Tag - aging

 
 

AGING

Digital Minister Taro Kono looks at a nursing robot in a day care facility in Tokyo on Oct.18.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 7, 2023
Japan’s aging population to increase burden on nursing care costs
The average annual nursing care cost per capita is estimated to increase 75% to ¥235,000 in 2050 compared to 2019 levels, according to government data.
The front entrance gate leading to the former Ashigakubo Elementary School in Yokose, Saitama Prefecture. The school, which was more than a century old, was forced to close in 2009.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 5, 2023
School's out forever in aging Japan
As the number of children in Japan decreases, public money has been made available to help municipalities repurpose old schools.
A man stands next to a robot in use at ROLEC Gehause-Systeme in Rinteln, Germany on Oct. 6
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 31, 2023
As baby boomers retire, German businesses turn to robots
Small and medium-sized companies are turning to automation as the gradual retirement of the post-war "baby boom" generation tightens the labor squeeze.
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.
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.
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.
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
WORLD / Science & Health
Jul 7, 2023
Eisai Alzheimer's drug gets full U.S. approval, widening access to the therapy
The broader clearance from the Food and Drug Administration marks a milestone for treatment of the dementia that afflicts some 6 million Americans.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / FOCUS
Jul 4, 2023
Expectations grow for Alzheimer's drug in Japan, but hurdles remain
Lecanemab could be approved in the country as early as fall, but more specialist doctors and a patient screening system would be needed for widespread use.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 3, 2023
Can we cure dementia before it starts?
Octogenarian and biologist Leroy Hood is trying to make the Elizabeth Holmes-ian dream of preventive medicine come true.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?