In an interview with NPR in Tokyo, Izumi says he decided to be a politician at age 10. Many Akashi residents credit the city's success to Fusaho Izumi, the city's mayor from 2011 until April. Izumi was mayor from 2011 to 2022, during which time he doubled the city's spending on child care. His inability to explain how the cash-strapped nation will afford these measures, and three decades of previous governments' unsuccessful efforts to increase dwindling births, have contributed to a highly skeptical reception for the plan.Īn Asahi Shimbun poll published Monday found 73% of respondents don't think Kishida's measures will halt the falling birthrate.Īkashi's former mayor, Fusaho Izumi, at an NPR interview in Tokyo. Funding details are not expected to be finalized until the end of the year, according to news reports. He has suggested the government could cover any shortfall in funding by issuing bonds. He has pledged he will not raise taxpayers' burden to fund it. His government plans to double child care spending by the early 2030s, including bigger subsidies for families with kids, more support for higher education and medical care for children with disabilities.īut Kishida has not said where the money will come from to pay for it all. 'The period until the early 2030s, when the population of young people is expected to decline sharply, is the last chance to reverse the declining birthrate trend,' Prime Minister Kishida said on June 1. On the national level, officials have spoken about the severity of the situation of Japan's aging and shrinking population - and pitch their plan as a last chance to turn things around. The bigger Akashi's population gets, the more taxes the city collects, and the more services it can provide, which in turn attracts more residents and encourages them to have more kids. Women in Akashi had an average of 1.65 kids in 2021, the last year for which figures were available, compared to 1.3 nationwide that year (the national rate has since fallen). 'So many parents are coming that there aren't enough facilities for them all,' notes Akashi resident Taiki Chisaka, who is at the child care center with his wife Arisa and son Tatara.Īkashi's population has increased for 10 years in a row, to over 300,000. The policies have attracted young families to Akashi from other cities. While the diapers are helpful to new families, the outreach and advice from child care professionals - a practice adopted from other communities in Japan and elsewhere - is also welcomed.

Babies below age 1 get free diapers, delivered to their homes by midwives - all regardless of income.

Families with two or more children get free nursery school and kindergarten. Kids in Akashi get free medical care up to age 18 and free school lunches up to 15.

Parasite in city part 2