PM warns Japan on brink of social dysfunction amid falling birthrate

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida warned Monday that Japan is “on the brink” of losing its social function due to its rapidly declining birthrate, pledging to focus on child-rearing policies as the most pressing agenda item this year.

In his policy speech at the beginning of a 150-day regular parliamentary session, Kishida voiced his readiness to revive the world’s third-largest economy, beset by the COVID-19 pandemic, and to play a leading role in diplomacy as this year’s chair of the Group of Seven summit.

The prime minister also apologized for the resignations of four ministers within the span o...