Imploding Populations in Japan and Germany


Book Description

Japan and Germany are at the vanguard of a new population dynamics in developed countries: population decline in the absence of war, famine and pandemics. This book presents an in-depth overview of the social and economic implications of this development.




Imploding Populations in Japan and Germany


Book Description

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the impact of low birth-rates and population decline on Japan and Germany. Experts from both countries examine a broad range of issues, from demographic change, social ageing, family policies, family formation, work-life balance, domestic and international migration to business perspectives and labour market issues. Focussed on Japan and Germany, two highly developed countries with extremely low fertility, the chapters of this volume also refer to several other countries for comparison. In the absence of war, famine and pandemics, rapid population decline is a new phenomenon. Japan and Germany are struggling with this reality, but many other countries will follow their example.




Family Life in Japan and Germany


Book Description

This volume addresses the family situation in Japan and Germany. Gender-segregated labor markets and precarious employment patterns bear detrimental consequences for the socioeconomic capacity to maintain family households and to have children. By applying a gender-sensitive approach, this volume’s focus is on the impact of family law, family policy , and family support measures. Scholars from Japan and Germany examine differences and characteristics of social security legislation, intergenerational support systems, single-parent families, inequality among households and poverty situations, local domestic and care service provision, female labor market participation, parental leave systems, organization of child care, domestic violence, historical developments of housework as an institution, and labor market policies.




Japanese Population Geographies I


Book Description

This is the first anthology that conveys in detail the actual situation of population geographies in Japan, a country facing some of the world's most serious demographic trends such as low fertility, population aging, and depopulation. The anthology consists of two volumes with the common title Japanese Population Geographies. All of the included entries are based on original Japanese papers written by leading geographers and published within the past few years, useful for understanding Japan’s current population geographies. The first volume analyzes the postwar transition of internal migration, examining the structural changes of population in urban areas, and proposes a new measure different from the traditional resident population. This volume also presents an investigation of the retirement migration of baby boomers as well as displacement migration due to the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. The second volume’s contents examine the residential choices of minority populations such as foreign residents and sexual minorities. It also discusses future prospects associated with mono-polar concentration into Tokyo, regional forecasting using population projections based on small-area units, and the importance of a politico–economic perspective in the future research. Taken as a whole, this anthology offers the following two significant contributions. First, the excellent achievements obtained in Japan, which is experiencing serious demographic trends, reflect key developments within the context of the world's population geography. The second contribution is that the book brings the latest insights and important policy implications to countries that are facing various issues associated with decreasing fertility, aging population, and declining population.




OECD Territorial Reviews: Japan 2016


Book Description

Japan is embarked on a demographic transition without precedent in human history: the population is both declining and ageing rapidly. This raises important questions about the country's future economic geography, as public policies will need both to respond to these shifts and also to shape them.




Population Aging and International Health-Caregiver Migration to Japan


Book Description

This book introduces Japan’s current policy initiatives directed at eldercare and international labor migration, and, wherever appropriate,it adds a comparative perspective from Germany. The book shows how eldercare is currently being organized and discusses integration policies for foreigners. It studies the policy-making process behind the system, and contextualizes the migration avenue within the strong roots of Japan’s eldercare in local communities and the non-preparedness of the nation to grant local citizenship to international newcomers. Through applying an approach of multi-level policy making, putting a strong focus on the local level and introducing new approaches, this book is of interest to policy makers and scholars in aging, migration, health care, and contemporary Japan.




Modern Germany


Book Description

Modern Germany explores life, society, and history in this comprehensive thematic encyclopedia, spanning such topics as geography, pop culture, the media, and gender. Germany and its capital, Berlin, were the fulcrum of geopolitics in the twentieth century. After the Second World War, Germany was a divided nation. Many German citizens were born and educated and continued to work in eastern Germany (the former German Democratic Republic). This title in the Understanding Modern Nations series seeks to explain contemporary life and traditional culture through thematic encyclopedic entries. Themes in the book cover geography; history; politics and government; economy; religion and thought; social classes and ethnicity; gender, marriage, and sexuality; education; language; etiquette; literature and drama; art and architecture; music and dance; food; leisure and sports; and media and pop culture. Within each theme, short topical entries cover a wide array of key concepts and ideas, from LGBTQ issues in Germany to linguistic dialects to the ever-famous Oktoberfest. Geared specifically toward high school and undergraduate German students, readers interested in history and travel will find this book accessible and engaging.




Parental well-being


Book Description

"Pursuing happiness is not only idealistic, it is the world's best and perhaps only hope to avoid global catastrophe" (Global Happiness Policy Report 2018). With that, the report argues for happiness as overarching policy goal. This volume argues that parental well-being is well qualified to assume a central role for governments of industrially advanced nations that are in need of coping with the challenges of low fertility and societal aging. More than 4000 mothers and fathers of young children in Germany and Japan have been surveyed in regard to their well-being and satisfaction with many aspects related to their work and family lives. The volume brings together 13 scholars to analyze this unique dataset. The chapters fall into three main parts: (1) parenting and childcare, (2) self, social relatedness, and social structures, and (3) family policy well-being. A particular focus lies on the well-being of mothers in contrast to fathers. The volume uses a multidimensional concept of parental well-being, with each chapter highlighting one dimension, ranging from health, education, employment, and family policy satisfaction to partnership, social network, and childcare satisfaction. National differences are in several aspects superseded by gender, class, and personality types.




Internal Migration in the Developed World


Book Description

The frequency with which people move home has important implications for national economic performance and the well-being of individuals and families. Much contemporary social and migration theory posits that the world is becoming more mobile, leading to the recent ‘mobilities turn’ within the social sciences. Yet, there is mounting evidence to suggest that this may not be true of all types of mobility, nor apply equally to all geographical contexts. For example, it is now clear that internal migration rates have been falling in the USA since at least the 1980s. To what extent might this trend be true of other developed countries? Drawing on detailed empirical literature, Internal Migration in the Developed World examines the long-term trends in internal migration in a variety of more advanced countries to explore the factors that underpin these changes. Using case studies of the USA, UK, Australia, Japan, Sweden, Germany and Italy, this pioneering book presents a critical assessment of the extent to which global structural forces, as opposed to national context, influence internal migration in the Global North. Internal Migration in the Developed World fills the void in this neglected aspect of migration studies and will appeal to a wide disciplinary audience of researchers and students working in Geography, Migration Studies, Population Studies and Development Studies.




Japan’s New Ruralities


Book Description

Seeking to challenge negative perceptions within Japanese media and politics on the future of the countryside, the contributors to this book present a counterargument to the inevitable demise of rural society. Contrary to the dominant argument, which holds outmigration and demographic hyper-aging as primarily responsible for rural decline, this book highlights the spatial dimension of power differences behind uneven development in contemporary Japan. Including many fi eldwork-based case studies, the chapters discuss topics such as corporate farming, local energy systems and public healthcare, examining the constraints and possibilities of rural self-determination under the centripetal impact of forces located both in and outside of the country. Focusing on asymmetries of power to explore regional autonomy and heteronomy, it also examines "peripheralization" and the "global countryside," two recent theoretical contributions to the fi eld, as a common framework. Japan’s New Ruralities addresses the complexity of rural decline in the context of debates on globalization and power differences. As such, it will be of interest to students and scholars of sociology, anthropology, human geography and politics, as well as Japanese Studies.




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