This handbook explores the challenges demographic change pose twenty-first century Japan. The first part gives the fundamental data involved, and the subsequent parts address the social, cultural, political, economic and social security aspects of Japan's demographic change.

In the Japanese town of Ushimado, the shortage of labor is a serious problem due to its population's rapid decline. Traditionally, oyster shucking has been a job for local men and women, but for a few years now, some of the factories have had to use foreigners in order to keep functioning. Hirano oyster factory has never employed any outsiders but finally decides to bring in two workers from China. Will all the employees get along?

"Every Human Intention presents post-Fukushima Japan in three illustrative parts, areas where the consequences of national policy are felt: immigration, population decline, and the post-Fukushima nuclear industry. Dreux Richard follows members of Japan's immigrant Nigerian community affected by Japan's exclusionary and flawed visa system. He explores the northernmost town in Japan, which is rapidly depopulating as its residents age and die. And he takes us into the offices of nuclear regulatory officials who cannot agree on the parameters of their own geographical fault line review, which will determine whether the nation's riskiest reactors will restart. Through Richard's perceptive and probing reporting, he establishes himself as an authority on the subject matter, but he remains aware of his status as an outsider and "translator," acting as the readers' expatriate guide. The personal elements of his subjects' stories and his own perspective afford us an understanding of today's Japa

"Based on a conference sponsored by the joint committees on Chinese Studies and Japanese Studies of the American Council of Learned Societies and the Social Science Research Council."