Did you know that Japan currently has over 30 million people over the age of 65? This is almost the same as the total population of Malaysia last year. The number of baby births in Japan is now at its lowest level and last year experienced a decrease of 0.53%. Yesterday Professor Hiroshi Yoshida from Tohoku University released a study saying that at this rate all Japanese residents will use the surname Sato by the year 2531.
Sato is the most popular surname in Japan with 1.5% of the population using it. Last year it recorded an increase of 0.83% compared to 2022. Using data extrapolation, Professor Hiroshi Yoshida believes that all Japanese people will use the name Sato in about 500 years.
The lack of young people in Japan has created various problems such as the abandoned rural areas, the cost of caring for the elderly which burdens the government and the lack of backers. Japan is trying to solve this issue by introducing the use of robots more widely.
A few years ago we reported on robots being used in place of monks for funerals due to the lack of human monks and even Lawson's convenience store using robots to restock stores.