Inflammatory remarks by Japan's speak-from-the-hip conservative politicians-among them the prime minister for now, Taro Aso-embroil them in endless controversy with neighbours over Japan's wartime past. In their defence, conservatives often say that what really concerns them is the future, in which they want Japan to punch its weight in the world. The question is, what weight? Japan's population, currently 127m and falling, is set to shrink by a third over the next 50 years. The working-age population is falling at a faster rate; the huge baby-boom generation born between 1947 and 1949, the shock troops of Japan's economic miracle, are now retiring, leaving fewer workers to support a growing proportion of elderly.
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