Tokyo, May 11 (IANS): An MP from Japans governing party has drawn accusations of sexism after he said women should have multiple children and warned those who preferred to remain single that they would become a burden on the state, the media reported on Friday.

At a meeting, Kanji Kato said that when he is asked to give speeches at wedding receptions, he encourages the bride and groom to produce "at least three children", reports the Guardian.

When he encounters young women who say they do not intend to marry, Kato, who has six children and eight grandchildren, said: "I tell them that if they don't get married then they won't be able to have children, and that they'll end up in a care home paid for with the taxes of other people's children."

His comments, reported by TBS News, come days after official data showed the number of children in Japan fell to its lowest on record.

As of April 1, there were 15.53 million children aged under 15, a fall of 170,000 from the previous year, according to the internal affairs ministry.

Last year, about 941,000 children were born in Japan, the lowest number since records began in 1899, the Guardian reported.

The country's birth rate remains stubbornly low despite the introduction of financial and other incentives to encourage couples to have bigger families.

Among 32 countries with a population of 40 million or more, Japan ranks lowest in terms of the percentage of children in the overall population, at 12.3 per cent, according to the UN.