This article is well-written and really paints a broad picture in the beginning so well. I'd be curious to hear from those living in Japan what they think.
Considering the bleedingly obvious political slant fueled by feel-goodism, especially towards the end of the article: No. This is just another make-readers-angry hit piece.
Among many egregious errors and ignorances: No, the LDP has not "ruled ever since". There have been a number of times the LDP was not in power, including most recently when the Fukushima #1 power plant underwent a meltdown because the Democrat Party (not to be confused with the LDP) government at the time was utterly inept.
Rivers are "walled with grey concrete" because to not do so means the rivers flood uncontrolled during the rainy seasons leading to washed out towns and villages which fucking nobody reasonable wants. The coasts are "blighted by tetra pods" because high tides, waves, and fucking tsunamis are commonplace.
Japan absolutely faces many big problems as it moves forward, but this article serves to help precisely nothing. The author might as well have wasted his 10 years in Japan if this is truly all he could write.
One thing that I can comment on is that Japan has drastically changed its immigration policies and opened its doors to workers from overseas. A decade or so so ago you needed to have lived in the country for more than ten years to gain permanent residence, but now you can get it in as little as 3 years. English is much more common especially in major cities, partly thanks to the preparation for the Tokyo Olympics. Support for foreigners living there has increased likewise. But yes, still a long way to go until you see immigrants take on top roles in major corporations or even the government.
Incorrect: it's 1 year if you score 80 points on the point list for the HSP visa, and 3 years if you score 70 points.
As far as I can tell, Japan has the easiest and most permissive immigration policies among developed nations, bar none. Compare with the "pro-immigration" US where there's strict limits on worker visas, H1-B holders have to leave the country very quickly (a week?) if they lose their job and can't find a new sponsor fast, there's strict limits on green cards (PR) with a lottery of all things, etc.
I'm not surprised that wage growth in Japan stagnated considering the limited size of the domestic market, lack of English proficiency and little import of foreign talent via immigration.
Regarding fertility rate, I don't know the projections for the younger generation, but 27% of 50 year old women here have never had children. It's hard to convince the remaining women and their partners to make big sacrifices to have three or more kids in order to make up for the perceived freeloaders (the never-married ~28% of men and ~18% of women that have no interest in each other).
Without the government somehow brainwashing the population, any real solution would likely result in opposition from large parts of society, so the can gets kicked down the road...
