<i>&gt; That&#x27;s the truly depressing side of this story.</i><p>There have always been children living in isolated rural communities. Always. Japan is in no way special in this regard, <i>nor</i> is it special in having a low birth rate nor in it having a declining population. South Korea, for example, has a lower total fertility rate than Japan. But people love to focus on Japan and project their own values and beliefs on it, values which are not necessarily shared by the Japanese people, many of whom feel that their nation&#x27;s population grew too large.