In early April in a Tokyo suburb, a group of in-home caregivers -- all women -- were absorbed in a conversation about their elderly clients.

"I don't want to go to a house where a man lives alone," one woman in her 40s, said. Others nodded in unison. "Why should I take care of other men when I am tired of taking care of my own husband?" another woman said.

Added another middle-aged woman about her client -- a single man: "His house is so dirty and always stinks. I sometimes feel like I need a gas mask."