Tag - aging

 
 

AGING

A Japanese Red Cross Society worker calls for blood donations in Osaka in January 2021.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 30, 2023
Concerns mount for elderly as fewer Japanese donate blood
The number of people under the age of 40 who have donated blood in the last decade has declined 33%, posing a concern as the population rapidly ages.
The simplest option for many Japanese industries facing labor shortages might be to do what the taxi sector is doing — keep people in the workforce longer.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 26, 2023
Octogenarian taxi drivers to the labor-crunch rescue
An option for many Japanese industries facing labor shortages might be to do what the taxi sector is doing — keep people in the workforce longer.
AI software is being used to detect cognitive decline in older Japanese drivers in order to help prevent accidents.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 22, 2023
AI startup helps insurers spot cognitive decline in elderly drivers
Once reliant on a driver's age and model of car, some insurers now rely on AI to expedite settlements and craft more precise risk assessments.
Suchart Kaewkhio, 75, is bedridden in his home in the Klong Toey slum in Bangkok. Thailand is one of the world's fastest graying societies, but the kingdom's economy, households, government coffers and rapidly shrinking workforce are ill-prepared.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Oct 17, 2023
Old and poor: Thailand sleepwalking toward an aging crisis
Thailand is one of the world's fastest aging societies — but its economy is ill-prepared.
Elderly people experience taking part in esports in Ono, Fukushima Prefecture.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Oct 16, 2023
Fukushima town turns to esports as a health tool for the elderly
Ono and Fukushima Medical University have been holding trial sessions and analyzing the effects of gaming experience on cognitive functions.
A woman takes her meal alone in Tokyo's Yanaka neighborhood. As the country ages, Japan's average caloric intake has been shrinking.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Oct 9, 2023
Downsizing dinner: Aging Japan is eating less
As older citizens' shrinking appetites lead to less on the plate, businesses are having to adjust to a new market.
A carer feeds a resident at a nursing home in Tokyo.
BUSINESS
Oct 7, 2023
Nearly 70% of care service providers in Japan face labor shortage
The shortage is most pronounced for home visit caregivers, as 83.5% of such operators responded that they lack staff to provide the service.
Jeon Jong-duek, a former mathematics professor, on the Seoul Subway Line 1 during a trip home, in Dongdaemun-gu, a suburb of Seoul, on Aug. 3. With the fare free for those older than 65, some retired people spend their days riding the trains to the end of the line.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Sep 23, 2023
For South Korea’s senior subway riders, the joy is in the journey
The fare is free for those older than 65, and so some retired people spend their days riding the trains to the end of the line.
Women make up 56.6% of Japan's elderly population, numbering 20.5 million compared with men, who stand at 15.7 million.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 18, 2023
People age 80 and over top 10% of Japan's population for first time
Women make up 56.6% of Japan's elderly population, numbering 20.5 million compared with men, who stood at 15.7 million.
Japan's oldest person Fusa Tatsumi (center) is greeted by Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura (second from right) in Kashiwara, Osaka Prefecture, in September 2022.
JAPAN
Sep 15, 2023
Number of centenarians in Japan hits record 92,139
The number of those aged 100 or older as of Friday was up 1,613 from a year earlier for the 53th consecutive annual rise.
Nihon Coffin showcases its products at Endex Japan 2023, an annual funeral and cemetery exhibition that was held at Tokyo Big Sight from Aug. 29 to 31.
BUSINESS
Sep 4, 2023
End-of-life companies look to innovate as Japan's deaths keep rising
A record 1.57 million people died in 2022, up from 1.25 million in 2012, and facilities to store dead bodies are becoming increasingly scarce.
Sen. Mitch McConnell appears to freeze up for more than 30 seconds during a public appearance before he was escorted away, the second such incident in a little more than a month, after an event with the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce in Covington, Kentucky, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 2, 2023
Mitch McConnell may be experiencing small seizures, doctors say
Two episodes, where the Republican senator froze and did not respond to some questions, may be symptoms of a serious illness.
Centenarian Tomoko Horino (center) poses for a photo in Fukushima on Monday after she was recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's oldest beauty adviser.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 22, 2023
Japanese centenarian becomes world's oldest beauty adviser
Tomoko Horino has been working as a commissioned saleswoman for Pola for more than 60 years.
Various services are currently offered to the elderly who live alone, including assistance with shopping, hospital visits, acting as personal guarantors and handling belongings after death.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 7, 2023
Government warns of contract disputes in private services for elderly
With little oversight and aging customers facing dementia, the internal affairs ministry seeks to prevent fraud.
People use umbrellas and parasols to seek relief from soaring temperatures while waiting to cross a street outside Tokyo's Shinjuku Station last week.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 5, 2023
Japan marks hottest day of year as mercury hits 40 C
The record temperature was marked in Date, Fukushima Prefecture, as a heat wave continues to scorch much of the country.
An apartment building construction site in Sumida Ward, Tokyo, on July 19. Officials at Daito Trust Construction, which oversees the building project, say heatstroke dangers are a top concern given their aging workforce.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Jul 30, 2023
In Japan, extreme heat and an aging population are a deadly mix
Heat waves combined with high humidity are weighing particularly heavily on the nation’s 36 million people age 65 and over, who are at much greater risk of severe illness and death.
An elderly couple at a shrine in Tokyo in 2020
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jul 28, 2023
Japan's average life expectancy continued to fall in 2022
The decline for both men and women were "largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic," a ministry official said.
Foreign workers take notes during a meeting at a nursing care facility operator in Nagoya.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jul 24, 2023
Ministry panel starts talks to ease foreign care worker rules
The panel of experts will examine whether to allow foreign workers to engage in home-visit care services, currently not permitted partly due to concerns about language barriers.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Longform
Jul 10, 2023
In Japan, plenty of inheritances, but no one to claim them
With deaths outpacing births by 2-to-1, dealing with the assets of the deceased is both a growing business and an administrative nightmare.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 8, 2023
27% of nursing homes in Japan face bankruptcy due to price hikes, survey finds
The nationwide survey found that over 90% of facilities have been affected by price increases.

Longform

Traditional folk rituals like Mizudome-no-mai (dance to stop the rain) provide a sense of agency to a population that feels largely powerless in the face of the climate crisis.
As climate extremes intensify, Japan embraces ancient weather rituals