Geography Photo EssayWong Hern Yee

CTG 126

“A talking robot helps 69-year-old Nabeshima Akiko shop in a test conducted by researchers from

Keihanna Science City near Kyoto.”The elderly makes up for about 23% of Japan’s population, far

surpassing the percentage of the young population.This would place a great burden the sandwich generation (15-65

years old) who have to take care of the younger generation too. The maintenance of an elderly person is much more costly than that of a

child. There will be an expansion in the demand for products and services used by the elderly such as healthcare products, leisure

services and support services.Japan can become unprogressive as a result, falling behind other

economies in technical efficiency and economic welfare. Therefore, they may become less attractive to investors and fall behind

economic competitiveness.Average healthcare costs do rise with age, but people becoming

healthier could significantly offset the cost of this trend. Health costs tend to be compressed into the last years or even months of a life.