Column published on Toyo Keizai ONLINE for a rich Japan in 100 years

Good morning, this is Matsushita.

Last night, I finished reading

“Future Population Table: What Will Happen in Population-Decreasing Japan”

by Masashi Kawai, Kodansha Gendaishinsho

.

Some time ago, I saw it in a large book advertisement in Nikkei Newspaper,

and I was interested, so I went ahead and bought it.

In analyzing and explaining the stock market,

I knew that Japan’s working-age population peaked in the 1990s and

began to decline,

but I did not know in detail about other changes in Japan’s population.

.

Reading this book helped me clearly understand the situation Japan is in.

In that sense, this is a very good book, and

I strongly recommend reading it.

In Part 1, titled “Population Decline Calendar,”

it accounts for about 70% of the entire book, explaining how Japan’s population will change in the future and

the social changes that may result from it.

This section contains honestly sobering content,

but since it describes the future of Japan, we cannot turn away.

However, Part 2 is the book’s true message,

filled with strong hope and concrete recommendations,

discussed under the title “Ten Prescriptions to Save Japan.”

Books like this often end with abstract proposals and problem-raising, but

this book is different.

For Japan to become even more prosperous,

what to sacrifice and what to protect are proposed concretely.

As written in the book,

these are not things that can be accomplished overnight or by a single group.

The consciousness of the Japanese people needs to change,

and for that, politics, education, industry, and society must

also change.

It is a truly good book,

so please pick it up and read it.

Fifty or one hundred years, or even further ahead,

for a richer Japan,

I would like to tell and introduce it to the younger generation,

including your children and grandchildren,

as a book that I want to share.

Having finished reading such a book,

I want to live today and tomorrow with hope for Japan’s future,

and I intend to spend my days with that hope.