美国国家公共电台 NPR--Japan announces plan to address a national crisis: its low birthrate

Japan announces plan to address a national crisis: its low birthrate

Transcript¹

Japan's government has a new plan to halt the country's plunging² birthrate. But many Japanese are skeptical³, as the government has tried and failed to fix the problem for some three decades.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Japan's government recently announced plans to address what it sees as a national crisis. Less than 800,000 babies were born in the country last year, the lowest number on record. But the plans are being met with skepticism, partly because the government has been trying to fix the problem unsuccessfully for three decades. NPR's Anthony Kuhn has this report from one Japanese city that is doing better than most.

(CROSSTALK)

ANTHONY KUHN, BYLINE⁵: To anyone concerned about the declining population, this child care center in western Japan's Akashi City offers some encouraging noises.

(SOUNDBITE OF BABY SCREAMING)

KUHN: The center includes clean and bright playrooms and libraries. Haruka Okamoto, 30, brings her daughter here because it's free, and she can play with other kids. She says she was confident about having a child in Akashi and is considering having more.

HARUKA OKAMOTO: (Through interpreter) We get generous support for child care and other things, which even makes my friends jealous, so I'm not worried. We are building a house in Akashi. It is a town which makes me think I want to live here forever.

KUHN: Kids in Akashi get free medical care up to age 18. Families with two or more kids get free nursery school. Babies under age 1 get free diapers delivered to their homes by midwives, all regardless of income. Resident Arisa Chisaka says it's not just saving money on diapers that helps. It's also talking to the midwife.

ARISA CHISAKA: (Through interpreter) They also focus on mental care. Besides delivering diapers, they say things like, are you too tired? Or, please get more support from your husband.

KUHN: The child care policies have attracted young families to move to Akashi from other cities. Akashi's population has grown for 10 years in a row to over 300,000. As of 2021, women here had an average of 1.65 kids compared to 1.3 children nationwide. Many Akashi residents credit the city's success to Fusaho Izumi, the city's mayor from 2011 until April. In an interview in Tokyo, Izumi explains how he helped raise the city's birth rate.

FUSAHO IZUMI: (Through interpreter) I did not believe that population growth was the goal. It was just the result of making a city an easy place to live.

KUHN: Izumi notes that he doubled the city's child care spending not by increasing taxes, but by cutting spending on public works. He admits, though, that this offended some bureaucrats⁶ and businessmen. Last year, he pledged to quit politics and apologized for threatening two assembly members. He says his remarks were taken out of context. He insists Akashi's success can be replicated⁷ nationwide, but he doesn't think that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's plan will do the trick.

IZUMI: (Through interpreter) Unfortunately, I must say that the plan is insufficient⁸ and too slow. Even if it is fully⁴ realized, it will have almost no effect.

KUHN: Kishida has pledged to double Japan's spending on child care by the early 2030s. He's promised bigger subsidies⁹ for families with kids, more spending on education and medical care for children with disabilities. He's not said exactly where the money will come from to pay for all this. Kishida highlighted the urgency of the issue in a June 1 speech.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRIME MINISTER FUMIO KISHIDA: (Through interpreter) 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 birth rate trend.

KUHN: But Masahiro Yamada, a sociologist¹⁰ at Tokyo's Chuo University, says Japanese governments' track record makes it hard to be optimistic. He's not confident that Japan has the stomach for the drastic reforms needed to increase its birth rate.

MASAHIRO YAMADA: (Through interpreter) I'm worried that Japanese people would prefer to accept a declining birth rate and everyone gradually equally getting poorer rather than accepting a big change which causes some people to lose out.

KUHN: Tae Amano leads a civic¹¹ group that lobbies the government on child care policies. She says another problem is the Japanese don't all agree on the importance of the birthrate issue.

TAE AMANO: (Through interpreter) In the current generation, only 25% of households have children. That means the other 75% don't have children. Therefore, for lots of people, this is someone else's problem.

(SOUNDBITE OF BABY WAILING)

KUHN: Some parents in Akashi expressed similar feelings. They're not just looking for welfare benefits, but for social acceptance. Hiromi Kumamoto explains, while taking care of her son.

HIROMI KUMAMOTO: (Through interpreter) I want the government to create an atmosphere in which people like those in Akashi who are raising children would be welcomed everywhere in the country.

KUHN: Her implication, though, is that Japan still has a long way to go before that's true.

Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Akashi City, Japan.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 plunging   

adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• War broke out again, plunging the people into misery and suffering. 战祸复发，生灵涂炭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He is plunging into an abyss of despair. 他陷入了绝望的深渊。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

4 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 bureaucrats   

n.官僚( bureaucrat的名词复数 )；官僚主义；官僚主义者；官僚语言

参考例句：

• That is the fate of the bureaucrats, not the inspiration of statesmen. 那是官僚主义者的命运，而不是政治家的灵感。 来自辞典例句
• Big business and dozens of anonymous bureaucrats have as much power as Japan's top elected leaders. 大企业和许多不知名的官僚同日本选举出来的最高层领导者们的权力一样大。 来自辞典例句

7 replicated   

复制( replicate的过去式和过去分词 )； 重复； 再造； 再生

参考例句：

• Later outplant the seedlings in a replicated permanent test plantation. 以后苗木出圃栽植成重复的永久性试验林。
• The phage has replicated and the donor cells have lysed. 噬菌体已复制和给体细胞已发生裂解。

8 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

9 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 sociologist   

n.研究社会学的人，社会学家

参考例句：

• His mother was a sociologist,researching socialism.他的母亲是个社会学家，研究社会主义。
• Max Weber is a great and outstanding sociologist.马克斯·韦伯是一位伟大的、杰出的社会学家。

11 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。