Japan is set to become a lonelier, more isolated country, according to a report earlier this month from the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, and it is unclear whether government policies are taking the change into account.

The institute predicted that one-person households would exceed 30 percent of all households by 2035.

The survey found that already more than 30 percent of people are living alone in 16 prefectures, mainly in eastern Japan. The survey found that, in general, western Japan had a higher number of nuclear families than in eastern Japan.