THE city of Fukuoka, the biggest on the island of Kyushu, is buzzing. Hip young things at Fukuoka Growth Next, a city-run corporate incubator, bash away on their laptops. As the sun sets they gather to sup in the chi-chi bars beside the river. Fukuoka is Japan’s fastest-growing metropolis, including for 15-29-year-olds. It would be idyllic, but for the fact that these are the people who wonder how they will bear the burden of Japan’s declining and greying population. The current election campaign, alas, is doing little to reassure them.
Demographers reckon Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan’s four main islands, will lose 19% of its people by 2040. Over the same period the share of Japan’s population over the age of 65 will rise to 35%, compared with 28% today. The median age will rise by almost seven years, to 54. Although Fukuoka is still growing, thanks to immigration from smaller towns and villages, Kitakyushu, the island’s second city,...Continue reading
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