KOBE -- With the Japanese population aging rapidly and lifestyle changes sweeping the country, more and more elderly people are finding themselves without family support.
Living in a community where neighbors know and help each other is a nice idea -- but it is an increasing rarity in today's individual-oriented society.
Countering this pessimistic outlook, however, is Naoko Ishito, a Kobe-based consulting engineer for city and regional planning, who offers a solution to the problem: a collective house, or a cohouse as it is better known in the United States.