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- Japan-Population Implosion
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- Steve Herman
Japan is aging and shrinking. A decline in population as no country has ever confronted combined with a rapidly greying society is prompting concerns about a demographic crisis with ramifications for both young and old.
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Piece Description
Japan is aging and shrinking. A decline in population as no country has ever confronted combined with a rapidly greying society is prompting concerns about a demographic crisis with ramifications for both young and old.
Broadcast History
version airing on VOA from Dec. 27
Transcript
Japan-Population
INTRO:
Japan has long known that its population would begin to decline one day. But as 2005 comes to a close, the country is being shaken by the news that the population fell by 19-thousand this year, which means the decline has begun sooner than forecast.
TEXT:
Japan changed from a feudal, farming society into a manufacturing powerhouse in less than a century, and then rebuilt after a catastrophic war to become the world?s second biggest economy. Now, however, it faces a new economic challenge, which may bring wrenching change.
Its population of 127 million ? about the same as Nigeria?s -- is beginning to decline. The head of the Health Ministry?s vital statistics division, Reiji Murayama says the contraction began this year, two years earlier than expected.
/// MURAYAMA ACT, IN JAPANESE, EST. & FADES ///
Mr. Murayama says for the first time s...
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Additional Files
- transcript (PRXJapanPopulation.doc)
