Japan is having fewer babies than ever before.
Meanwhile, the number of very elderly people is at a record high.
This year brings the country to a tipping point known as the 2025 problem,
with Japan's huge post-war baby boom generation now all in their mid-to-late 70s.
When it comes to living with a shrinking and aging population,
the data clearly shows that Japan is ahead of other countries.
But also that its path isn't unique, and neither are the potential solutions.
So the rest of the world is watching to find out,
can a country shrink and grow old gracefully without losing its economic power
and making success much harder to come by for the young.
In a minute since this film started, an average of three Japanese have died.
1.3 babies have been born.
That means the population has shrunk by 1.7 people.
Every minute, every day, every year.
Keep going at the same rate, and according to the government's own projections,
by 2050, Japan will have shrunk by a number equivalent to the current population of Australia.
これまで人類が経験したことのない、非常に激しい変化を経験する
For 20 years I've been covering Japan, and the most consistent story through that time has been demographics.
The low birth rate, the shrinking population, and what the government has been trying to do to address all of that.
The 2025 problem is that everyone born in Japan's baby boom years between 1947 and 1949 is now in their mid to late 70s.