Seyi Lawal

 Today researchers in Japan released shocking revelations via a population clock that showed Japanese people could theoretically become extinct in 1,000 years because of declining birth rates.

Japan’s population of children aged up to 14 is 16.6 million at the moment but it is shrinking at the rate of one every 100 seconds. It therefore signified that within a millennium, there will be no children left in japan, the Academics in the northern city of Sendai said.

 Hiroshi Yoshida, an economics professor at Tohoku University said: “If the rate of decline continues, we will be able to celebrate the Children’s Day public holiday on May 5, 3011 as there will be one child. But 100 seconds later there will be no children left. The overall trend is towards extinction, which started in 1975 when Japan’s fertility rate fell below two.”

 Meanwhile, AFP reports that Japan’s life expectancy which is one of the highest in the world is expected to rise from 86.39 years in 2010 to 90.93 years in 2060 for women and from 79.64 years to 84.19 years for men. already Japan’s elderly population is one of the highest in the world. 

Unicharm company announced recently that sales of its adult diapers had “slightly surpassed” those for babies in the financial year to March, for the first time since the company moved into the seniors market.

Yoshida said he created the population clock to encourage “urgent” discussion of the issue.