Number of births in Japan up again
The number of babies born in Japan rose for the seventh straight month in August, the government said Friday, raising hopes for an upturn in the country's plunging annual birthrate and declining population.
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That's the seventh straight monthly gain in the number of births.
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The nation's population last year declined for the first time on record, shocking officials and spurring a spate of measures to encourage women to have more babies.
To encourage women to have more babies, the government started a project to build more day care centers, while encouraging men to take paternity leave.
