The Week contest — Japan's baby plans

Last week's question: Japan's birthrate is plummeting, and the country faces a future with too many retirees and not enough young workers, so Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is trying to encourage young people to marry and have more babies. What would be an effective way to do that?

RESULTS:

THE WINNER: Raise the retirement eligibility to four grandchildren

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Oliver Wyatt, Norwood, Mass.

SECOND PLACE: Have the Chinese declare that it’s a bad idea

Jeff Black, New York City

THIRD PLACE: Smooth jazz and candles

Arianna Tamaddon, Menlo Park, Calif.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Add Viagra to the soy sauce

Pat Hickson, Bradley Beach, N.J.

Free upgrade on all smartphones for each child born in wedlock

Dick LaVine, New York City

Free sake at singles bars

Joanne Sullivan, Maspeth, N.Y.

Make Catholicism the state religion

Ken Kellam III, Dallas

Invent a video game that can conceive and give birth

Andrew Tuite, Chicago

Clothing optional Fridays

Rob Malone, Annapolis, Md.

Convince women that aspirin is as effective as the pill

Kenneth R. Updegrove, Cedaredge, Colo.

Legalize marijuana

Mike Glicksman, Wyckoff, N.J.

Ban condoms and birth control pills

John Halvorsen, Brentwood, Tenn.

Promote abstinence-only education, because we all know that works so well

Kelly McConville, Walla Walla, Wash.

Give Nadya Suleman, aka Octomom, permanent residency

Wayne Stickle, Long Beach, Calif.

Import two NBA franchises to Tokyo

Steve Arvin, Los Angeles

Enact an individual mandate

Judy Echols, Incline Village, Nev.

Coed naps after lunch

David DeTour, Kingston, N.H.

Breed a lot of storks to increase deliveries

John Haug, Roeland Park, Kan.

Have a blackout

Linda Newton, Bridgewater, N.J.

Make marriage and childbirth achievements and trophies on their Xbox and Playstation consoles

Ricky Cobban, Glendale, Ariz.