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7 Comments

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  DickMorris at 07:15 AM JST - 21st November

  This is a disgrace. Has Japan lost all its morals? They pride themselves on looking after the elderly, but seems many are being abused and even murdered. Japan is becoming a very dangerous nation for old folk.

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  sfjp330 at 07:30 AM JST - 21st November

  It can be stressful living with elderly people who need nursing. In some cases, sons abuse their mothers after being constantly nagged by their wives, upon whom the burden of caring for mothers-in-law often falls. An increase in the number of unmarried people in general has led to a rise in the number of single sons caring for elderly parents. The problem of the lack of awareness of abuse may stem from the fact that many people do not realize that ignoring the elderly constitutes psychological abuse. There's no way of preventing it if a person is not aware they are being abusive. Japan need to enforce a law to prevent elderly people from being abused and define what constitutes abuse and raise awareness of abuse. The current economic situation in Japan makes it even more difficult for elderly people.

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  shufu at 10:04 AM JST - 21st November

  its very sad, and unfortunately its going to get worse over the next years.

  i know first hand how hard it can be to take care of an elderly and ill relative, its hard on the whole family.

  I hope the government comes up with a contingency plan FAST - as clearly the whole "have more babies please" dogma isnt working ...

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  yourock at 07:21 PM JST - 21st November

  when I first read this story I was shocked. Then I thought about some of the elderly (over 60s) people I have taught and it begun to make sense. When a change in dependancy occurs through old age then a tremendous and somewhat unexpected burden is put onto people. Some handle it well, and properly care for their relatives, while others aren't so good. Abusers though are more likely to be males. A bit surprised there. An informative news story on an often under-reported topic. well done JT.

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  bobobolinski at 10:21 PM JST - 21st November

  It is definitely a sad story, and unfortunately one that will probably get worse over the coming years. But, I was really confused by the statistics provided. "Of the 24 who died, 10 were murdered" "five died of neglect" - isn't that murder? "two were killed in murder-suicide cases" - isn't that murder? "two died from abuse" - isn't that murder? and what are the 5 other causes of people who died? I am wondering if the relatively low general Japanese statistics on murder are partly due to not counting crimes which elsewhere would be included in the murder figures.

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  bamboohat at 01:12 AM JST - 23rd November

  This is going to sound horrible, but I know a few old folks that if I had to take care of them all the time, it would be like Chris Rocks' routine about OJ:

  "I'm not sayin he shoulda killed her, but, I understand.."

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  mnemosyne23 at 12:07 AM JST - 24th November

  It really is a shame to see figures like this. A 12% jump in anything from one year to the next is noteworthy regardless of the subject, but especially when it's something like this. Domestic abuse of all kinds is seriously out of hand in Japan, be it elder abuse, spousal abuse, or child abuse. Japan's aging population means that there will be more and more senior citizens requiring care in the years to come, placing additional burdens on the dwindling younger generations. Abuse in any form, be it physical, emotional, or psychological, is never acceptable. To avoid these situations there needs to be some kind of social framework in place that caregivers can turn to for help when things get too hard. Whether this takes the form of increased assisted living communities and retirement homes, improved opportunity for at-home care through visiting nurses, or some other solution, the important point is that there needs to BE a solution, or things are only going to get worse before they get better.

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