[MUSIC PLAYING]
COY WIRE: Hey, lovely people.
It's Friday, March 17, St. Patrick's Day.
So Happy St. Paddy's Day, y'all.
The weekend is upon us, and we have had an awesome week.
So let's lock in and finish this week strong.
We start with a trip to Japan today,
where the number of births last year dropped to a record low.
Now, this population decline is a trend for the island nation
that experts are worried about.
Deaths have outpaced births for more than a decade.
So Japan now has a huge elderly population
and a shrinking workforce.
There's no population to fund pensions
and health care as demand from the aging population rises.
Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida warned citizens
that the country is on the brink of not being able to maintain
social functions.
A government agency was even set up to focus on this issue.
One reason for the population loss
is Japan's high cost of living.
There is also limited space in the cities
and a lack of child care support,
which makes it challenging to raise children in Japan.
Let's learn more and head to one rural town where more than half
of the village is over the age of 65.
WILL RIPLEY: Just after sunrise in the Japanese countryside--
[ROOSTER CROWING]
--no alarm clock needed.
The Yokobori family feeds their flock of chickens,
feeding themselves freshly laid eggs, french toast
for breakfast, bread baked on a wood-burning stove,
wood they chopped from cedar forests surrounding their home.
10 years ago, Miho was an office worker in Tokyo.
Today she's a homemaker.
Former graphic designer Hirohito, now a woodworker.
The couple runs a small bed and breakfast.
For them, city life lost its luster in 2011.
A new life in the mountains of Nara prefecture,
their home miles from the nearest train station.
Around here, you need a car to get around.
It's so beautiful, but you're so far
away from all of the 24/7 convenience
of Japanese city life.
They moved to Kawakami village, a tiny township
tucked away on windy roads, the trees
taller than most buildings.
When the young couple got to know their neighbors,
they got quite a shock.
Did you guys know before moving out here that the average age
was as old as it is?
MIHO YOKOBORI: No.
WILL RIPLEY: You didn't know?
TADAAKI KURIYAMA: [SPEAKING JAPANESE]
MIHO YOKOBORI: The mayor tells me more than half
the village is over 65.
TADAAKI KURIYAMA: [SPEAKING JAPANESE]
INTERPRETER: 40 years ago, the population was around 6,000.
Today it's 1,156.
WILL RIPLEY: The village population plunging faster
than anywhere else in Japan.
Some say it's in danger of disappearing for good.
As people pass away, abandoned homes sit empty.
Others sit underwater, casualties
of a dam and reservoir finished a decade ago.
When you see the prediction of, you know,
under 300 people living here 20 years from now,
how do you-- do you do as mayor to try
to stop that from happening?
TADAAKI KURIYAMA: [SPEAKING JAPANESE]
INTERPRETER: I'm not optimistic, but I don't
think it will be that bad.
I believe that people should live in such a nice place.
WILL RIPLEY: The population data is dire and not
just in Kawakami village.
Nearly every local government in Japan
predicts a lower population and higher average age
by 2045, entire villages on the verge of extinction.
Japanese society is shrinking and aging so fast
its future survival is at stake.
I'm going to one of the few places in Japan
with population growth.
You can probably guess where it is.
For decades, Japanese young people
have been fleeing their small rural towns, lured by the draw
of big cities like Tokyo and Osaka, all of them
connected by the bullet train.
But there's no magic bullet for Japan's population problems.
Even in Tokyo, the towers are high.
Birth rates hit record lows, Japan's population
plummeting for more than five years.
If the trend continues, experts fear it will fall
past the point of no return.
Why are so few women in Japan having children?
YUKA OKADA: People usually, for now, don't have money.
WILL RIPLEY: Is life here in Tokyo
too busy for a lot of people to find a partner?
YUKA OKADA: Working in the-- not office and at home, it's very
difficult to meet other people.
WILL RIPLEY: It sounds like there's a lot of lonely people
in this big, massive city?
YUKA OKADA: Yeah, it's so--
I think so too.
WILL RIPLEY: New parents in Japan
already get a baby bonus, thousands of dollars
to cover medical costs.
For singles, a state-sponsored dating service,
powered by artificial intelligence.
So far, boosting Japan's birth rate has been a losing battle.
The Yokoboris are doing their part.
So when he was born, he was the first child in this village
in how many years?
MIHO YOKOBORI: 25 years.
WILL RIPLEY: 25 years?
Also a big challenge, raising a child in the mountains,
no neighborhood kids to play with,
just six children in his kindergarten
class 30 minutes away.
The nearest high school, more than two hours away.
HIROHITO YOKOBORI: [SPEAKING JAPANESE]
INTERPRETER: We do the best we can,
but the rest is up to Kentaro.
WILL RIPLEY: Both say it's OK if their son
decides to leave someday.
Population data does show more young people
moving to the countryside, lured by the low cost
of living, clean air, and low-stress lifestyle.
The key question, is Japan doing enough
to pull up its plunging population
before it's too late?
[UPBEAT MUSIC]
COY WIRE: 10-second trivia, what planet is closest to Earth
when it passes by, Mercury, Venus, Mars, or Jupiter?
[TIMER TICKING]
It might not be the closest on average,
but Venus's orbit brings it closer
to Earth than any other planet.
Up next, an out of this world story where,
for the first time, scientists discovered
evidence of recent volcanic activity on Venus.
A closer look at archival radar images taken by NASA's Magellan
spacecraft in the early 1990s revealed the new evidence
on the surface of the planet.
But the new analysis shows that a region near Venus's equator
grew over an eighth-month span, and
experts say this is geological evidence of volcanic activity.
The Magellan mission ended in 1994,
but NASA has new missions to Venus planned within a decade.
Scientists are excited about what else
they might discover about this enigmatic rocky, potentially
lava-flowing planet.
[UPBEAT MUSIC]
For today's story getting a 10 out of 10,
we're soaring to new heights, Luke Czepiela attempting
a world record, becoming the first
to land a plane on top of Dubai's
famed Burj Al Arab hotel.
It's actually a helipad, just 88 feet long.
But Luke nails it.
This is 56 storeys above the ground.
The Red Bull Air Race champ makes it look easy,
but he's preparing since 2021, completing over 650 flight
tests landings on ground level.
So greatness does not come easy.
The habits you're creating right now
are creating the future you.
And this reminds me of a fable I heard.
The great artist Picasso was walking down the street,
and he heard a young person yelling, "Picasso, Picasso,
you're my favorite artist.
Can you sign this napkin for me?"
Picasso makes a breathtaking piece of art.
"Picasso, this is so beautiful.
It only took you five seconds to do this.
"My child," Picasso said, "it took
me 20 years to be able to do this for you in five seconds."
Master your craft.
Practice and outwork everyone every single day.
Shout out to Carlson High School in Gibraltar, Michigan today.
From me and my CNN team, have a wonderful weekend, everyone.
I'm Coy Wire, and it's been a blessing
to spend this week with you.
[INSPIRING MUSIC]