After years of warnings of Japan’s decrease in population due to aging citizens and low birth rate, in the year of 2015, it actually came true. Japan’s census, an official survey for population, shows that Japan’s population has actually shrunk, and not by a negligible amount. The 2012 census depicted that 128,057,352 is the population of Japan. However, it denoted in 2015 that the population declined to 127,110,000. In 5 years’ time, Japan’s population decreased by nearly 1 million people.

Birth and death rates used to give some evidence for the decrease in the population, but this is the first time that the census has actually confirmed it. The census also showed that approximately a third of Japan’s citizens are older than 65 in 2015. The Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that it is definitely a priority to keep Japan’s population above 100 million, yet it is abstruse to do so. The Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs estimated that the population of Japan will drop below 100 million in the midst of the 21st century. Also, by the end of this century, Japan’s population may decrease by 34%.