TOKYO (JAPAN)

a) Identify a city or a town.
Tokyo (Japan)

b) Paste a photo or image of the city reflecting its status.


c) In a paragraph describe the population status of the city.
Tokyo is the capital city of Japan and the biggest city in Japan in terms of population and area. As shown in the photograph, Tokyo is cramped and congested, with many high-rise buildings. This suggests that Tokyo is densely populated (5487/km2 ), and including the neighboring prefectures of Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa, the Tokyo area conurbation has a total population of over 33 million inhabitants, the largest population concentration in the world. However, Tokyo is also experiencing a slow rate of population growth. The birth rate in 2009 is 8.5 per 1000 people. The death rate is 9.1 per 1000 people. The rate of natural increase is -0.6.

d) Draw a typical population pyramid of the country of the town you have chosen.

Population

e) Describe one of the problems faced by the country because of its population growth pattern.

One of the problems faced by Japan because of its low rate of population growth is an ageing population. There is a growing percentage of elderly people compared to young people in their population.

Firstly, there is a shortage of young workers, impacting on employment practices, wages and benefits. A study shows that the government would need to raise its retirement age to 77 or admit 1 million immigrants between year 2000 and 2050 to maintain its worker-to-retiree ratio.

Secondly, the increasing proportion of the elderly people had a major impact on government spending. Millions of dollars are saved on education, health care and welfare for children. In the early 1970s, social expenditures amounted to only 6% of Japan's national income. In 1992, the budget increased to 18%, and it is expected that in 2025, 27% of the national income would be spent on social welfare.

Thirdly, because of the incidence of chronic diseases increases with age, the health care and pension system are expected to come under severe strain. The government had to reevaluate the relative burdens of the government and the private sector in health care and pensions. The government also had to establish policies to control government costs in these programmes.


Pae En Qi (30)
Sec 2-1 (ACE Geography)

Sources:
http://www.stat.go.jp/english/index/official/202.htm
http://www.japaneselifestyle.com.au/tokyo/tokyo_population.htm
http://www.japanvisitor.com/index.php?cID=429&pID=1852
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aging_of_Japan#Effects_on_society
http://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/handbook/c02cont.htm