Before taking in any Syria refugees, Japan must improve conditions for women, seniors: Abe
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Tuesday that Japan needed to improve conditions for its own people, including women and the elderly, before accepting any refugees from Syria. Asked at a news conference, after announcing at the U.N. General Assembly that Japan would provide $1.56 ...
Japan's cheap debt, aging population prompt ex-banker to shift focus
Saburo Nishiura is using Japan's record-low borrowing costs to turn the nation's shrinking population to his advantage. The 67-year-old former banker is the chief executive officer of Hulic Co., a developer with a concentration of commercial properties in Tokyo's expensive Ginza district. But the company ...
Japan's oldest woman dies at 115; Kagoshima resident now record holder
The oldest person in Japan, a Tokyo woman born on March 15, 1900, died Sunday at the age of 115, the welfare ministry said Monday. With the passing of the woman, whose name is being withheld at the request of her family, Nabi Tajima, a ...
Abe aims arrows at new targets with three fresh goals for 'Abenomics,' 20% rise in GDP
The three new economic policy goals include: promotion of economic growth, child-rearing assistance and social security measures to increase nursing facilities for the elderly.
Japan increasingly gray as people 80 or older top 10 million
The population of people aged 80 or older has topped 10 million for the first time, according to the latest government estimate. The estimated population of people 65 or older has hit a record 33.84 million, accounting for 26.7 percent of the population, also a ...
Consumer spending recovery hampered by pension payment cuts
More than a year after a consumption tax increase tipped Japan into a recession, efforts to clamp down on soaring pension payments are suppressing a recovery in consumer spending. The problem highlights how difficult it has been for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to generate a ...
Toyonaka nursing home worker allegedly tried to strangle female resident
An employee at a nursing home in Toyonaka, Osaka Prefecture, injured a female resident by trying to strangle her, according to city officials. The male worker in his 30s, who was fired as of July 7, had been employed at Amiyu Toyonaka Hozumi, a facility ...
South Koreans make child care into family business
Ock Mi-eun, 57, has been taking care of her grandson since he was born two years ago so that her daughter could return to work. She receives 1 million won ($830) a month for her services. It is not unusual for South Koreans to pay ...
Japan ranks eighth in global survey on well-being of elderly
Japan was rated eighth in a global ranking of the social and economic well-being of elderly people in a survey released Wednesday. It lagged Switzerland, which topped the list, and a number of other European countries and Canada. However, it came first in the health category ...
Japan fiscal 2016 budget requests to hit record ¥102 trillion
Budget requests by Japan's central government offices for the new fiscal year from next April are set to total a record ¥102 trillion ($853 billion), due primarily to social security spending growth in a rapidly aging society, government sources said Tuesday. The requests for the ...
Add looming poverty to list of seniors' woes
What a sad country this is. Granted, Spa! magazine paints in primary colors. Maybe it's missing a nuance or two? Maybe things aren't really so bad? Maybe. Hopefully. On the other hand, some of the statistics presented are hard to argue with — Japan's poverty ...
"Special fraud" cases, including swindling seniors by impersonating their children over the phone and asking for urgent money transfers, totaled \23.65 billion in the first half of 2015.
