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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
GUO Li
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DOI:10.17265/2159-5836/2025.11.012
College of Foreign Languages, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China
The aging and declining birthrate is a common challenge faced by many countries in the world today, especially those with relatively developed economies. As close neighbors in East Asia, Japan and China are particularly prominent in this issue. Japan is one of the countries with the highest degree of aging globally, and its process is characterized by “getting rich first and aging later”; while China is known for its “aging before getting rich” and its ultra-large elderly population, and is experiencing a similar demographic transition at a faster pace. This paper aims to systematically compare the current characteristics of aging and declining birthrate issues in China and Japan, and deeply analyze the similarities and differences in the underlying economic, social, and cultural reasons. The study finds that the two countries are similar in overall trends such as low fertility rates and inverted population structures, but there are significant differences in the timing of the problem’s outbreak, its severity, and specific causes. Japan’s predicament is rooted in its long-term economic stagnation, mature welfare social system, and profound individualization trend; while China’s challenges are closely related to unique family planning policies, rapid socioeconomic changes, and significant urban-rural regional differences, as well as the deep penetration of the declining birthrate phenomenon from urban to rural areas, and the accelerated disintegration of traditional fertility concepts.
aging and declining birthrate, comparison between China and Japan, population structure, fertility rate, urban-rural differences
Journal of Literature and Art Studies, November 2025, Vol. 15, No. 11, 885-890
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