In a follow‑up message the same day, Hashimoto urged Japanese women to bear children now, saying the country’s future depends on women’s participation in childbirth.

Births in Japan rose 0.8% in the first six months of 2026, reaching 342,068 – the first January‑June increase in eleven years, according to Kyodo News citing the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. The figure includes children born to foreign residents.

Japan’s total fertility rate fell to a record low of 1.14 in 2025, marking the tenth consecutive annual decline, as reported by the ministry. Births to Japanese nationals dropped to 671,236, the lowest count since records began in 1899.

In a September 18 2025 interview, Hashimoto described postpartum depression as a fictitious diagnosis that exists nowhere outside Japan, and she repeated similar claims in 2020, calling the condition self‑indulgent.

The World Health Organization’s ICD‑11 (effective 2022) and the American Psychiatric Association’s DSM‑5‑TR both classify postpartum mental illness within broader depressive categories rather than as a separate disorder.

Hashimoto’s personal milestone and her outspoken views bring the demographic debate into the public eye. In a country where the birth rate is falling, attitudes toward motherhood and mental‑health stigma can influence how many women choose to have children, showing how a high‑profile figure can shape national discussions.