„Mikroapartments“ mit einer Größe von nur 9 m²/3 Tatami-Matten erfreuen sich bei jungen Menschen in Tokio zunehmender Beliebtheit, da die Mieten steigen

Is popular the right word? Or….temporarily put up with because they don’t want a long commute and can’t afford something bigger and there isn’t a culture of bringing in roommates to sublet…

“Slums popular among Victorian labourers looking for flexible housing options”.

There is no way to solve the birth rate crisis without first solving the Tokyo overpopulation issue. How are people supposed to have kids in a situation like this? These young people aren’t flocking to Tokyo for the microscopic apartments and brutal commutes, they are doing it because Tokyo is the only place in Japan they can find a good job. The Tokyo birth rate is 30% below the national average, and considering that so many young people end up in the Tokyo area it’s having an outsized impact on the overall birth rate. Hell it’s even skewing the gender ratios of young people(you know the ones that can have kids). A lot of medium sized towns have an excess of young women as men go to Tokyo to seek their fortunes as their sisters are expected to stay close to care for elderly parents. 

Obviously no prefectures are above replacement so solving the Tokyo problem won’t be the end all be all, but any other policy to try to fix the issue will mostly end in failure until this is solved.

Edit: just for comparison https://sp.chintai.net/list/?mode=1&o=10&rt=51&prefkey=fukuoka&ue=000002114&own=1&urlType=dynamic&cf=0&ct=60&k=1&jk=0&jl=0&sf=0&st=0&j=5&h=99&b=1&b=2&b=3&jks=&mode=1

A quick search of places in Kagoshima(not a small town by any means) for apartments within 10 minute walk to a major station for what she is paying for that tiny apartment in Tokyo. For the same price you get something 3-4x as large, for half the price you get something 2x as large. Obviously not a completely thorough comparison but gives a pretty good idea of just how fucked the Tokyo real estate situation compared to the rest of the country. Now look at jobs in Kagoshima on indeed or a similar site and see why that is….