Is it a lie that music can revive Japan? - Probing into the root of Japan’s deep-seated demographic problem

“Empower Japan with Music” sounds like a very powerful slogan, but if I’m being honest, what I actually want to say is, “This is not the time to just give lip service to this problem!” In the future, we are going to have a lot more issues piling up in Japan, and no matter what we do we are having great difficulty in achieving good results.

To begin with, Japanese people will be extinct in less than 500 years due to the rapid decline of the population. In other words, Japan will cease to exist as a nation. A nation can only exist only when the people exist. Therefore, we must increase the number of offspring, and as God teaches, “Be fruitful, and multiply”. Men and women need to form couples and have children in order to form a society. If we neglect this fundamental way of life as human beings, Japan will come to an end in only a few generations. I wonder how many Japanese people understand how critical this situation is.

In order to empower Japan with the power of music, the basic premise is that it is meaningless unless there are people to exist in the country. Without the increase of children to carry the future, Japanese people will face the danger of extinction. However, Japan is slow to take action, and is running out of time taking countermeasures. Thus, Japan has been unable to even probe into the root of the problem: how to stop the steep population decline.

The Japanese government wants the Japanese people to increase the number of children, but the reality is that Japanese people are being left with the worst possible environment to raise children and there are no signs of improvement. Perhaps the government is reluctant to tell us what they really think because they want to sweep the problem under the rug, or the anxiety of getting involved will lead to more troubles or arguments. First off, what I’m talking about is abortion. About 150,000 to 160,000 abortions are performed every year in Japan. This is a high rate compared to other countries and it’s something that Japan can never be proud of. Approximately 12,000 abortions are performed on underage girls every year, which means that more than 30 fetuses are aborted from the bellies of teenage girls every day. These are terrifying numbers. However, the adoption system in Japan is not as developed as in Western countries, and the foster parent system does not function well either. Therefore, if an unmarried young woman gives birth to a baby, she will have to face a heavy burden on her life that is more challenging than one can even imagine. These national trends and cultural thinking inevitably makes abortion seem to be a woman’s or a young girl’s only option. While learning about these hopeless situations, lately, I have been pondering if somehow there is a way to raise these babies who are not wanted. Otherwise, the population of Japan will never show signs of increasing.

That is not the only problem. The living conditions of the children who were born have also changed for the worse. Leaving the reasons and analysis to the experts, I focused on the reality. I found that there are major issues in school education and the home environment. Regarding the former, classroom disruptions have long been talked about, but now, the problem has gone beyond that level and has expanded into the problem of children not attending school. About 200,000 elementary and junior high school students nationwide refuse to go to school and are truants. The actual number of these children is said to be as high as 300,000. This is unbelievable. Free schools for these children who cannot go to school are being operated throughout Japan, but these helping hands are not enough to support all of these children. In addition, bullying and harassment are widespread in schools, sometimes driving many children to commit suicide. These tragedies symbolize a society where people’s hearts have become cold and desolate.

Moreover, there is no end to child abuse. According to official statistics alone, about 50 to 60 children are killed by their own parents every year. This means that at least one child is killed every week. The actual number is estimated to be several times higher. The reason is that there are so many cases where it is hard to determine whether or not abuse is the cause. One of the reasons cited for child abuse by parents is the issue of stepchildren. Not only has the divorce rate climbed higher resulting in a larger number of single-mother families, but there also are a lot of cases where unmarried women with children start relationships with men who abuse these children. Tragic news is reported every day, but perhaps this is now the reality of Japanese society.

To empower Japan with music, we must first create the basis of a society where people and children are valued. Without that, all efforts to save these children will be in vain. This is why we must first not only show children the joy of music, but we must also work to protect children’s lives in order to reinvigorate Japan through music. It’s important for young people to marry, have families, and take good care of their children as a matter of course. In addition, it is our dream that the family environment will be improved and that the relationship between parents and children will gradually be transformed into one filled with love. Now, there is no time left. We have a lot of difficult problems ahead. Still, I want to keep on dreaming.

Children who will lead the future of Japan