NEWSWORTHY
Japan's 'danchi': Public housing blocks highlight the complexity of interculturalism
Stroll through Shibazono Danchi in Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture, on a weekend and you will find children shrieking with glee. They run across its communal playground or splash about in the fountain of the public housing complex as elderly residents enjoy leisurely walks in the ...
Over a fifth of Japan’s population is now 70 years old or older, the government says to mark Respect for the Elderly Day.
In long-lived Japan, survey finds 20-year-olds don't want to live into their 80s
A survey has found that young Japanese in their 20s don't want to live into their 80s — a startling revelation in a country where the life expectancies for both men and women routinely rank among the world's highest. Men and women between 20 and ...
Scott Morrison says Australia will launch investigation of scandal-plagued elderly-care sector
Australia will launch a national inquiry into its scandal-plagued elderly care sector, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Sunday, following numerous reports of abuse, neglect and mismanagement. The announcement comes a year after a state-run dementia nursing home in South Australia state was shut when an ...
Centenarians in Japan hit record 69,785, nearly 90% of them women
The figure rose 2,014 from the previous year, marking the 48th consecutive yearly increase, and represented a nearly sevenfold jump from two decades ago.
Run Tomo event takes steps toward building a dementia-inclusive Japan
As scorching heat shimmered off the tarmac and licked at runners' sun-kissed faces, an elated crowd erupted into deafening cheers Sunday morning in the city of Chiba at the stroke of 10. A total of 204 people, including 10 people with dementia, were participating in ...
Secret to Japanese couple's 80 years of marriage — wife's patience
Japan is known for its abundance of centenarians and can now lay claim to having the world's oldest living married couple, with a combined age of 208 — a feat the wife credits to her patience during 80 years of marriage. Masao Matsumoto, 108, and ...
Elderly women to bear the brunt of Japan's spending cuts
As Japanese society ages and the government cuts social welfare spending, older women are bracing for the impact. "The only people who can enjoy living until 100 are those who have enough money and family," said Setsuko Betsui, a 78-year-old woman living in Saitama, who ...
Will society still need me, will it still feed me, when I'm 100?
Back in the 1960s when Paul McCartney wrote "When I'm 64," the average life expectancy worldwide was 52. Yet half a century on, Japan is already gearing up for the era of 人生百年 (jinsei hyakunen, 100-year life).
Pricey family graves a fading tradition in aging Japan
Last month, a man was arrested by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police for leaving human remains at a garbage collection station near his residence in Adachi Ward. The remains had been cremated and were mixed in with shards of funerary urns, and according to a ...
Major health insurance society for temporary staff considers calling it quits
The Health Insurance Society for Temporary Workers in Japan, or Haken Kenpo, will hold an extraordinary meeting in September to discuss whether to dissolve itself during the current fiscal year through next March, it was learned Tuesday. The move comes as many health insurance societies ...
Japan can learn a lot from Detroit's recovery efforts
Five years after Detroit filed the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history, the city is starting to recover economically through efforts to fill vacant homes and rebuild the once-desolate downtown. Japan, witnessing depopulation on a massive scale due to its aging society and low birthrate, ...
