1945. Of the pictures taken that day to graphically record the horrendous fate met by Hiroshima's citizens, only five film negatives still survive. They are all the works of Yoshito Matsushige (1913-2005), a photographer with the local daily newspaper The Chugoku Shimbun. Matsushige, who was 32 at the time, lived 2.8 kilometers from ground zero. Blown off his feet by the nuclear blast and bleeding from shards of broken window panes, he grabbed his camera and headed to the city. A toddler clung to its mother who could not move. A woman kept shouting her child's name. Faced with hordes of people with burnt skin and hair, Matsushige hesitated to release the shutter. 'Please forgive me,' he murmured in his heart as he steeled himself to do his job. The results are five black-and-white photographs that can be seen today. The silent witnesses show us a perspective that is decisively lacking from any aerial photo of the mushroom cloud taken from above. Matsushige's photos embody the 'suffering Hiroshima' its citizens gazed up at from under the mushroom cloud, not the Hiroshima as seen from the sky by the people who dropped the bomb. Some people may wonder about the scarcity of photos that remain. But far too many lives were wiped out by the bomb. The Chugoku Shimbun lost one-third of its workers—or 114 people. After World War II, the military incinerated many pictures, the disposal of some was regulated by the General Headquarters for the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (GHQ). At the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, an exhibition of rare, valuable photos opened on May 31. Titled 'Hiroshima 1945: Special Exhibition 80 Years after Atomic Bombing,' it highlights these weighty words of one of the photographers: 'As a record, may our photographs remain final forever.' —The Asahi Shimbun, June 3 * * * Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.
