Toyama City in Japan is making strides in improving the quality of life of its aging population by easing their loneliness and making it easier for them to get around, writes ANUCHA CHAROENPO

Hisako Chido, 78, a retired private company official, stayed home alone for years while her two children went off to work, confined in her attic room as she waited on their return in the evening.

“Nobody takes care of me at home - I have lunch and dinner alone, that’s why I felt so lonely and isolated,” said Mrs Chido. But her spirits have improved since coming to Kono Yubi Tomare, a day care facility for the elderly, the disabled, and children in Toyama City, Japan.

Next to her in a living room of the facility, a five-year-old disabled boy was sleeping while his brother, a healthy nine-year-old, was busy watching television. The two were taken to the facility because their parents had to work in the daytime and didn’t have time to properly take care of them.

Every evening their parents, and Grandma Chido’s children, travel to the facility to pick their relatives up.

Nishimura Kazumi, deputy representative of the nonprofit day care facility, said it was introduced to Toyama City a few years ago because of the increasing number of elderly people who are left unattended at home.

Ms Kazumi said that 23% of the 400,000 people in the city are over 65 years of age and most of them were in a similar plight as Grandma Chido. After it had been in operation for some time, many young Japanese couples asked the facility to take care of their kids and disabled relatives as well.

Now the facility, which is open from Monday to Friday, is taking care of 18 people per day, most of them elderly. There are 28 staff members and volunteers who have undergone training in raising children and caring for the elderly and the disabled, said Ms Kazumi. They have been taught to exercise their patience in all situations, understand the different needs of people of all ages and to use reason to solve problems.

“Sometimes an elderly person will quarrel with a kid because the kid is disobedient, for example. Whenever we must face a situation like this we will immediately intervene and start a discussion in order to solve the problem, “ said Ms Kazumi. She added that she had never seen an elderly person harm the kids, or vice versa.

The day care fees are covered by the national long-term care insurance. The facility’s users are required to pay 10 % of the insurance fee, which does not cover meals or snacks. These are the responsibility of the families.

Ms Kazumi said one of the great advantages of the concept is that the elderly are happier when they have the children around them. In addition, the setup allows the children to adapt themselves to adult society. Furthermore, they will have the opportunity to learn to sympathise with respect the elderly in society.

There are at present 38 similar day care facilities around the city, and many more will be opened soon to cope with the increasing elderly population.

City adapting

Toyama City is the capital of Toyama Prefecture, in the northwest of Japan, about four hours from Tokyo by the Shinkansen train. Traditionally, the city has been well-known for medicine, but more recently it is making efforts to nurture some new industries. At the same time, it promotes tourism, making the most of nearby natural attractions such as the magnificent 3,000 – metre Tateyama Mountain Range.

Toyama City Mayor Masashi Mori said that the city had been planned for those with their own automobiles, and admits this makes it difficult for the city’s elderly. Therefore the city is starting to develop public transportation projects.

For example, the Odekake bus was just introduced to serve people in rural areas who want to travel to the inner city. The Toyama Light Rail was launched in April this year. As well as being environmentally friendly, the tram is very comfortable, with its low wheelbase vehicles and vibration-suppressing tracks that reduce shake and noise.

Mayor Mori said the city is undertaking a renovation of its urban areas to make full use of this railway network. A more compact and vibrant urban centre is being developed. This includes improvements for Toyama Castel Park and new construction of urban housing, as well as other measures to revitalise the city and make it more accessible to the elderly.

POPULATION DWINDLING AND AGING
According to Facts and Figures of Japan, 2006, as reported by the Foreign Press Centre Japan, as of October 1, 2005, Japan’s population was 127.76 million (62.34 million males and 65.42 million females), a decrease of 20,000 from a year earlier, suggesting that Japanese society has entered a process of depopulation.

Japan also has one of the highest average life expectancies in the world, which contributes to a rapid aging of the population. The percentage of people aged 65 and over more than doubled from 7.1% in 1970 to 20% in 2005.

The number of people aged under 15 dropped to a postwar record low of 17.56 million, a decrease of 171,000 from 2004. The proportion of those under 15 in the total population dropped to 13.7%.

Bangkokpost - Sunday October 22,2006