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Created page with 'Category:Nations Category:Asia Category:East Asia Category:Pacific Rim Alliance * '''Population:''' 84 million * '''Aspects:''' Very Stable, Powerful, Fifth Wave …'

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[[Category:Nations]]
[[Category:Asia]]
[[Category:East Asia]]
[[Category:Pacific Rim Alliance]]
* '''Population:''' 84 million
* '''Aspects:''' Very Stable, Powerful, Fifth Wave
Outside of Europe and the [[United States]], Japan is the most prosperous and
technologically advanced nation on the planet. Japanese
society changed considerably in the course of the 21st century,
overcame severe structural problems in its economy,
and became a founding member of the prosperous Pacific
Rim Alliance. Today Japan is seen by some observers as
retiring from the world, and by others as boldly leading the
way into a posthuman future.

Japan’s population declined by over 30% during the
21st century, despite the widespread use of geriatric and
rejuvenative technologies. The Japanese have simply gotten
out of the habit of having children. While Japanese
society still values and cherishes children, fewer individual
Japanese have childbirth and child-rearing as a personal
goal. Meanwhile, the fall in birthrates and the dramatic
extension of lifespans has made the average age of the
Japanese population higher than that of any other nation.
This change in Japanese demographics has also made
the country conservative in outlook. Political and
social leaders are almost all from the ranks of the very elderly,
and they are primarily concerned with maintaining
the prosperity which has allowed the distinctive Japanese
society to flourish, while remaining somewhat apart
from the rest of the world.

The human population of Japan exists largely
as a management and leisure class. Ideally, a
young Japanese citizen is trained as a manager,
creative artist, or scientist, earning shares in one of
the nation’s keiretsu as he ages and gains experience.
Eventually, he reaches the status of an “elder shareholder,”
who does little but manage his investments. Some young
Japanese reject this path, preferring to pursue leisure or
cultural activities. Most such youths live with parents or
other elders. Others live solely on the income generated by
inherited investments, or emigrate: the PRA nations,
[[Elandra]], [[Luna]], [[Islandia]], [[Mars]], and [[Yametei Station]] in the
Main Belt are popular choices.

Despite its innate conservatism, modern Japan is
not known for [[Preservationism|Preservationist]] sympathies. Large sectors
of society are openly [[transhumanism|transhumanist]], and Japan has
responded to its population decline by producing a national
workforce which is mostly artificial. Sapient [[infomorphs]]
and high-end [[cybershells]] are quite common in Japan, dominating
all but a few occupations. Japan’s “artificial citizens”
have nearly full civil rights and are regarded as an
integral part of society; there have even been marriages
between [[SAI]]s and humans, although these are still uncommon.
Indeed, the distinction between infomorph and
human citizens has been blurring in recent years, as many
Japanese create shadows of themselves in lieu of children,
or undergo [[destructive uploading]] into cybershell bodies.

At first, only the elderly, eccentric, or seriously infirm
became [[ghosts]], but the accelerating tendency of healthy
young people to choose to abandon their bodies for
uploads is worrying even to many Japanese. Many who
could not otherwise afford uploading are making use of a
well-organized transhumanist underground that provides
unlicensed ghost clinics. However, these establishments
often suffer from substandard procedures or equipment,
and this can result in would-be ghosts ending up as [[fragments]]
or worse. Police have shut down a few ghost clinics,
but others continue to flourish, operated by idealistic transhumanists,
new religions, and criminal cells.

Despite such bumps in the road, most Japanese remain
confident in their future as a nation. They believe they can
reach a social consensus on issues such as uploading, and
not only preserve but perfect Japanese culture in the context
of a world where the very definition of “human” is
changing.

Japan - Revision history

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