( MENAFN - Khaleej Times) Published: Wed 5 Jun 2024, 6:49 PM Last updated: Wed 5 Jun 2024, 7:28 PM Japanese champion runner Tomomi Bitoh completed a 170-km (106-mile) race in the Himalayas last November, and immediately made a beeline for a Tokyo clinic to begin freezing her eggs, hoping to keep alive her dream of becoming a mother. The 33-year-old former childcare worker is one of a growing number of Japanese women joining in a trend authorities in the world's most advanced ageing society hope will stem further declines in the birthrate. "I have this big dream of becoming number one in the world," said Bitoh, who placed second among women in the 2021 Marathon des Sables, regarded as one of the world's toughest long-distance races.
"I don't think that's something I can do 10 or 20 years from now, after having a child. It's now or never." The average number of children born to a Japanese woman fell to a fresh low of 1.
20 in 2023, data from the health ministry showed on Wednesday. That marks an eighth successive year of decline and is far below the 2.07 experts say is necessary to maintain a stable population.
Japan calls its demographic woes a "quiet national emergency" that stifles growth and strains its social security system. The government, which says the difficulty of balancing a career and child-rearing is among the key deterrents to having children, has earmarked billions of dollars for efforts it hopes will reverse the trend. Last year authorities in the capital starte.
