Japan confronts a stark reality: a nation of old people

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Japan confronts a stark reality: a nation of old people
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Japan—which has nearly the oldest population on Earth—is altering many aspects of society as its population ages. What percentage of its population is 65 and over? Find the answer in the replies and learn more with a 30-day free trial:

: For the first time in history, adults 65 and older outnumbered children under five years old.

“I’m dizzy,” he tells the doctor. “How’s my blood pressure?” Yamanaka takes the bedridden man’s vitals, assures him he will check his medication, and reviews the visitors log; health aides also come by daily to bring food, administer medicine, and change diapers.Please be respectful of copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited.Please be respectful of copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited.

Toyama, a city on the largest island, has striven to become a more hospitable place to grow old. One key initiative is the Kadokawa Preventive Care Center, which has exercise pools fed by hot springs. Every day, about 250 older adults work out at the facility.The solution, he says, is fourfold: accelerate economic growth, incentivize more women and older adults to work, raise the consumption tax, and curb social security expenditures.

These days, more than half of Kamigo’s 2,000 residents are 65 and older. The school closed years ago. The shops are gone. Weeds have taken over the four parks. Residents joke that “Neopolis,” which means “New Town,” is now “Old Town.” “We’re thinking about setting up a transportation system to the hospital for people who can’t get around,” says Nobuyuki Yoshii, a 74-year-old retiree and father of three. He moved to Kamigo more than 40 years ago for its easy access to surfing and the then thriving jazz scene in downtown Yokohama, a quick car ride to the north. For decades, Yoshii got up at 5 a.m. to commute to his architectural planning job in Tokyo, often returning at midnight. These days, he heads the machizukuri committee.

In Toyama’s rural areas, close to 40 percent of the population is over 65. They’re served by a gleaming care center that delivers home nursing. “We’re seeing an increase in single sons living with their aging mothers, as well as lots of couples where both have dementia,” says Naoko Kobayashi, one of the center’s three doctors who work to ease the suffering of aging patients and also their exhausted families. “Dying is not an easy thing.

Taira and Ichi Katsuta, 89 and 85, who are happily married, have dementia. They live by themselves in a Tokyo apartment, often telling each other stories that only they understand. In Japan, one in five people over 65 has dementia.in Tokyo, houses two spotless testing rooms tricked out like nursing homes on steroids. Motion sensors on the floors and walls detect falls and send alerts to caregivers’ phones.

In the dwindling hamlet of Nagoro on Shikoku Island, 79-year-old Shinobu Ogura cleans the vacant elementary school. The last students stitched dolls in their likenesses; Tsukimi Ayano, a 72-year-old resident, made the principal. She has populated Nagoro, which now has just 25 inhabitants, with hundreds of dolls.focused on nursing care are tackling “aging society” problems.

Other services have emerged to address the ripple effect of solitary deaths. In 2020 more than 4,200 people over 65 in. Many companies now insure owners of rental units against the risk of someone dying and going undiscovered on their properties, addressing the growing reluctance of landlords to rent to older tenants. Such policies cover the loss of rent as well as the cost of cleaning.

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