Japan's Shrinking Regions in the 21st Century: Contemporary Respo ...

Chapter 1

Introducing Japan’s Shrinking Regions*

Introduction: General Background to Population Shrinkage

Shrinking regions are a daily reality facing 21st-century Japan, bringing with them concerns for the state, society, and—most importantly—local communities, families, and individuals. Beyond the abstract demographic phenomena that describe shrinkage as a statistical fact, in people’s lived experience shrinkage is most often associated with community and societal decline and with the eventual disappearance of previously thriving human settlements. Indeed, in its most extreme form, shrinkage can result in a complete societal collapse and the disappearance of an entire civilisation (Diamond, 2005; Tainter, 1990). Hence, population shrinkage is not solely a contemporary phenomenon; it has