Japan has the world's oldest population, with about 29% aged over 65 and a dependency ratio near 70, so it has tried several strategies. Each has strengths and weaknesses.
First, Japan is raising the retirement age towards 70 and encouraging older people to keep working. This is effective and fast-acting: it keeps more people paying tax, shortens the pension payout period and retains experienced workers, easing both the pension burden and labour shortage. However, it does nothing to fix the low birth rate, and not all older workers are healthy enough to continue.
Second, Japan uses pro-natalist policies — childcare subsidies, parental leave and cash incentives to raise the birth rate. In the long term a higher birth rate would rebalance the age structure, but these policies are slow and have largely failed, because the high cost of living and long working hours discourage couples from having more children.
Third, Japan invests heavily in automation and robotics (for example, robots in care homes and factories) to replace missing workers. This suits Japan's technological economy and reduces reliance on labour, but it is expensive and cannot fully replace human care. Japan has generally resisted large-scale immigration for cultural reasons, so this faster option is limited there.
Overall, no single strategy is sufficient. Raising the retirement age and automation give Japan the quickest relief from labour and pension pressures, while pro-natalist policies are needed for the long term despite their poor results so far. The most effective approach is therefore a combination of strategies — so the management is partly successful, but Japan's age structure will continue to be a challenge for decades.