Overpopulation is an environmental problem is most places of the world, putting massive strain on the earth as more and more people take resources from Mother Nature and pollute at an increasing rate.

This, however, is apparently not the problem in Japan. Their birth rate is current at around 1.26, which means that their population cannot sustain itself if it does not raise it at least to 2.0. It's gotten press as being a national crisis, with the government taking steps to address the problem.

That being said, isn't Japan's population extremely dense in the urban areas? Perhaps this can be a temporary good thing for the Earth, decreasing the population to a more sustainable level. Can the world actually learn something from their problem?

I'd be curious to see what effect the "one child" policy in China had upon their country's population. I'd guess that the policy has greatly helped their government to expand their country's various economic and environmental causes.

Still, at what cost? Did they anticipate their female population dwindling so much? Maybe you don't want too many people, but you can't have any people in a country full of men. Will they eventually have to require the women to have MANY children to help stave off this other problem??