And Okamura predicts more power may needed this winter in Japan, where many heaters are electric.

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Maruyama M, Tomita N, Iwasaki K, Ootsuki M, Matsui T, Nemoto M, Okamura N, Higuchi M, Tsutsui M, Suzuki T, Seki T, Kaneta T, Furukawa K, Arai H.

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In Japan, according to Ken Okamura, a strategist with Dresdner Kleinwort Benson, the birth rate has been so low that the working-age population will actually start to decline next year.

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