Japan's birth rate rises - barely

Japan saw its abysmally low fertility rate rise - from a low of 1.26 in 2005 - to 1.32 in 2006. It was the first uptick in six years, providing a glimmer of hope for a nation whose population is graying at a pace probably unprecedented in history. The fertility rate is the average number of babies a woman bears during her lifetime.

But the question is whether - and for how long - the recovery in the nation's birth rate, which is among the lowest in the world, will last