Last year, the number of couples getting married hit the lowest level since the end of World War II, according to government estimates. It was the sixth straight year of decline in the nation’s marriage rate, which is falling at a much faster clip than the drop in Japan’s population over all.Not surprisingly, the number of births in Japan — a country where few people have children out of wedlock — is also tumbling. Last year, the number of babies born in the country fell to the lowest level since at least 1899, when record-keeping began.

(i) improvingefficiency through wider use of genericdrugs and rationalization of in- and out-patient care;24 (ii) increasing the share ofout-of-pocket spending for those over 75years old and the wealthy elderly, withsafeguards for vulnerable households; and (iii) reducing the scope of covered services anddrugs. On long-term care, the authorities should explore measures to contain costs, includingrationalizing services to those with lower-care needs.

A reasonable expectation would therefore be a continuation of the status quo, at least in the short- to mid-term. Japan’s immigrant population will likely continue to grow incrementally over the next decade or so, barring further economic shocks. At the same time, the native population will continue to grow older and labor shortages will become more pronounced. In the longer term, as economic pressures continue to bear down on Japan and the country seeks to maintain the solvency of its labor market and health-care and pension systems, larger-scale increases in immigration appear inevitable.

Under the amended Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act, passed by the Diet in December 2018,foreigners qualifying for the new Specified Skills Visa Status are able to enter Japan to work in designatedsectors (including agriculture, nursing care, construction, specific manufacturing industries, and food andhospitality services) for a maximum period of five years (Category 1 visa status). The period of stay under aCategory 1 visa is limited to five years, and workers are not able to bring family members.

Table 3: Main policy suggestions about immigration (2007–2013)

Domestically, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) hascontinued to take a negative view on the employment of foreign nurses andcare workers and has refused to acknowledge their recruitment as a solutionto labor shortages in the health sector. S

current government is clearly not in favor of immigration. A reform of immigra-tion policies is not a major issue in Abenomics, the current prime minister’sprogram of pro-growth economic policies. Although the Abe administration,anticipating a labor shortage in the construction industry for the 2020 TokyoOlympics and other key sectors, recently announced to consider the expansionof the current temporary migrant workers scheme, their main answers to thecountry’s shrinking working-age population are the promotion of female work-force participation, increasing birthrates, greater labor market flexibility, andthe employment of senior citizens, among others.

With regard to the former, public opinion polls by thegovernment itself address this topic merely by asking about foreign workers(gaikokujin rōdōsha). According to the most recent survey from 2004, 26 % com-pletely reject unskilled foreign workers, while 39 % accept their admission oncondition that labor shortages could not be made up for even with womenand elderly citizens being recruited, and 17 % accept their admission withoutconditions (Cabinet Office 2004). These figures suggest that more than half ofthe population considers foreign workers to be at least an option. The govern-ment does not normally refer to these data.

Robertson noted that in Japan, the belief is that the robotics industry will be to this century what the auto industry was to the last. Twenty-six billion dollars has already been allocated over the next 10 years to the development of this industry, and one goal, within the next 10 years, is to develop "intelligent" robots capable of decision making. Already, 62 types of household robots are commercially available in Japan. Humanoid robots are regarded as preferable to immigrants: they have no cultural differences and do not carry the baggage of negative historical memories (e.g., Koreans and Chinese). Robots also help perpetuate the myth of Japan as a homogenous nation. Robertson pointed to public opinion polls as confirming these beliefs. She stated that these policies are not without their critics, however, citing one blogger as commenting that Japan's growing dependence on robots indicates that Japan is "spiritually impoverished."

Jennifer Robertson, professor of anthropology at the University of Michigan, presented an official Japanese government solution to the declining population problem: robots. This is a conscious policy, she noted, of pursuing automation over immigration. First pushed by the Shinzo Abe government in 2007 under the rubric of "Innovation 25," this policy asserts that by 2025, the average Japanese family will consist of a husband, wife, the husband's parents, one son, one daughter, and one robot. The robot will do most of the household cleaning, prepare the meals, provide whatever care is needed to the grandparents, and perform baby-sitting tasks. This humanoid robot will essentially be a surrogate for the wife/mother, accordingly freeing her to have more children.

Keiko Yamanaka, lecturer in ethnic studies at the University of California, Berkeley, described current Japanese immigration policy. Since 1990, Japan has mandated that only skilled foreigners can be employed in Japan; no unskilled foreign laborers can be employed. In reality, however, especially in the manufacturing sector, there is a need for unskilled labor in jobs at the lower levels that Japanese will not take. Accordingly, there are over half a million unskilled immigrant laborers in that category in Japan today. This is not enough to solve any declining population problem. Nonetheless, asserted Yamanaka, the living conditions for such workers are very poor, and she urged the Japanese government to introduce measures to improve their livelihood.

"Oyaji" means the typical Japanese guy, the soul of the nation who works hard and is the breadwinner for the family. "Oyaji" had traditionally been a positive concept, but now the term is becoming less so. This is because, explained LeBlanc, the Japanese male is under great stress. He is still supposed to be the main breadwinner, but often feels trapped in his job, where his employer still demands very long hours, making it difficult, if not impossible, for him to support his wife in household and child-rearing chores. In 2005, noted LeBlanc, 35 percent of men aged 35-39 had not married, whereas the percentage for women was only 18.4. Economics is a factor as well: for those men making under $40,000 year, over 75 percent are unmarried. More ominously, the suicide rate for men is twice as high as for women in Japan. The conclusion is inescapable that for young men in Japan, the burden of marriage is growing, and therefore they are resisting the institution altogether.

These findings suggest that ibuprofen has anegative effect on zebrafish circulatory system and development

The experiment did not generate significantdata, but did see lowered trends of body length, angle of development, and heart rate in higherconcentrations of ibuprofen compared to the control.

Based onprevious studies, we predicted to see lowered heart rate and delayed development, as measuredthrough angle of development and length of fish.

In this study, zebrafish (Danio rerio) were exposed tovarious concentrations of ibuprofen (5 μg/L, 10 μg/L, 20 μg/L, 50 μg/L) to observe any adverseeffects in the embryo regarding the circulatory system and physiological development.

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammation drugs (NSAID) are common medications used to reduceinflammation and pain. Of the 20 NSAIDs available in the states to use, ibuprofen is the mostcommonly used and prescribed NSAID. Studies show that pregnant women who use ibuprofenput their baby at risk for premature closing of the ductus arteriosus and other heart anddevelopment defects, but it is unknown whether or not ibuprofen taken in the first trimester of apregnancy will cause these defects