Japanese writer Hashimoto goes viral after giving birth to 7th child to raise birth rate

Kotoye Hashimoto, Japanese writer and former political candidate, has given birth to her seventh child amid Japan’s declining birth rate. Multiple social media posts she made addressing Japanese women after the childbirth have already generated widespread discussion.

Hashimoto published a photo of the newborn on social media platform X after giving birth to the seventh child in August. There she announced the news of her childbirth and expressed gratitude to the doctors, midwives and nurses. Later on September 2 she informed that she had been discharged from the hospital, the birth registration process of the baby had also been completed and both the mother and the newborn were well.

In another post Hashimoto encouraged Japanese women regarding having children. She said in the current situation of the country Japanese women need to come forward to have children. According to her, the role of women is deeply involved with the future of Japan and the rise and fall of the country.

Hashimoto has also been giving various opinions on social media for a long time regarding increasing Japan’s birth rate. In one post she gave a controversial opinion on which sector government funds should be spent to encourage the young generation to have children. Such comments of hers also generated criticism and discussion on social media.

The incident of Hashimoto giving birth to her seventh child has come to the fore at a time when Japan is facing a severe demographic crisis. According to 2025 statistics of the country’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, 671,236 children were born among Japanese citizens that year. This number is 14,937 less than the previous year and the birth number has set a new record for the tenth consecutive year.

Not only the number of births, the country’s total fertility rate has also fallen to the lowest level. Japan’s total fertility rate or TFR stood at 1.14 in 2025, which is even lower than the previous year’s 1.15. This is an unprecedented low level in both the number of births and the fertility rate since comparable government statistics began to be preserved in 1899.

Japan’s population decline trend is also continuing as the number of deaths is much higher than births. About 1,589,000 people died in the country in 2025, making the gap between births and deaths more than 900,000. Concerns about the country’s economy and future working-age population are increasing further due to population ageing, fewer marriages and declining tendency to have children.