The yearly drop was the largest since 1987, when the current counting system was introduced, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
Meanwhile, the number of passengers boarding Japanese airlines' international flights last year fell for the second straight year, down 6.3 percent to 15.39 million, the ministry said.
Land prices announced by the government Thursday revealed a drop in the value of property in prime locations, including Ginza and Omotesando in Tokyo, which had experienced a substantial increase during a period of rising land prices that lasted until 2008.
Many designer brand shops closed down and offices have scaled back in commercial locations while condominium sales remain sluggish in residential areas. The latest survey of prices as of Jan. 1 indicates land prices, which again started to decline following the global financial crisis in autumn 2008, have been falling at an accelerated pace.
Land prices dropped in most residential locations with prices in Ichikawa and Urayasu, both in Chiba Prefecture, registering more than 10 percent falls. These areas were popular because of their convenient location--within 20 kilometers of JR Tokyo Station--and land prices there increased an average of more than 5 percent in 2008.
"The supply of homes in those areas increased during the mini-bubble period and expensive homes now remain unsold," said Takashi Ishizawa, chief real estate analyst at Mizuho Securities Co. This has had repercussions for home prices in some areas. In Koto Ward, prices of some new homes were cut by 20 percent from the initial offering, according to Ishizawa.
In some areas, however, land prices increased. In Midori Ward, Nagoya, land prices rose at five locations ahead of the opening of a new train station on the Sakuradori subway line in March next year. The new station will be linked to JR Nagoya Station, giving residents in the areas better access to the city.
Land prices increased also in two locations in Nagaizumicho, Shizuoka Prefecture. This is because the areas are close to JR Mishima Station on the Tokaido Shinkansen line and populations rose as many high-tech companies were invited to relocate to the area with the Shizuoka Cancer Center as its core.
The price of land near JR Ikebukuro Station's East Exit in Toshima Ward, Tokyo, significantly narrowed its margin of fall from last year. This is because the number of shoppers in the area increased after major department store chain Mitsukoshi, Ltd. closed its outlet and was replaced by major electrical appliance retail chain Yamada Denki Co. in October, triggering an "electrical appliance war" with nearby Bic Camera Inc. stores.
Although the rate of decline in land prices is large compared with figures a year ago, land prices in popular residential areas and some other places showed signs of picking up in the latter half of 2009.
For example, "Style House Meguro Midorigaoka" homes in Tokyo's Meguro Ward, which were developed by Mitsubishi Estate Co., sold out on the first day they went on sale in October despite costing between 70 million yen and 79 million yen.
According to the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry, land price declines slowed from 3.2 percent in the first half of last year to 2 percent in the second half in Tokyo and its surrounding areas when compared with land prices as of July 1 last year reported in another survey.
In 2008, the latest year for which data are available from the Ministry of Labor, Health and Welfare, Tokyo had the nation's lowest birthrate, at 1.09 children per woman.
Elsewhere in the world's second-largest economy, the situation is similarly worrying. The national birthrate in 2008 was 1.37 children per woman -- up from a record low of 1.26 in 2005, but still nowhere near what the country needs to replenish its population. If current trends continue, Japan's population will fall to 95 million by 2050, from about 127 million now.
Japan's average life expectancy at birth was the highest in the world in 2008, at 86.05 years for women and 79.29 years for men.
But the ratio of the dependent population -- the sum of the elderly and young population, divided by the working-age population -- was 55.2% in 2008, according to the Statistics Bureau. The proportion of elderly in the total population has remained above that of the younger age group since 1997.
The Democratic Party of Japan was swept into power last August on a platform that vowed to shift the government's focus to boosting domestic demand, while postponing a hike in the country's 5% consumption tax -- despite Japan's burgeoning public debt.
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama vowed in January to "work to enhance the provision of childcare services."
The DPJ's plan includes paying cash allowances of more than $3,000 per child to families, with monthly payments for children under high school age to help defray child-rearing costs.
Japan's lower house of parliament passed the child allowance bill Tuesday, and it is widely expected to clear in the upper house -- where the DPJ holds a majority -- before the end of this month.
But some say the policy is aimed less at propping up the country's sagging birth rate and more at giving anemic consumption an immediate shot in the arm.
"I view child allowance as a tax break for people aged 35," said Hajime Kitano, chief Japanese equity strategist at J.P. Morgan in Japan.
This lost generation, he said, is now reaching the 35-44 peak age range for consumption."Although child allowance appears on the surface to be about children, upon closer examination it seems more like assistance for this generation," Kitano said.
Department store sales fell 5.4 percent in February YOY, marking the 24th consecutive month of decline, the Japan Department Stores Association said.
Although consumers continued to tighten their belts amid the economic downturn, sales were recovering slowly due to the government's fiscal stimulus measures and other factors, according to the association.
Purchases by foreign visitors, including Chinese who traveled to Japan during the Lunar New Year holidays, rose 120.5 percent at 41 of the outlets surveyed, the association said.
Being a temp comes with a number of drawbacks: a lack of job security, often low pay — and if you're a man, anyway, little chance of tying the knot.
So says the latest The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry survey, which found that out of some 700 single, male temporary workers aged 20 to 34 who responded, only 17.2 percent of them got married between 2002 to 2008, while the marriage rate for male regular employees was nearly double that at 32.2 percent, according to the survey.
Among the male temps in the 20-34 age group, only 4.8 percent had had children over the six-year period. Their regular-employee counterparts were more than 2 1/2 times more likely to have had kids, with 12.8 percent having done so.
According to the ministry, female temps are much more likely to quit their jobs after having their first child than regular workers with some 75 percent with temporary jobs quit after giving birth, compared with 36.4 percent of women with regular employment.
Unsurprisingly, firms that provide maternity leave had more luck retaining mothers.
Some 81 percent of the regular workers who kept their jobs after childbirth said their companies offered leave, while only 48 percent of temp workers who kept their jobs said their companies did so, the survey found.
Among all female respondents, 52.8 percent said their companies have a maternity leave system. The gap in maternity leave was particularly wide between temporary and regular employees, with 83.3 percent of regular employees saying they were eligible for time off; among nonregular workers, the figure was only 19.1 percent.
