A remarkable article but not in a good way as it glosses over the very real problems. In fact it is hardly recognisable in its rosey glow.



Japanese researchers recently pinned down the expected date of (Japanese) extinction with a doomsday clock. The date, according to the latest fertility rates, is available here and is not that far in the future -



http://mega.econ.tohoku.ac.jp/Children/index_en_2015.jsp



Currently in Japan adult diapers or nappies outsell baby diapers



One-fifth of all crime committed in Japan is done by the elderly. Most of it is petty theft. As a result prisons have effectively turned into nursing homes. Guards are made to bathe the inmates and help them get dressed, and experts say living conditions are too good to keep recidivism rates down. Many old Japanese seek prison



Japan has the highest rate of centenarians out of any country, with 4.8 per 100,000 people. The US, the country with the most overall, has 2.2 per 100,000.



So many old Japanese fall over a company, Prop, has started manufacture of wearable airbags to try and cushion their fall.



Ubasute is an old Japanese word that translates to "granny dumping," and according to Japanese news sources, it's making a comeback.



One of the main traits of the demographic time bomb is that young people focus a lot of their time on work instead of socializing, largely to keep up economically.

They still want to get married, however, so the compromise they're making is just partnering up with friends.



Long work hours are leading to a rise in cases of karoshi, or "death from overwork."

A report recently, which examined karoshi and its cause of death, found more than 20% of people in a survey of 10,000 said they worked at least 80 hours of overtime a month — a signal of just how desperate young people are for extra income in this demographic timebomb.



If we then look at Europe, and at Germany which is following the same demographic trend but not yet gone Japanese, 3.5 million young migrants per annum would be required to maintain historical demographic balance. This simply is not going to happen. 1 million migrants as a one off event has had the political system frothing at the mouth.



I don't know which is the most terrifying, the future for Japan, and by implication for all of the West at some point, or Mr Gros and his wild misrepresentation of that future. Japan has done well trying to deal with this so far and there are many lessons to learn from Japan but they are not the one Mr Gros imagines.