National / Social Issues Jul 2, 2020
Police in Japan logged record 17,479 dementia patients as missing in 2019
The National Police Agency data shows the issue of dementia is becoming increasingly serious as the nation's population grays rapidly.
National Apr 25, 2020
More elderly care providers in Japan closing to ride out virus crisis
More day care and short-stay facilities for the elderly have shut since the emergency declaration for the coronavirus crisis was expanded nationwide on April 16, the health ministry says. Those suspended during the week through last Sunday numbered 858, accounting for 1.13 percent of all ...
Business / Corporate Apr 5, 2020
In graying Japan, the market for home shopping is still maturing
by Alex Martin
The suit-clad television presenter makes breathless promises about the qualities of the Hitachi rice cooker he is pitching, describing how the induction heating steam pressure system allows the aluminum pot to produce the perfect batch of Japan’s staple food with a fluffy yet firm ...
National / Science & Health Mar 5, 2020
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 ...
National / Media | Japan Pulse Feb 22, 2020
The rebirth of cool: It's not easy being a lovable middle-aged man in Japan
by Kaori Shoji
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 ...
National / Social Issues Feb 13, 2020
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 ...
National Feb 11, 2020
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.
National Feb 4, 2020
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.
World / Science & Health Jan 23, 2020
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 ...
World / Politics Jan 21, 2020
Get ready for 'peak decade,' strategists tell peers at Davos
by Enda Curran
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 ...
National Jan 20, 2020
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 ...
National Jan 19, 2020
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 ...