人口定時(shí)炸彈：日本人“瀕危”的8個(gè)跡象

2016 marked a 117-year low for fertility.
2016年見證了117年來日本生育率的新低。

Ever since 1899, the annual number of births in Japan had exceeded one million — until 2016.
自從1899年以來，日本每年出生的嬰兒人數(shù)都超過了100萬——這個(gè)趨勢(shì)一致持續(xù)到2016年。

When government officials conducted a tally of total births last year, they counted about 20,000 shy of the benchmark. The death count, meanwhile, fell at around 1.3 million.
去年政府官員開展了年度出生人口統(tǒng)計(jì)，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)出生人口比基準(zhǔn)少了2萬人。與此同時(shí)，死亡人口比往年減少了130萬人。

Young people have started "granny dumping."
年輕人開始“棄老”。

The word ubasute is an old Japanese word that translates to "granny dumping," and according to Japanese news sources, it's making a comeback.
“棄老”是日本的一個(gè)古老的詞，可翻譯為“拋棄老奶奶”。據(jù)日本媒體報(bào)道，這個(gè)詞又再度時(shí)興起來。

It describes the unfortunate practice of younger citizens bringing their senile elders to hospitals or charities and essentially abandoning them — generally because they can't afford care anymore.
如今的“棄老”指的是年輕人將家里的老人送到醫(yī)院或福利機(jī)構(gòu)，然后就此撒手不管——通常是因?yàn)樗麄冊(cè)僖藏?fù)擔(dān)不起贍養(yǎng)費(fèi)用。

The trend still isn't widespread yet: One social worker estimates the total number of cases is in the low hundreds each year.
這種風(fēng)氣目前尚未流行：一個(gè)社會(huì)工作者估計(jì)，每年“棄老”的案件不超過500例。