In academic circles, he is almost unknown. In my hometown Japan, however, has an ever-growing fun club, which consists mainly of angry youth who believe that gerontocracy is hindering the development of the country. Cause Associate Professor of Economics at Yale University, Yuusuke Naritawho recently suggested that a good solution to the increasing aging of the Japanese population would be for all older people to commit “sepuku” (the ritual suicide of disgraced samurai, better known in our country as “hara-kiri”).

This is not the first time Narita has provoked with his remarks. He recently commented on a panel on a popular Japanese TV show that he believes the issue of euthanasia for the elderly “will soon become a central issue in our society.” In the same panel, Yuki Honda, a professor of sociology at the University of Tokyo in Japan, called his comments “hateful comments about the weak.”

However, its popularity in Japan is not accidental. In a country with the highest public debt in the developed world and an ever-aging population, many young people have begun to blame older generations for holding important positions and not leaving young people at the helm of businesses and institutions. It is a fact that the birth rate in Japan is declining, and at the same time, the country is among the world champions in life expectancy of its inhabitants. In this context, many young people have taken the view of Narita, who writes in his Twitter biography: “What you are forbidden to say is usually the truth.”

Concern about impact

Many analysts fear that Narita’s growing influence could lead to pressure on the government to change its policies and take strict action, as well as an outbreak of violence. However, to written questions sent to him by email, he replied that “what worries me most is this phenomenon in Japan, where the same tycoons still control key positions in politics, industry, media and entertainment,” while noting that his call for the mass “sepuku” was an “abstract metaphor”. “I should have been more careful with my use of words. After a few months, I made my self-criticism and stopped using it altogether,” he added.

Despite the general respect Japanese society has for the elderly, this is not the first time they have been the object of antipathy. A decade ago, then-treasury minister Taro Aso declared that the older generation should “hurry to die,” and last year the country released the dystopian film “Plan 75,” in which senior citizens died happily in government centers. euthanasia. Narita’s comments about “mass suicide” also evoke dark historical memories, as during World War II, some of the country’s youth were sent in suicide aerial attacks, the famous “kamikaze”, and Japanese soldiers ordered hundreds of families to Okinawa to kill yourself so as not to fall into the hands of the enemy.

Josh Angrist (2021 Nobel Prize in Economics), of whom Narita was a student, explained that “he is a talented researcher. I would like him to progress in his science. It’s a pity that he is distracted by other problems.”

“Now or never”

A few weeks ago, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the country’s demographic problem is at a turning point. “In the near future, we will no longer be able to support our state functions. We have no other time. That’s why we make supporting parenting a key policy priority. Now or never,” he said, announcing that his government would double spending on services for children. The country’s health minister estimates that fewer than 8,000 people were born in 2022. “This is the lowest number of births since the country began counting the population in 1899,” he noted with concern. At the same time, Japan has the highest median age of any major country on the planet, with a median age of 48, and one of the highest life expectancies at 85, making it a “country of old people.” “by using huge public resources for care and treatment systems and further burdening the country’s economy with the largest public debt in the developed world.