Most investors are at least passingly familiar with the fact that Japan’s demographics are the worst on the planet because the country is “aging” so fast.

What they’re missing is just how massive an opportunity that is for the right investments.

And that’s what we’re going to talk about today, including three specifics that will get you started.

What a “Celibacy Syndrome” Has Done to Japan

I’ve been coming to Japan for nearly 30 years and living here part time every year for the past 20 as a father, husband, and businessman.

[ad#Google Adsense 336×280-IA]It’s one thing to talk about the graying of Japan like we do so frequently in the West – meaning how rapidly the population is aging – and entirely another to see it up close.

Every time I roll off the plane I’m simply stunned by how striking the demographic changes taking place here really are.

…Nearly 900 towns and villages will be extinct by 2040.

…Japan’s population growth is so low that the total number of people living here will fall by 35% to only 83 million by 2100 – only 84 years from now.

…The birth rate is so low that the last Japanese citizen may be born in less than 1,000 years.

The airport, bus stations, super markets, it doesn’t really matter… everywhere you look you’re surrounded by an elderly population, some 33% of which is over the age of 60.

Children – especially infants – are becoming an increasingly rare sight if you’re not near a shopping center or school yard. The rate of decline is so stark that at this pace, Japan will have one child to celebrate Children’s Day on May 5, 3011, according to Tohoku University Economics Professor Hiroshi Yoshida.

Take a spin into the countryside like I do frequently on my motorcycles, and the problem is even more graphic.

More than 8 million of the nation’s 60 million homes are abandoned, according to the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry. Schools have closed, once-fertile rice fields lay fallow, and there are no public services.

Entire communities are doing anything they can to attract people, however desperate that may seem.

A few years back, for example, Mishima Village in Kyushu decided to give away free cows to attract young farmers… and there was only one taker. New rice, free schooling, free medical care… these are but a few of the gambits intended to attract more people.

As you might imagine, the economic impact is extreme.

A reduced population means smaller tax receipts which, in turn, mean fewer and more expensive public services, if they exist at all. Many of the small towns I ride through remind me of Detroit, minus the crime, as hard as that is to imagine.

The situation will not change any time soon.

A new study provides startlingly graphic evidence as to why… very few people are getting “busy” – and yes, I mean exactly what you think I mean: they’re not having sex.

According to a new Japanese population study from the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, 70% of young men between the age of 18 and 34 don’t have a girlfriend/partner, nor did 60% of women the same age.

And here’s the part that really cuts to the chase… more than 40% of those same young men and women aged 18-34 have no sexual experience whatsoever. And the figure is going up.

Over half of the survey’s respondents say they have no chance of meeting the right partner. Less than 10% of young men want their future partner – if they actually do meet one – to be a housewife or mother. I was unable to find statistics on same-sex couples but cannot imagine the numbers are much different.

These numbers really hit home around the dinner table. I’ve got several nieces and nephews who are part of the generation we’re talking about. Not only are they struggling to have any sort of relationship, but they’ve moved home, too, further compounding the issue.

Barring some very graphic changes, demographic disaster is inevitable.

  • Consumer spending is declining and will continue to decline for as long as demographics do.
  • Construction spending, once the domain of large public works projects used to compensate for earlier periods of economic weakness, will decline because there are no workers even though there is money.
  • Political upheaval is inevitable as older people shift to more socialist policies intended to preserve what they have. This is already limiting innovation and commercialization resources, and will continue to do so.
  • More stimulus efforts, a la Abenomics, will not work because aging populations are not as interest rate sensitive as younger people. Financial velocity will slow because older people tend to be creditors, not debtors – a lesson our Fed and the ECB would be wise to learn.

Three Profit Plays as Japan Bends to Demographic Reality

As bad as all this sounds, there’s always opportunity in chaos.

In fact, the demographics changes we are talking about are one of the Six Unstoppable Trends we follow closely at Total Wealth because of their potential to create huge investment profits.

First, a weaker yen is inevitable and politically desirable as the problem accelerates.

My favorite way to play that is the ProShares UltraShort Yen (NYSE Arca: YCS), which appreciates as the yen drops versus other major currencies. Of course, it’ll be a bumpy ride given the world’s propensity to run to the yen as a safety play just as they run to the U.S. dollar, but that does not diminish the opportunity whatsoever.

[ad#Google Adsense 336×280-IA]Second, Japan will be able to maintain a population of 100 million – a critical government threshold – only by accepting at least 200,000 immigrants a year.

To grow, I think the figure is double that.

Either way, doing so will involve changing an underlying current of racism and bias that lurks just beneath the surface here.

In the old days this kind of change was handled through an “international contribution” program that began in 1993 as a way to borrow foreign knowledge from highly skilled workers.

The idea was they’d come, get their work done, and go home.

Now though, the key is keeping them… starting with Chinese immigrants, who make up nearly 40% of registered foreign workers now in Japan – a figure that catches even most Japanese by surprise. They bring their families with them, and have higher birth rates, too.

My favorite way to play this is by investing in a company like Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA), which operates as an online and mobile commerce company. As more and more Chinese workers move into Japan, they’re going to pine for creature comforts from home – but most Japanese retailers will be slow (or reluctant) to stock specific China-centric items on their shelves. And that opens the door for Alibaba to do so.

And, finally, let’s talk robotics.

There’s a belief here that robotics are the answer for deteriorating demographics, so companies are racing to develop technology as a means to compensate for an aging population of workers and caregivers alike.

In fact, Prime Minister Abe has shown intense interest in robotics, repeatedly signaling his desire to help the industry thrive. Not for nothing has he called for a 2020 “robot Olympics” in Japan, and also for a special task force to help triple the industry to 2.4 trillion yen over the next few years.

Most investors are falling all over themselves in a rush to figure out which robot maker will come out on top and, as usual, they’re going to miss the mark.

The real opportunity is in a company like Softbank Corp. (OTCMKTS: SFTBY), which is creating a portfolio of Asia’s most important (and potentially most valuable) e-commerce companies – all of which will link the robotics to the population’s needs and collect a healthy chunk of money for doing so.

The company saw a 12.9% year-over-year bump in net income from continuing operations last quarter and has had strong growth for several years as it makes ready for the next leg up.

Now where did I put my reading glasses?

Even I’m getting older.

— Keith Fitz-Gerald

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Source: Money Morning