J-gov to fill centenarians' silver cups with hemlock

[Taro Toporific]

silver-cup-for-hemlock.jpg

Health Ministry thinks presenting new centenarians with a silver cup is becoming too heavy a financial burden.

「１００歳の銀杯、税金のムダ」　厚労省事業、識者指摘
asahi.com | 6/23/2015
　１００歳のお祝いに銀杯を贈るのはやめて――。税金の無駄遣いがないか外部の有識者がチェックする「行政事業レビュー」で２２日、厚生労働省の高齢者向け事業に有識者が「抜本的改善が必要」と判断した...
"100-year-old Silver Cup is a tax waste"
Outside business experts have recommended: Don't give the Silver Cup for the celebration of reaching 100 years old. In a review of excessive government spending, business experts have recommended to the Ministry of Health that expenditures for elderly be curtailed...more (in Japanese)...

[Wage Slave]

A clear waste of money. Why not just a telegram from the Emperor? That's what they get in Blighty and they are grateful for it.

[matsuki]

But but but back during the bubble...

[Salty]

If Aso has his way - there will no longer be centenarians, since they will have all died from starvation, or possibly the common cold after having their benefits cut.

[Russell]

If Aso has his way - there will no longer be centenarians, since they will have all died from starvation, or possibly the common cold after having their benefits cut.

That would also save on stamps for the telegrams from the emperor...

[Taro Toporific]

And now they want to start shipping the retirees en masse out of Tokyo prior to the 2020 Olympics...

old-people-shipping.jpg

“We need a Japanese equivalent of Florida,” says Mr Takahashi (of the Japan Policy Council)

Tokyo told to send 1m elderly to provinces as ‘care crisis’ looms
The Financial Times | June 25, 2015
...highlights how badly Tokyo is prepared for the increase in the ageing population in Japan, and shows the challenge awaiting big cities around the world when the need for office buildings suddenly gives way to demand for nursing homes.
“Most Japanese people are vaguely aware that the number of old people is rising rapidly but they don’t know the details,” said Tai Takahashi, one of the authors of the report.
“Our goal this time was to show that Tokyo has an extreme problem with social care.”
Tokyo is ageing more slowly than Japan’s regions but during the next 10 years it will have to absorb an extra 1.75m people aged over 75. Unlike in the countryside, one-in-four elderly city dwellers lives alone, with no family to take care of them.
Meanwhile, the number of care facilities in Tokyo is half the national average and building more would be difficult and costly, prompting warnings of “care refugees” who flee to the countryside because there are no places in the city.
The JPC identifies 41 regional cities with ample care facilities, from Asahikawa on the wintry northern island of Hokkaido to the subtropical paradise of Miyako island in the southern seas.
Whereas the best opportunities for workers are in Tokyo, Mr Takahashi says, a fixed pension income goes much further in the regions. He wants to convince retirees that moving is in their own interest.
“Between 1955 and 1970, 8m people moved from the regions to the big cities and those people are now reaching the age of 75,” he said. “Around 4m of them moved to Tokyo. My thought is that if around 1m of these people thought like this and moved it would make Tokyo’s situation much easier and improve their lives.”
Faced with paying to look after Tokyo’s pensioners, Japan’s regional politicians have given the plan a frosty reception.
“The theme of a move to the regions has been gathering steam, but this is just about the elderly,” said Yoshinori Yamaguchi, governor of Saga prefecture, according to local media. “The way they’ve talked about pushing people to move is too strong.”
Mr Takahashi says there needs to be a way for Tokyo municipalities — which would save heavily by not having to build care facilities — to compensate cities that take its pensioners.
More...

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[yanpa]

Wasn't the plan during the bubble era to ship them off to Australia?

[Samurai_Jerk]

I hope Takahashi is talking about southern Florida

floridaretirement.jpg

because otherwise ...

whitetrash.jpeg

[Takechanpoo]

almost ruined Atami is a good place for it.
use the badget of constructing olympic studium and segregate grumpy jijis and babas

[Samurai_Jerk]

almost ruined Atami is a good place for it.
use the badget of constructing olympic studium and segregate grumpy jijis and babas

I have a friend in Tokyo who likes to go down there occasionally on weekends to get out of the city. He said that last time he went it was so overrun with Chinese tourists he's not sure if he wants to go back again so maybe Atami has already figured out a way to make some money.

[yanpa]

almost ruined Atami is a good place for it.
use the badget of constructing olympic studium and segregate grumpy jijis and babas

I have a friend in Tokyo who likes to go down there occasionally on weekends to get out of the city. He said that last time he went it was so overrun with Chinese tourists he's not sure if he wants to go back again so maybe Atami has already figured out a way to make some money.

Why go out of Tokyo to find somewhere overrun with Chinese tourists?

[matsuki]

"Cool Japan" in 10 years...



or

[Samurai_Jerk]

almost ruined Atami is a good place for it.
use the badget of constructing olympic studium and segregate grumpy jijis and babas

I have a friend in Tokyo who likes to go down there occasionally on weekends to get out of the city. He said that last time he went it was so overrun with Chinese tourists he's not sure if he wants to go back again so maybe Atami has already figured out a way to make some money.

Why go out of Tokyo to find somewhere overrun with Chinese tourists?

Exactly.

[Salty]

THey should do exactly the opposite - require a limited issue of residence permits for anyone under 67 who wants to live in Tokyo and thus free up space for the seniors. Get those kids out into the countryside where they can learn how to work and breed - lots of opportunity for that. Then when Abe gets his way and attacks Italy, or some such, he will have lots of cannon fodder at his disposal.

