KIshiki Noriyo stops outside a house in Akashi, a town in western Japan, in a truck emblazoned with a heart-shaped logo and the slogan: “Diaper delivery: we also deliver kindness.” She comes out with two bags of diapers. Higuchi Miki, a young mother, appears at the front door with a baby on her hip. Ms. Kishiki is at the forefront of Akashi’s decade-long campaign to encourage its residents to have children. It includes free delivery of baby food as well as diapers, free medical care and school meals. The effort seems to be paying off. Akashi’s population has increased for ten consecutive years, reaching more than 300,000 residents.
This makes the city exceptional. Japan’s birth rate fell below the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman in the mid-1970s and has been falling ever since. In 2022, the total number of births fell below 800,000 for the first time since records began in 1899. Of Japan’s 1,800 municipalities, only about 200 have growing populations. According to Kishida Fumio, the Prime Minister, this has put the country “on the brink”.
Even in Akashi, which is near the cities of Osaka and Kobe, most of the growth comes from migration, not births. The city’s birth rate is 1.65. Still, given that the national figure is 1.3, that represents something of a success. Schools are closing all over Japan for lack of students; Akashi is running out of places in schools.
Many of the obstacles that prevent young Japanese from starting families, from the high costs of education to rigid family laws, can only be overcome by national policies. But Akashi shows how local communities can make a difference. This starts with improving access to nurseries and childcare. Smaller projects, like Ms. Kishiki’s, which help parents of young children, are also helpful.
The population of Nagareyama, a suburban town outside Tokyo, is also booming. Over the past decade, this number has increased by 24%, to 211,000 people. The opening of an express train service to Tokyo in 2005 largely explains this. But Nagareyama’s commitment to child care – his local government’s “top priority” – has also attracted young families. In 2007, the city launched a bus service that picks up children at train stations and takes them to daycare centers. Nagareyama has increased its number of daycare centers from 17 to more than 100 over the past 15 years. “Our goal was to create an environment in which parents can continue to work while raising their children,” explains Izaki Yoshiharu, the city’s mayor.
The lack of child care is endemic in Japan. Central government has made some improvements in this regard, reducing the number of children waiting for a nursery place by 90%. He also introduced tax and other economic incentives to encourage people to reproduce. But, as scattered examples like Akashi and Nagareyama suggest, making a real difference requires more fundamental change.
Kato Hisakazu of Meiji University believes that Japan “must foster a culture that is generous to children.” Efforts to build more daycare centers are often blocked by residents who worry about increased noise. When Soup Stock, a popular restaurant chain, began offering free food for babies last April, it encountered a fierce online backlash from people who objected to the prospect of sitting at next to crying infants.
Tanaka Yumi, a mother of two in Nagareyama, says young Japanese parents are used to receiving a “cold stare” from their unfriendly neighbors. But the abundance of young families in the city and the local government’s supportive policies are reassuring, she says. “I have a lot of friends in Nagareyama who decided to have a second or third.”
Akashi’s efforts on behalf of children aim to bring about the same cultural change. Morioka Kazumi, of the city’s child care service, says the diaper deliveries are more about “alleviating loneliness” than the goods themselves. Mrs. Higuchi, the young mother, likes it. “It’s nice when someone is watching me,” she says. “It makes me feel like I’m on the right track.” ■