I can vouch for that, as a "Japanophile", having spent quite a bit of time working there in 2005. While I was there, a big debate was raging about demographics and opening up to immigration...pensions crisis etc. etc.. However, it's hard to see how their culture, with its attention to detail, rituals and ceremonies - just "knowing" the right way to do things, could survive mass immigration as seen in the UK..
One of my absolutely best friends is Japanese, very tolerant, open, sensitive and liberal, fantastic guy, but even HE once called me (a Brit) "gaijin" (foreigner), while we were walking down Oxford Street in London! Say no more...
As for Italy, they do have a tiny ITALIAN birth rate but this has been bolstered by substantial recent immigration so the population is rising steadily - I watched this with my own eyes when I was living in Milan between 1993 and 2001. Points of comparison with Japan are not so many, I think.
Also, family money still rules the roost in Italy but the population is much more credit-orieneted than before. Nothing like the US/UK, of course (but then what could be). I'm not so sure people save like they used to...
I can vouch for that, as a "Japanophile", having spent quite a bit of time working there in 2005. While I was there, a big debate was raging about demographics and opening up to immigration...pensions crisis etc. etc.. However, it's hard to see how their culture, with its attention to detail, rituals and ceremonies - just "knowing" the right way to do things, could survive mass immigration as seen in the UK.. One of my absolutely best friends is Japanese, very tolerant, open, sensitive and liberal, fantastic guy, but even HE once called me (a Brit) "gaijin" (foreigner), while we were walking down Oxford Street in London! Say no more... As for Italy, they do have a tiny ITALIAN birth rate but this has been bolstered by substantial recent immigration so the population is rising steadily - I watched this with my own eyes when I was living in Milan between 1993 and 2001. Points of comparison with Japan are not so many, I think. Also, family money still rules the roost in Italy but the population is much more credit-orieneted than before. Nothing like the US/UK, of course (but then what could be). I'm not so sure people save like they used to...