A government panel of experts made headlines in July by calling Japan's declining number of births a "quiet emergency." Last year, births hit another record low at 810,000, marking a 60% drop from approximately 2 million in the early 1970s. The total fertility rate has been below 2.00 -- the minimum level necessary to maintain the population -- for nearly half a century, reaching 1.30 last year.
If the number of births continues to decline at this rate, Japan will theoretically cease to exist, even without being subjected to any military force. It is truly an "emergency" situation.
