Akita Prefecture has Japan's most aged population, lowest birthrate and fastest declining population. Rigid gender roles are prompting young women... Rigid gender roles are prompting women to leave ...

This blog post is part of a series entitled Is Japan in Decline?, in which leading experts analyze Japan’s economy, politics, and society and give their assessment of Japan’s future. If there is ...

The plum blossoms and toads are out a month early in the warmest Japanese winter for years. Nevertheless, Japan’s farmers, like farmers anywhere, worry about the weather—and everything else. Last week ...

Families in the U.S. and around the world are having fewer children as people make profoundly different decisions about their lives. NPR's series Population Shift: How Smaller Families Are Changing ...