Japan's Population in Decline
Japan has joined Germany and Italy as countries where a decline in population has already set in; In 2005, Japan's population saw its first negative population growth. Unfortunately, for the Japanese, according to the Japanese government, this signals a problematic demographic turnaround for one of the world’s fastest-aging societies as the government tries to cover pressing social and economic challenges.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's annual survey showed deaths outnumbered births this year by 10,000, the first time that had happened since such data were first compiled in 1899, said ministry official Yukiko Yamaguchi.
Earlier projections suggested that Japan’s population of 127.7 million would not start its decline until 2006 and was expected to fall by 2050 by about 27 million people to 100.7 million, Japan's birthrate declined to 1.29 children per woman in 2004. Later marriage ages, cramped housing and high education costs are cited as reasons for women having fewer children.
The government is already concerned that the declining population will create labor shortages, tax shortfalls and an overburdened pension system as the ratio of taxpaying workers shrinks in comparison to the number of retirees.
The government’s Statistics Bureau reports that nearly one in five Japanese were aged 65 or older in 2004; the figure is expected to increase to one in four in the next decade.
See the Source: “Japan’s population starts declining in 2005 for first time,” Mainichi Daily News, 23 December 2005, http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20051222p2a00m0na008000c.html
Clinton Condoms
Ex-President Bill Clinton’s antics continue to reverberate through history. A Chinese company has announced it is “honoring” Clinton by naming a new line of condoms after him. A companion line of condoms will feature his ex-girlfriend, Monica Lewinsky.
Britain’s Sky News reports that the Guangzhou Haokian Bio-Science Company has registered their surnames as trademarks for the contraceptives. The names will be printed in Chinese characters: Ke-li-tun for Clinton and Lai-wen-si-ji for Lewinsky.
The company’s general manager told Sky News that naming his condoms for Clinton was perfectly legal, explaining that “trademarks of two foreign surnames can’t be seen as a violation of rights.”
Clinton is the only U.S. President to have a condom named after him. Sen. Hillary Clinton (N.Y.) had no comment on her husband’s singular achievement.
See the Source: “Clinton the Condom,” 20 September 2005, Sky News, www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,91059-13442533,00.html
Pro-Lifer Honored
Pro-life leader Lawrence F. Roberge of Goodwin College of East Hartford, Connecticut, and author of The Cost of Abortion: An Analysis of the Socio-Economic, and Demographic· Effects of Abortion on the United States, was named the 2005 Connecticut Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.
He was selected from among nearly 400 top professors in the United States,
See the Source: “National Honors for Top Professor in Connecticut,” 17 November 2005, http://www.case.org/Content/POY/Display.cfm?contentItemID=5659
