Population of Japan Case Study | IGCSE Geography 0460 | Slides & Workbook

Description:
I teach IGCSE Geography at an international school in Southeast Asia. Japan comes up constantly in exam questions on ageing populations and population policy, but most resources I found covered it as a one-slide case study bolted onto a generic ageing populations lesson. I wanted something that gave Japan the depth it deserves as a Detailed Specific Example, with enough real data and policy detail that students could walk into a 7-mark question and write confidently.

This module does exactly that. It takes students from Japan’s raw demographic data through the causes and impacts of ageing, then into a detailed policy timeline from 1994 to today, and finishes with two separate extended writing tasks, both with model answers. It’s ready to teach as-is or adapt to your context.

What makes this different from other Japan case study resources?

Most Japan resources give students a paragraph of background and a few bullet-point impacts. This module gives them 13 real indicators to analyse, a direct comparison with The Gambia, a 12-card cause sort with Japan-specific evidence, a newspaper article to extract benefits and challenges from, a five-policy timeline tracking the fertility rate decline at each stage, and a stakeholder roleplay debating why policies have failed. By the time students reach the extended writing, they have genuine depth to draw on.

Every activity has been classroom-tested. The scaffolding is built in. The full answer key is included. You open it, you teach it, you move on with your evening.

**Teacher Slides (Google Slides, 44 slides) **

Structured around a clear lesson flow: Starter Activities → Core Content (Demographics and Ageing) → Application Activities → Extended Writing 1 (Economic Impacts) → Core Content (Pro-Natalist Policies) → Extended Writing 2 (Policy Evaluation) → Retrieval Practice.

Includes a demographic data starter, Gambia vs Japan comparison, pyramid description task, 12-card cause sort, newspaper article analysis, opinion spectrum debate, pro-natalist policy timeline (Angel Plan 1994, Insurance Law 2001, Plus One Plan 2002, Next Generation Law 2003, fertility subsidies 2004), analysis of why policies have failed, stakeholder roleplay, two 7-mark extended writing sections (each with exam tips, weak answer to improve, sentence starters, Level 3 model answer), a board game with referee answer sheet, vocabulary grid, and 15-question multiple choice quiz. Full answer key included.

**Student Workbook (Google Docs, 5 sections) **

A proper workbook, not just a gapped handout. Five sections covering Japan’s demographic profile with Gambia comparison and dependency ratio calculation, causes and impacts of ageing with card sort and article analysis, a first extended writing task on economic impacts, pro-natalist policy analysis with timeline and evaluation, and a second extended writing task on policy effectiveness.