Japanese population in Tokyo area marks first ever drop

The number of Japanese people living in the Tokyo metropolitan area as of Jan. 1 fell for the first time since statistics began in 1975, reflecting a continued decline in the number of births in the country, a government survey showed Tuesday.

According to the internal affairs ministry survey, based on the nation’s resident registry, the population of Japanese people in Tokyo and the three neighboring prefectures of Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa decreased by 34,498, or 0.10%, from a year before.