Reality of Aging Society Of Japan

Monday, September 21, 2009 – Osaka, Japan

The third Monday of September is a national holiday of “Respect-for-Senior Citizens Day” in Japan. There have been articles in the newspapers and TV news related to aging society, depicting the reality of the aging society of Japan, whose average age for female is the oldest and is one of the country whose problem of aging society is severe.

Nikkei, Japan's leading newspaper specialized in economy and politics, today reported that according to the survey implemented and analyzed by Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) on estimated population as of September 15, senior citizens above 65 years old increased from 2008 by 800,000 people reaching the highest in the history which is 28.98 million people, even though population of 15-64 years old decreased by 760,000 people from 2008 to 81.56 million people. This is 22.7% of the total population, which is 0.6 point increase from 2008. The female senior citizen over 65 years old is more than 25% of the total population.

Moreover, the household with such senior citizen is 18.21 million, which is increase by 1.8 million from 5 years ago. This includes 4.14 households in which a senior citizen lives on his/her own, meaning higher possibility of solitary death.

TV news this morning reported a few senior citizens full of vitality, both physically and mentally. A 103 year old man looks after himself, leading extremely healthy live including shaving and taking a towel bath of cold water which is known as very good for health. His dining habit is also good; he eats balanced diet cuisines of appropriate quantity, and chews at least 30 times before swallowing. He is fluent in 5 languages and enjoys calligraphy. He says that the secret of being physically and mentally healthy is having something to live for.

A woman of 87 year old is, surprisingly, an active athlete, specialized in 200 metres. She is a record holder of 200 metres for Japanese women over 65 years old of approximately 46 seconds. She started to sprint in earnest when a relay member was desperately needed in a sports day when she was 70 years old and she joined extemporarily. Since then, she has been doing training to sprint everyday and participating in various competitions, giving smashing results. She says that she would like to keep on running as long as she is physically healthy.

The aging society is a big issue in Japan. Because of this issue, the former government established a health care system for the latter-stage elderly in 2008, which had been a topic under hot discussion in the General Election held in August 30. Mr. Nagatsuma, the new Health, Labour and Welfare Minister (nicknamed “Mr. Pension” because he had been asking tough questions on pension before the new government was kicked off), announced recently that this policy will be change/terminated.

The new policy would have direct impact on the senior citizens and on healthcare industry. Of course, the aging society would have impact on overall society, economy, and labour market. Whatever the policy and regulation of the new government may be, it seems that senior citizens cannot simply segmented by their age group and more flexibility is desired.