What time did to Japan

No one entity can escape the grasp of time, not even the Land of the Rising Run. This particular topic caught my attention as I was flipping the pages of a well written piece of work called 昔と今の日本 which literally translates to the Old & Current Japan. I am unable to do an entire book review (obviously due to copyright reasons) but I can at least an insight on what you can expect from a book such as this. It's probably the first Japanese book I've ever finish up until now. Ranging from Japanese otakus to historian, I believe this book will provide a sense of value on time and how it affects Japan and its people.

1. Fertility and replacement rate

It's no surprise that despite the advanced medical care they posses, it doesn't change the fact that Japan is well known for their low birth rate and high population or elderly. But it wasn't always like that. In 1930, the birth rate was a solid 4.7 per one adult female. That number just hit rock bottom to a mere 1.3 coming into the 21st century. Not to mention the total fertility rate (TFR) - the number of children a women bear in her lifetime is far below the replacement rate. This aging community and sexless couples was a huge factor in the decreasing population up until this point. Many would argue on why this drastic change occurred with some claiming it was due to the number of independent women who chose career over childbirth while some of the single men refuse to leave their parent's house.

In order to to prevent the declining rate of population, in average, one female must give birth to 2.1 babies which is still well short from the current 1.3. It's a long shot but several measures have been taken by the Japanese government which includes loosening the regulation on childcare provider and making it easier for women to return to work after labour.

(Quick trivia : despite being known for the low fertility rate, Japan has never made it to the "top 10" countries with the lowest fertility rate)

2. Number of  graduates

Among 100 Japanese student, 97 students made it into high school and 50 of them made them into university. It was enough for them to earn them a spot in the top 5 country with the most college graduation rate. That is the current Japan we know today... Going back 50 years ago, the number of people who made it to school, 60...and only a mere 10 person was able to graduate from university. Like most places, it was consider a luxury back then to successfully pass a university entrance exam compared to the current state we live in.

However, there exist a trend now where students are choosing to work without pursuing higher education (beginning at the age of 16-18). As for the pros and cons, I'll leave it for some other day (feel free to let me know what you think in the comments section)

3. Consumed product


Currently, statistics shows that the average Japanese now consumes 92 gram of fish compared to the previous 86 grams per day in 1970. Being an island itself, Japan is not unfamiliar with seafood and aquatic vegetation.  However, consumption of meat saw a huge rise instead, going from 36 gram per day to 77 gram per day. We can thank the revolution of agriculture for this. The poultry section on the other hand, saw a huge increase as well as people consume dairy product (milk, cheese, yogurt) more in the 21st century (253 gram/day) compare to 1930's Japan (173 gram/day)

However, not known to many, Japan are heavily reliant on imported meat due to their low self sufficiency rate. Japan's food self sufficiency rate on a calorie basis is the lowest among 12 developed countries cited in an international comparison released by the farm ministry in 2003. Expert cite many factors that have contributed to the decline. One common explanation is the radical change in the eating habits of Japanese and in the food industry after World War II

On the bright side Japan's self sufficiency rate for rice, eggs, whale meat and mandarin oranges exceeds 90 percent. However the rate for essential ingredients for Japanese cuisine, including soy beans is a mere 5 percent, and is just 13 percent for daily necessities like cooking oil.

My first month storage