Local communities should work out their own survival strategies

要約

A population decrease is the biggest crisis Japan is facing because it will threaten not only the existence of many local communities but also the existence of the nation as we know it.

Behind it is the economic and social situation in which young people find it difficult to marry or to raise children. The government has a grave responsibility to help create stable employment opportunities for them, and to improve facilities and services for child-rearing couples.

At the same time, local communities need to develop strategies to cope with the economic effects of depopulation.

According to a 2012 estimate by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, Japan’s population will drop from 130 million in 2010 to 120 million in 2030, then below 100 million in 2048. It is easier to imagine the impact of the population decrease if population trends in individual prefectures are taken into account.

For example, the population of Hokkaido will fall from 5.5 million in 2010 to 4.4 million in 2035; Akita, from 1.1 million to 780,000; and Oita, from 1.2 million to 970,000. Communities will have undergone a great change by the time children who are attending junior high school turn 40.

Following the Lehman Brothers shock of 2008 and the subsequent global crisis, communities have lost many employment opportunities due to factory closures. It is becoming difficult to lure businesses to local communities.

Given the financial conditions of the central and local governments, it will not be realistic for local communities to expect much from public works projects.

In light of this, it is indispensable for people to develop survival strategies. Local people often can work out more effective plans to revive their communities because they know the local situation much better than central government bureaucrats.

Local governments and residents should focus on utilizing local resources — human and otherwise — to keep their money circulating in their regions.

日本語の抄訳はウィークリー1月26日号のP18に掲載されています。