Isolation amid COVID-19 pandemic changes seniors' life in nuanced ways
One remembers the polio epidemic and the hardships of World War II. One is stoic about it all — because, he says, he is already "here past the welcome." A third, old enough to remember the aftermath of the 1918 flu epidemic, turns to ...
Nearly 20% of Japan nursing care providers out of masks amid COVID-19 outbreak
Nearly 20 percent of nursing care service providers in Japan have run out of face masks, which have been in short supply in the country as the COVID-19 outbreak continues, a recent survey by a labor union has shown. Out of providers of home-visit nursing ...
The rebirth of cool: It's not easy being a lovable middle-aged man in Japan
For the first time since … never, the ojisan (middle-aged man) is on a roll. Until recently, many have treated middle-aged men in Japan with a sense of dismissiveness, if not outright contempt. Mainstream media have always portrayed middle-aged men as being overbearing and clueless at ...
At new Chiba facility for seniors, residents find a new purpose
In a three-story building in Chiba that looks like a posh apartment complex, various people come and go — seniors and young people, moms enjoying a lunch with friends, and children coming in to shop for snacks. It's become an important place in their ...
IMF urges gradual consumption tax hike in rapidly graying Japan
The IMF said the tax would need to be lifted to 20 percent by 2050 to finance swelling costs due to an aging population.
In a bid to dampen the effects of a rapidly graying society, the Cabinet on Tuesday approved bills to urge businesses to let employees work until age 70.
Marie Antoinette's hair turned white overnight, according to folklore, before she was executed by guillotine in 1793 during the French Revolution. The ill-fated queen embodied an extreme example of the phenomenon of stress-induced graying of the hair. The biological mechanism behind such graying had long ...
Get ready for 'peak decade,' strategists tell peers at Davos
Amid the Alpine peaks of the Swiss resort of Davos this week, politicians, investors and executives are busy debating whether we are witnessing peaks in multiple key drivers of the world economy. From oil demand, car production and the proportion of young people as a ...
Ministry to extend provisional certification for care course graduates
As part of efforts to alleviate a labor shortage in the elderly care sector, the welfare ministry plans to extend to fiscal 2026 special transitional measures that grant graduates of care courses provisional certification without the need to pass a national exam, ministry sources ...
Japan's Unicharm develops world's first diapers for elderly with walking difficulties
Unicharm Corp. has developed the world's first adult diapers designed to help elderly people with walking difficulties move more easily. The product, to go on sale in Japan on Feb. 4, addresses a market need spurred on by the nation's rapidly graying population, according to ...
Japanese women face a future of poverty, as confluence of factors conspire against them
At first glance, things seem to be getting better for Japanese women. In an economy that's historically lagged other developed nations when it comes to female workforce participation, a record 71 percent are now employed, an 11 point leap over a decade ago. The government boasts ...
World's oldest person celebrates her 117th with party at Fukuoka nursing home
Kane Tanaka has extended her record as the world's oldest person by celebrating her 117th birthday at a nursing home in the city of Fukuoka. Tanaka marked her birthday, on Jan. 2, with a party Sunday together with staff and friends at the nursing home, ...
