[KiraYamatoFan]

Originally Posted by DonQuigleone

Not an authority on this, but doesn't the Japanese government put large tariffs on food imports? That might be what is causing the high prices.

Can't say for sure, but it would logically have to do with the farm lobby working to try selling homegrown products. However even then, producing homegrown products looks to be expensive in Japan too and that's what usually happens when a cartel is running business, whether it is about food, drugs, gas, etc. That's why I think the government will need to axe the farm lobby and thus reduce tariffs on food imports.

Originally Posted by DonQuigleone

Here. You can check the sources yourself. France has been very successful in increasing it's birth rates.

That said, figuring out why some countries have higher birth rates then others is tricky. Ireland has little in the way of direct incentives but still has one of the highest fertility rates in Europe. Likewise, the USA still has little trouble in keeping it's fertility rates up in it's general population.

If Japan was mostly of Catholic/Christian faith, I guess fertility rate wouldn't be an issue... just kidding. That aside, the issue at hand remains about how the Japanese government should put its priority on the future instead of ever relying on the same old people even when time to call "expiry date" on them has come. As you mentioned, the best way for the economy to grow is to increase the working aged force, but a whole chapter about that was skipped some time ago and we end up with the current problems.

Originally Posted by DonQuigleone

Furthermore, the rural elderly must be seeing how their communities are becoming deserted and wondering how they're going to keep them from dying out.

As a country dominated by conservative politics, more kids would seem to hit the buttons of almost every constituency. Of course they haven't managed to do anything about it so I'm pretty stumped.

As I wrote before, the same phenomenon of deserting the countryside is seen everywhere else in other G8 countries. It's a matter or reorganizing agriculture and breeding methods in order to keep the "business" alive if that's what they mean.

Please explain the last paragraph. I'm at loss here.

P.S. I also think more anime/manga series should also add something about having children. The most powerful tool all media have in Japan to send widespread messages should be put to use in preaching something for future generations.