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August 29, 2025
 

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The Cabinet Office's latest white paper on Japan's aging society predicts that the percentage of people age 65 and above will reach 38.7% of the country's population by 2070.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 21, 2024
More of Japan’s elderly are lonely and have fewer friends, white paper says
Less than half of respondents age 65 years and above polled in 2023 said they had at least an average number of friends, compared with 72.2% in 2018.
Residents at a residential facility for the elderly in Sapporo show off their nails after getting them done during an on-site training session for welfare nail technicians in May.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 20, 2024
'Welfare manicures' bring a touch of color to the lives of Japan’s elderly
The practice, which took off in 2012, has been well-received among residents of care facilities for the elderly and people with disabilities.
Tomiji Suzuki (back) attends a workshop in Tokyo. The 89-year-old is now making apps for the fast-growing elderly demographic, using ChatGPT to fine-tune his skills.
JAPAN
Jun 13, 2024
ChatGPT a mentor for 89-year-old app developer
So far, Tomiji Suzuki has developed 11 free iPhone apps to help Japan's aging population.
In 2023, 15.4% of China's population was over 65, a demographic milestone that typically slows economic growth.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 12, 2024
Is China too old to get rich?
By 2023, 15.4% of China's population was over 65, a demographic milestone that typically slows economic growth.
A driving course inside a new facility in the city of Saitama created for elderly drivers
JAPAN
Jun 10, 2024
Saitama police open Japan's first elderly driver training center
Drivers 70 and older have to undergo sessions consisting of driving instruction and classroom lectures, as well as cognitive tests.
Local governments are stepping up support for single elderly people, to tackle the issue of unclaimed bodies.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 10, 2024
Japan's municipalities take action to tackle issue of unclaimed bodies
A spate of incidents involving unclaimed bodies has led to the formulation of measures to provide end-of-life support to single elderly people.
With a number of elderly people living alone increasing in Japan, the welfare ministry plans to conduct a survey of municipalities' responses to unclaimed bodies and remains.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 9, 2024
Japan to conduct first survey on unclaimed bodies
The number of unclaimed remains stored by municipalities stood at some 60,000 as of October 2021, according to an internal affairs ministry survey released in 2023.
Farm labourers, with their faces covered for protection from heat, work in a field on a hot day in Karnal, India, on Monday.
ENVIRONMENT
Jun 7, 2024
Everyone you know will eventually be highly vulnerable to extreme heat
Intense heat waves in recent years offer a stark warning of what’s at stake for humanity and particularly the vulnerable elderly population.
An 84-year-old man has been arrested after missing a red light and hitting a girl with his car in Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 5, 2024
Saitama police arrest elderly man after hitting first grader with car
Hideo Aoki, arrested on suspicion of negligent driving resulting in injury, has admitted to the charge, according to police.
Artificial intelligence is being utilized to detect dementia at an early stage, such as through analyzing characteristics seen in the way people with dementia walk.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 5, 2024
AI tools to detect dementia under development in Japan
The health ministry thinks that about 11.97 million people will have dementia or mild cognitive impairment in Japan in 2040.
The room where a meeting between the bereaved relatives and Kozo Iizuka took place.
JAPAN
May 30, 2024
Bereaved relatives meet perpetrator of 2019 Ikebukuro car crash
After the visit, Takuya Matsunaga, who lost his wife and daughter, said that he hopes the perpetrator's words can provide "hints" on how similar incidents can be prevented.
Streptococcal toxic shock syndrome can be caused by bacteria called group A streptococcus.
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 27, 2024
STSS infections growing at record pace in Japan
The patient tally this year had reached 851 as of May 12, with the figure being 2.8 times higher than a year before.
As Japan grapples with its population's rapid aging, supporting people who live and age alone is looming larger on the policy agenda.
JAPAN / Society
May 14, 2024
In Japan, 68,000 people over 65 projected to die alone at home this year
In the first official tally of solitary deaths, the National Police Agency said a total of 21,716 people had died alone at home from January through March.
With a rise in the number of single elderly people in Japan, local governments are offering support for their end-of-life preparations.
