Japan and Western economies have pretty good data, they are generally not manipulated. There are enough people who work there, and researchers who go in and out

Japan and Western economies have pretty good data, they are generally not manipulated. There are enough people who work there, and researchers who go in and out who can vouch. The reason a lot of media is hyperbolic is 1) they can make a story out of it, otherwise there's nothing to read, and 2) they hate Japan's ethnocentric culture, and want Japan to have large scale immigration and to be 'diverse'. Also the 'economic' data is the side issue, what we know for sure is the 'demographic trend'. This is not something we've seen before in the modern world and we don't know how to deal with it. One specific problem is the concerns over 'deflation trap'. If businesses think the future is grim, they invest less, hire less, which causes less investment etc. This is bad, and it's why the Fed targets inflation at 2% and not 0% for example. (Or, the major reason, among a few reasons). But given a new world with tons of data, we can forecast better hopefully. Also - from a 'big picture' business perspective, most of economic growth comes from warm bodies. The difference between US and EU growth is not US innovation ... it's US babies and immigration. So, if you own WallMart or Starbucks, or a bank and make mortgages you want 'more bodies'. That's what makes you money. We generally focus on 'The GDP' more than we focus on 'GDP/capita'. Even governments like more bodies as it means more money, more power, a bigger seat at the table, etc. etc. - or at least traditionally. And there are of course some scarier issues like ... the notion that the birthrate may not stabilize. Like a nation suiciding itself by literally not caring enough to replace themselves. Which is actually an existentially spooky thing. But I think we'll be ok, there are projections that show Japan stabilizing at still a fairly large population.