Not having children “problematic”: Aso

February 4, 2019

Tokyo--Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso on Monday withdrew his recent remark that not having children is "problematic" in Japan's aging population. Aso defended himself during a meeting of the Budget Committee at the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament, saying that only part of his speech was reported and "caused misunderstanding."

Aso came under fire after making a similar remark in 2014.

During a speech in Fukuoka Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on Sunday, Aso said on the issue of an aging society with a declining number of children, "There are many strange people who say that older people are bad, but such a view is wrong."

"The problem is those who do not have children," Aso said.

Kiyomi Tsujimoto, chief of parliamentary affairs of the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, told reporters Monday that the remark is unforgivable. "He is insensitive to human rights," Tsujimoto said.

During a press conference, Akira Koike, head of the Japanese Communist Party's secretariat, criticized Aso for never looking back his past conduct. Jiji Press