Page 22 - IJPS-8-2

International Journal of
Population Studies Japan’s death-laden society

most of today’s other super-aged societies are European has been the prospective consequences of this transition
countries including Italy, Portugal, Finland, and Greece, – how the coming of a death-laden society will challenge
just in the coming few decades major economies in East Japanese society, culture, and individuals including those
and Southeast Asia – most notably, South Korea, China, in advanced age.
Taiwan, and Singapore – will catch up with the rate of This paper aims to contribute to the growing body of the
Japan (United Nations, 2019). relevant literature by exploring, albeit preliminarily, main
In recent years, a growing amount of literature has areas of challenges, particularly from a policy perspective,
argued that just in the coming decade a super-aged Japan with which a death-laden Japan will likely contend at least
will transition into what is often referred to as a “death- for several decades to come. Drawing on survey data that
laden” society (Fuji, 2018; Kurahara, 2020; Nagaoka, 2021). are publicly available and original data gathered from a
A death-laden society is characterized by a ballooning series of expert interviews, this paper outlines five areas
of deaths among its population, particularly of those in of challenge that call for immediate policy responses to
advanced age, and mounting challenges to the whole protect the well-being, comfort, and dignity of those in
society, including the younger population, in its effort advanced age not only today but also in the future. The five
to protect individual members’ wellbeing, comfort, and areas of challenge include: (1) Shortages in basic medical
dignity in later life. resources for the dying; (2) mounting public burden of
disease; (3) potential prevalence of “lonely deaths” among
In this new stage of demographic shift, while remaining
the world’s leading super-aged society, Japan will those in advanced age; (4) urgency to facilitate national
discussions on end-of-life options; and (5) the crematorium
experience a ballooning of deaths among its population, shortage and their cultural impact. An overarching goal of
particularly of those in advanced age. During the second this paper is to contribute to the policymaking not only of
half of the 20 century, annually about 0.8 million people Japan but also of other countries that may follow Japan’s
th
died on average, and that figure has rapidly increased to demographic path to becoming death-laden societies
date. In 2030, the figure will reach about 1.6 million, which in the conceivable future, those in East and South-east
will remain through the 2060s. By contrast, the number Asia in particular. The experience of Japan as the world’s
of births has been steadily declining during this period of prospective forerunner of a death-laden society may offer
time in a nearly reverse fashion. The annual average births a source of policy lessons that may help those countries
during the second half of the 20 century were about prepare to make the future of their aging societies more
th
1.6 million, and the projected figure for 2030 is about sustainable for the coming generations.
0.8 million (United Nations, 2022). Nearly 80% of those
deaths are projected to occur among those in their mid- 2. Data and methods
70s and older (National Institute of Population and Social
Security Research, 2022). This trend is driven in part by The discussion in this paper is based on two sets of sources:
the prolonged longevity; the life expectancy at birth for The first set of sources is a review of the relevant literature,
both men and women jumped from 67.3 years in 1960 to both academic and policy, and findings from a series of
84.7 years by 2020, an almost 25% increase over the past descriptive analyses of survey data that are publicly available.
five decades (Organization for Economic Co-operation and These sources were utilized mainly to describe the basic
Development, 2022). Another factor behind the ballooning characteristics and trends of Japan’s death-laden society.
of deaths is the continuous aging and eventual deaths of The second is a set of findings from original data gathered
the two major baby boom generations of the country’s in recent years from expert interviews, a qualitative research
population. Together, these factors will result in rapid method instrumental to gaining in-depth information
depopulation due mainly to a projected continuation of the about specific issues, typically emerging ones, that are not
decline or stagnation of childbirth (Higo, forthcoming). necessarily publicly recognized (Döringer, 2020). The expert
Hence, from 2030 onward for several decades to come, interviews were carried out to access and gather the latest
Japan will be a society that is characterized not only by the information and specialized knowledge related to policy
continuous aging of the population but also by being laden challenges with which Japanese society will likely contend
with a lasting trend of experiencing an unprecedented over the coming decades particularly in the context of its
number of deaths in its older population. Much of the continuous population aging. Together, these two sets of
emerging body of the literature has focused on describing sources aim to empirically explore and discuss the policy
a death-laden society mostly from a demographic prospects of Japan as the world’s first death-laden society.
perspective or analyzing the causes and process of the The expert interviews were conducted over the time
demographic transition. To date, notably understudied span from February 2020 to October 2021 in Tokyo, Osaka,

Volume 8 Issue 2 (2022) 16 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.v8i2.301