Almost 5 million Japanese senior citizens live alone and more needs to be done to reduce their feelings of isolation.Local authorities in Japan are teaming up with the postal service to check up on elderly residents who live alone.
The size of Japan’s aging population is on the rise but statistics show that many seniors die alone and their bodies are failed to be discovered for days – in the Shinagawa ward in Tokyo 25 people died on their own last year.
Under the new inititative postal workers will visit the homes of the elderly every month to deliver a seasonal greetings card and check that they are okay. If the workers find anything unusual they will be able to contact a special center that will get in touch with hospitals and welfare officials.
Experts have said the reluctance of the Japanese to interfere in the lives of others means that many seniors go through long stretches of time where they do not talk to anybody.
Social commentator Tomoko Inukai said: “In some ways this can have its merits, because we can be free, independent. The demerits, though, are that we ignore each other. One terrible characteristic of Japanese society is that we treat our elderly like they’re lifeless animals.”
He added: “An enormous flaw in Japanese society is that we don’t look each other in the eye when we’re walking in the streets. We need to re-think the Japanese fear of interacting with others.”
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Source:aoa.gov
Source:statcan.gc.ca
