<figure id="attachment_298090" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-298090" style="width: 4000px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="60896f56"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/03/aflo_212060341-1.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-298090" class="wp-caption-text">Japan is in a state of stagnation due to the high tax burden, also known as the &#8220;five publics and five private sectors. Will Prime Minister Kishida be able to break through this&#8230;</figcaption></figure>
 Is there any hope for this country?
 According to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), 512 elementary, junior high, and senior high school students committed suicide last year, the highest number ever recorded. In addition, the number of students who were not attending school in elementary and junior high schools nationwide in 2009 was 244,940, also a record number.
 As for suicide, the most common reasons for suicide among those aged 19 or younger were &#8220;poor academic performance&#8221; (104), &#8220;worries about career paths (other than entrance exams)&#8221; (84), and &#8220;worries about entrance exams&#8221; (40). Suicide among high school students was the most common with 352.
 At the same time, it was announced that the number of births fell below 800,000, the lowest number since statistics began. In response, Prime Minister Kishida said
 In response, Prime Minister Kishida said, &#8220;I have heard that the number of births has fallen below 800,000 in the preliminary figures released. This is a record low and the seventh consecutive year of decline. I recognize that this is a critical situation.
 He said.
 Prime Minister Kishida dared to say that he would &#8220;double the budget&#8221; as a countermeasure to the extraordinary declining birthrate, but when asked by an opposition party at a Lower House Budget Committee meeting which part of the budget he would double, Kishida replied, &#8220;It is not about the numbers.
 I don&#8217;t have a number in mind,&#8221; Kishida said. 
 First of all, we need to sort out the substance of our policies.
 The result was as if Kishida had given no answer at all.
 Japan ranks 37th out of 38 developed countries in the index of children&#8217;s &#8220;mental well-being,&#8221; calculated from the &#8220;percentage of 15-year-olds with high life satisfaction&#8221; and the &#8220;suicide rate for 15-19 year olds&#8221; released by UNICEF in 2008, and is the second worst country in the world. Japan ranked 37th out of 38 developed countries, the second worst.
 Why has Japan, once the richest country in Asia, become so exhausted?
 The Ministry of Finance recently announced that the national burden ratio (the ratio of public burden to income) for fiscal year Reiwa 2022 was 47.5%. In 2000, the figure was 35.6%, but now half of what Japanese people earn is &#8220;taken by the government.
 In the past 30 years, salaries have not increased, and the burden on the Japanese people has only increased. Many young people say they cannot marry in such an economic situation. In addition to the record low birthrate, a record number of children are killing themselves in despair over the future. The low level of happiness is also a characteristic of Japan. Japan is going in a bad direction not due to one factor but a combination of factors.
 However, the LDP and New Komeito, the ruling parties, are strong in elections because they have a large number of &#8220;push votes&#8221; such as organizational votes, so the political situation has not changed significantly. In a country where even the prime minister cannot be directly chosen by the people, it is unlikely that a hero will be born who will dramatically change Japan.
 The declining birthrate is tantamount to a gradual loss of national strength. However, while the declining birthrate is a problem, the fact that one or two children commit suicide every day somewhere in Japan is perhaps even more serious.

 Yoshio Tsunoda/Afro

 Despite the lowest number of births in Japan, child suicides are the worst in the country's history. The level of happiness is the second worst among developed countries, and the tax burden is 47.5%, which is the same as in the Edo period (1603-1867), when people were exploited by the "five publics and five private sectors....

Japan&#8217;s birthrate is the lowest on record, but child suicides are the worst on record&#8230; Japan&#8217;s national burden rate is 47.5%, which is the &#8220;end&#8221; of Japan.

Japan’s birthrate is the lowest on record, but child suicides are the worst on record… Japan’s national burden rate is 47.5%, which is the “end” of Japan.

Access Ranking