The Fear of a Shrinking Nation: Chronologies of the Future and the Collapse of Everyday Life in Japan
| Dates: | 25 March 2026 |
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| Times: | 16:00 - 16:00 |
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| What is it: | Seminar |
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| Organiser: | School of Arts, Languages and Cultures |
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| Who is it for: | University staff, Adults, Alumni, Current University students, General public |
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Chigusa Yamaura (University of Oxford)
The fear that the nation is shrinking, potentially into oblivion, prevails in contemporary Japan. Every year, stories about record-low fertility rates and population decline circulate widely in Japanese society. Such narratives sometimes go so far as to predict the disappearance of the Japanese ethnic group itself. How can we understand this fear of a gloomy national future? This presentation argues that narratives of population decline function as a new form of nationalism. By examining a new genre of book, the Chronology of the National Future series, I show how imagining and constructing scenarios of a potential dystopian future provokes a timeless sense of national belonging, encompassing not only the past and the present, but also the future. The Chronology of the Future series illustrates how population decline is projected to lead to disastrous consequences for the everyday lives of Japanese citizens, presented year by year. These imagined outcomes include, for instance, the dysfunction of public transportation systems and the collapse of emergency medical services. At the same time, this presentation considers whether such fear actually mobilises Japanese nationals. Despite the widespread sense of urgency and crisis-ness surrounding population decline, concrete and practical actions to alter the nation’s future seem to remain limited. In this context, what does this pervasive feeling of fear ultimately lead to?
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Samuel Alexander Building
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