A record number of companies from Japan and overseas will take part in a three-day Tokyo exhibition of home care and rehabilitation equipment for the disabled and elderly that starts Tuesday, organizers say.
A total of 630 firms from Japan and 14 other countries and regions will display their products at the 27th International Home Care and Rehabilitation Exhibition, an annual exhibition that has become one of the largest of its kind in the world.
The event will take place at Tokyo Big Sight in Ariake, Koto Ward. Organizers expect more than 120,000 people to visit the exhibition, for which admission will be free.
This year's exhibition will showcase more home-care products than in previous years, reflecting the impact of a government-run nursing-care insurance system launched in Japan in April.
A wider variety of wheelchairs will be on show, at a wider range of prices. Some of the wheelchairs have reclining functions, while a number of the battery-powered high-tech versions can even ascend and descend stairs.
Since nursing-care insurance covers home renovations, interest is likely to focus on gadgets such as handrails that light up in the dark and lifts that take a sitting person up and down stairs.
Also on display will be alarms that go off to alert a care provider when a person with senile dementia wanders out of the house, as well as a wide range of toilets, diapers, bathtubs and mattresses.