[kurogane]

Why go out of Tokyo to find somewhere overrun with Chinese tourists?

It seems they are taking to the Onsen!!! trend as enthusiastically as the locals, which does make them pretty easy to dodge. Didn't see a single one out at the Chiba seaside. Anybody got an idea why Take called Atami 'ruined'? A bit run down, is it? I have heard that the whole Izu peninsula below that is quite nice, with good to great beaches; let's hope the Chinese don't find out there's a Tokyo to Izu-Shimoda express

[yanpa]

Why go out of Tokyo to find somewhere overrun with Chinese tourists?

It seems they are taking to the Onsen!!! trend as enthusiastically as the locals, which does make them pretty easy to dodge. Didn't see a single one out at the Chiba seaside. Anybody got an idea why Take called Atami 'ruined'? A bit run down, is it? I have heard that the whole Izu peninsula below that is quite nice, with good to great beaches; let's hope the Chinese don't find out there's a Tokyo to Izu-Shimoda express

The scenery is nice... the towns, with their faded-to-rotting mid/late Showa splendour, are attractive mainly for haikyo hunters.

[kurogane]

Oooh, Late Showa Haikyo!???? I just got a woody

[Yokohammer]

During The Bubble a plethora of trendy, lavish, and overpriced resort facilities popped up in the Atami area, making it a convenient destination for Bubble Beneficiaries who wanted to get away for a brief weekend without having to go too far to spend their money. There were some really slick spots to hide away at for a day or two, and some great food/drink to be enjoyed while hiding. But being as Bubbly as they were very few of them have survived The Bursting and, as noted above, decay has set in.

Good times ... it was fun while it lasted ...

[Misty-eyed Grandad mode OFF]

[kurogane]

Aaaah.........I remember people talking about Atami and Zooshi (?) as though they were a nearby Hawaii............back in 1988. Having half grown up in one I've always sort of hated resorts. Sounds like it was nice back in the day.

Whilst browsing real estate sites I have noticed a surprising number of dilapidated resort hotels and trophy houses south on the Izu peninsula. Not a bad deal for 800 Man if you are willing to scrub 20 years of mould and mildew off the chintzy stucco walls and those wierd linoleum tile floors. And you can go as low as 300 Man if you prefer a pink stucco resort condo. They all seem to come with those cheesy gold lame balcony railings, too! I'll stick with the grubby post and beam frame 500 sq. ft cabin for 120 Man, thank you. The beaches do look rather nice, and unlike the Chiba coast the sea is blue.

So, BOT: given the sheer number of what appear to be weekend places up for sale in former Besso Bases like Atami, Izu, the Chiba coast one might interpret that as a move back to the city from which these age hating policy wonks wish them expelled. I can't imagine giving up the cabin to retire back to the city I used to escape from, but I can certainly see Japanese doing that due to the lure of Benri and Ochitsuki no yosa. Which suggests that a properly thought out venture into regional retirement villages might well be a profitable venture if done right. Or not?

[Coligny]

Oooh, Late Showa Haikyo!???? I just got a woody

+1
But any era will do...

image.jpg

[wagyl]

Aaaah.........I remember people talking about Atami and Zooshi (?) as though they were a nearby Hawaii............back in 1988. Having half grown up in one I've always sort of hated resorts. Sounds like it was nice back in the day.

Whilst browsing real estate sites I have noticed a surprising number of dilapidated resort hotels and trophy houses south on the Izu peninsula. Not a bad deal for 800 Man if you are willing to scrub 20 years of mould and mildew off the chintzy stucco walls and those wierd linoleum tile floors. And you can go as low as 300 Man if you prefer a pink stucco resort condo. They all seem to come with those cheesy gold lame balcony railings, too! I'll stick with the grubby post and beam frame 500 sq. ft cabin for 120 Man, thank you. The beaches do look rather nice, and unlike the Chiba coast the sea is blue.

So, BOT: given the sheer number of what appear to be weekend places up for sale in former Besso Bases like Atami, Izu, the Chiba coast one might interpret that as a move back to the city from which these age hating policy wonks wish them expelled. I can't imagine giving up the cabin to retire back to the city I used to escape from, but I can certainly see Japanese doing that due to the lure of Benri and Ochitsuki no yosa. Which suggests that a properly thought out venture into regional retirement villages might well be a profitable venture if done right. Or not?

Most of those holiday house communities continued to be just that: occasional holiday places. And when the annual upkeep starts to cost a bit with maintenance getting more substantial, the option of holidaying at a variety of places, rather than always going to that same place and always having to air out your own bedding, starts to look more attractive. When couples did move there to retire they realised that they were isolated from their friends and, as they get older, those stairs up to the entrance and the sheer distance to the hospital started to tell. Then one of the couple dies and the other is left in isolation in a place that gets lively for three weeks a year. So you sell.

Back when companies were getting rid of their tax-break welfare-for-employees pension/hotel/accommodation places, a few individuals bought them cheaply as really spacious holiday places, but most soon discovered the ongoing costs for heating and cooling and lighting and warming up the monster bath and cooking in a cavernous commercial kitchen and looking after the gardens is not worth it in the long run.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Aaaah.........I remember people talking about Atami and Zooshi (?) as though they were a nearby Hawaii............back in 1988.

Maybe things were different in the 80's but the Zushi/Hayama area are more upscale suburbs than resort towns. A lot of corporate executives and rich expats live there. Especially guys who don't have to go to the office every day but what to be striking distance from Tokyo when they do.