Kishida issues urgent warning on Japan’s shrinking population, saying it poses serious societal risk

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on January 23, 2023, that the country must take urgent steps to address the country’s shrinking population. Plagued by low birth rates and a rapidly ageing society, Japan’s population has been in continuous decline for 14 years. Kishida’s pledge came after his government approved the country’s biggest military build-up in decades. Some question if the world’s third-largest economy has the manpower to maintain its national strength.