Japan may have one of the longest national life expectancies, about 85 years, and the world's largest city, Tokyo. But the nation's population has been in decline for 15 years.

More people lived rurally or stayed with relatives outside of major cities, meaning the largest economic hubs in the country reported significant declines in population during 2020 and 2021.

Each spring, as reliably as the changing of the seasons, Japan releases grim new population data that prompts handwringing in the press and vows by politicians to address the country’s ...

The demographic crisis has become one of Japan’s most pressing issues, with multiple governments failing to reverse the double blow of a falling fertility rate and swelling elderly population ...