Long-term trends of Japan's total population (Provided by Yoshinori Hiroi and translated by JST) Marugame Shopping Street in Takamatsu-City, Kagawa Prefecture, aiming for economic circulation within the region (Provided by Yoshinori Hiroi) We moved forward in the expanding population and wealth era, focusing on economics and e iciency. However, the current shrinking population and drastic changes in society and the environment are shifting us from the age where we all work together to climb a

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... ngle path to the one where each of us can freely exercise our creativity. Yoshinori Hiroi, Professor at Kyoto University's Kokoro Research Center, says that in the coming era, it will be more important than ever to raise the level of happiness of each individual and that the key to achieving this is a decentralized "sustainable welfare society."