Japan has the world’s oldest population, with more than one in 10 citizens being aged 80 or older. How the country copes with its aging population and the associated health and social security challenges could become an example for the region and the world.

To keep escalating healthcare costs from crippling the economy, attention is being given to promoting preventive care. “Preventive care and early detection are particularly important for ageing societies,” Senior Fellow Shuhei Nomura told the Straits Times. Japan has been relatively successful in addressing high blood pressure, cancer, and heart disease, but he notes that Japan is lacking in such areas as preventing and caring for diabetes and dementia, which face stigma.

Also, there are more elderly people living alone, especially in the countryside. This, Nomura said, necessitates the urgent and uniform digitalization of welfare services across Japan’s 1,741 municipalities. 

“Never Too Old to Start a Boy Band in Greying Japan,” Straits Times
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/never-too-old-to-start-a-boy-band-in-greying-japan

Profile of Senior Fellow Shuhei Nomura
https://www.tokyofoundation.org/experts/detail.php?id=654