World Population Day: In the rural village of Nagi, the recipe for repopulating Japan?
Visit our website:
http://www.france24.com
Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English
Follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/France24_en
Category
đź—ž
NewsTranscript
00:00 Smiling babies make for happy parents.
00:03 At this creche in Nagi, local mums come to help look after other people's children
00:08 while they work or run errands, a service that costs less than two euros an hour.
00:12 As a mother it's affordable and gives the children the chance to mix with other kids.
00:19 In Nagi the birth rate is a matter of pride.
00:24 Here women have an average of just under three children each.
00:27 That's more than double the national birth rate.
00:33 Nagi's approach is geared towards children and mothers. I'm very grateful for that.
00:40 Japan's birth rate has halved over the past 60 years.
00:43 Nagi's mayor is addressing the problem by reaching out to young workers from big cities.
00:48 They live in these homes, 80 square metres of floor space for just 400 euros a month.
00:56 Here we have 12 houses and they're all occupied.
01:00 More people come to live in the town than leave it and most of the new arrivals are
01:04 young people.
01:07 Nagi is fighting the demographic crisis on several fronts.
01:11 It provides families with 700 euros every time they have a child, as well as free health
01:15 care until 18 and work for young mothers.
01:19 Many Japanese women quit their jobs when they have their first child.
01:22 Here they do part-time jobs and have the freedom to cut their hours short if something urgent
01:27 crops up.
01:29 Our mission is to adapt to the issues faced by parents.
01:33 They're able to look after their children until they go to the creche or even until
01:37 they enter primary school.
01:40 Nagi is a symbol of hope in one of the greatest societies on earth.
01:44 The Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, is among the many politicians to have visited the town.
01:49 describe Japan's low birth rate as a national crisis.
01:53 [BLANK_AUDIO]