TOKYO: Japan's population fell by 75,000 in 2009, decreasing for the third straight year and dropping at the fastest rate since the end of World War II. According to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry's annual population estimate, the pace of decrease accelerated in 2009 as the 1,144,000 deaths — an increase of 2000 from 2008 — outpaced the 1,069,000 births, a drop of 22,000.