Japan Births at New Low as Population Shrinks and Ages

Women carry their children on their bicycles as they ride through an intersection near a sporting arena planned to be used during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo on June 24, 2021. (AP)

The number of babies born in Japan this year is below last year’s record low in what the top government spokesman described as a “critical situation.”

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno promised comprehensive measures to encourage more marriages and births.