Japanese authorities reported a protracted demographic crisis (4 photos)

We all know about ghost towns, but imagine a city that should be home to 25 million people, but it stands empty. It's a scary picture.





The Japanese government, where the population has been aging for decades and refusing to reproduce due to the high cost of living, decided to count how many abandoned houses there are in the country.

The results, frankly, are scary. According to estimates, there are 9 million empty houses. Naturally, they are located all over the country, but there are 9 million of them.



This number would be enough for 25 million people, but there are none. At the same time, the entire population of the country is 120 million. Although in Russia the demographic situation is not much better, to be honest.

The majority of abandoned houses are located in rural areas, but every year there are more and more such houses in cities. According to data collected by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, 14% of residential real estate in Japan is empty.

The problem is not that they build a lot, but that there is no one to live. After the death of the owner, the house remains empty, and even if there are heirs, they are in no hurry to return to the villages or restore old apartments. Many people simply don't have the time, and it's financially expensive.





Here's some more sad Japanese statistics.

In the last six months alone, according to Japanese police, 37,000 people were found who died alone in their homes. They had no friends, family or children who could at least visit them.

Yes, the majority were people aged 65 and older, 70%. But a little more than 11,000 people were middle-aged and also led an isolated lifestyle. Of those, nearly 4,000 were found more than a month after they died, and 130 were found at least a year after they died, according to Japanese police.



Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported on Thursday that the National Police Agency released the shocking figures to draw attention to the problem of deaths among the country's aging population, which is left without the care of doctors and loved ones.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida warned last year that the country was "on the brink of whether it can continue to function as a society" due to falling birth rates and an aging population.