JAPAN / Society
May 9, 2024
Japan local governments offering support for end-of-life preparations
According to a health ministry survey, the number of single-person households with members aged 65 or older came to 8.73 million in 2022.
Mitsunobu Inoike talks about the Kanakura district of Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, known for its terraced rice fields, on Friday.
JAPAN / Society
May 1, 2024
Noto quake survivors face tough choice: leave or remain
In the disaster-hit areas, many damaged houses are being left as they are.
For a little more than a decade, scientists have been studying a subset of people they call "super-agers.” These individuals are age 80 and older, but they have the memory ability of a person 20 to 30 years younger.
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 30, 2024
A peek inside the brains of ‘super-agers’
New research explores why some octogenarians have exceptional memories.
Japan has entered an era of full-fledged population decline. If current trends remain unchanged, the nation's population is expected to decline by about half from 124 million in 2023 to 63 million by 2100.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 26, 2024
Japan’s shrinking population is a big problem for the nation
An expert panel sounds the alarm on the nation's declining birthrate and population crisis.
After a string of contractual issues over guarantor service for the elderly, the government aims to introduce specific regulations to ensure that users can access support with confidence.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 25, 2024
Japan to draw up guidelines for elderly guarantor services
Demand for guarantor services is rising due to the growing number of elderly living alone
Takuya Matsunaga reads a reply from Kozo Iizuka, imprisoned for killing Matsunaga's wife and daughter in 2019 in a high-profile accident in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district, at his home in Tokyo earlier this month.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 19, 2024
Five years after fatal Ikebukuro crash, bereaved man works to prevent repeat
A man plans to meet with the driver who accidentally killed his wife and young daughter, hoping to learn what went through the driver's mind.
By 2050, 10.8 million elderly people will be living alone, making up 20.6% of all households, the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research said in a projection that it issues every five years.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 13, 2024
Elderly living alone to make up a fifth of Japanese households by 2025, study finds
The projection came as young Japanese people delay marriage or choose not to have children partly because they cannot afford to do so.
Philippine bid to acquire used Japanese warships gains steam
Tokyo is looking to transfer Abukuma-class vessels to the Philippines as part of broader efforts to boost the defense capabilities of like-minded neighbors amid growing Chinese military assertiveness in the region.
Koshien’s dark summer forces reckoning for high school baseball
Koryo High School players greet their cheering section after beating Hokkaido’s Asahikawa Shiho in the first round of Summer Koshien on Aug. 7. The school withdrew three days later as a bullying scandal enveloped the team.
Akazawa's trip to Washington for tariff talks abruptly canceled
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's chief tariff negotiator, had been set to fly to Washington on Thursday.
Can anime carry the memories of World War II?
Many schools in Japan show "Grave of the Fireflies" as educational material to tell the emotionally grueling story of a boy who has no means to prevent his sister from starving to death.
Confusion over Japan’s ‘hometown’ plan overshadows African development event
First Lady Yoshiko Ishiba (center, in white and blue dress) hosts an event on Japanese culture with the first ladies of African leaders on the sidelines of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Yokohama on Aug. 21.
Mitsubishi’s wind-power retreat a blow to Japan's alternative-energy goals
Wind turbines in the town of Happo in Akita prefecture. Wind power is a key part of Japan's alternative energy drive.
Virtual singer Kaf's music becomes magic in 'Kamitsubaki City Under Construction'
Virtual singer Kaf got her start in 2018 by posting songs and covers to YouTube. Now, after having performed live shows at major venues including Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan, she is turning to voice acting and starring in the new anime series “Kamitsubaki City Under Construction.”
Can anime carry the memories of World War II?
Many schools in Japan show "Grave of the Fireflies" as educational material to tell the emotionally grueling story of a boy who has no means to prevent his sister from starving to death.
Koshien’s dark summer forces reckoning for high school baseball
Koryo High School players greet their cheering section after beating Hokkaido’s Asahikawa Shiho in the first round of Summer Koshien on Aug. 7. The school withdrew three days later as a bullying scandal enveloped the team.
Is Kishida plotting a return of the king? Or would he rather stay a kingmaker?
Former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida chairs a plenary session at the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Yokohama on Aug. 21.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past
By Alex K.T. Martin

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