Tokyo's elderly population is ballooning, waiting lists for nursing homes run a mile long, and there's a fierce scramble for free beds. So why are these businesses catering to the city's aging denizens scaling back?
In Adachi Ward, as many as 4,000 elderly residents are wait-listed for nursing homes. Adachi Manyoen, a facility that opened last year with 100 beds, remains 30 percent empty. The problem: A worsening shortage of workers and impending cuts in government reimbursements.
Such homes are growing more vital to Japan: A quarter of its population is older than 65 and Tokyo is poised to have the biggest increase in elderly residents in the country.