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wives of the well-to-do classes. Having a place in society through work that is valued and the feeling of being of help to someone is essential for maintaining one’s
mental and physical health.
According to the Cabinet Office’s “Annual Report on the Aging Society: 2016,”
the percentage of the population aged 65 years or older was 26.7% in 2015. It takes
2.3 people who are now employed to support one elderly person. By 2050 the percentage of the population aged 65 years or older will rise to 38.8% and one elderly
person will be supported 1.3 people who are employed (Fig. 6.9). Medical care,
nursing care and age pensions will reach a deadlock if things continue this way.
To begin with, the idea of workers being aged from 15 to 64 was modelled on the
industrial production in the years of Japan’s economic bubble and is not in line with
contemporary society. The percentage of today’s youth, who are fewer in number
than before, continuing on to university has risen so that half of them will not start
work until they are 22 years old. On the other hand, there are many people who are
aged 65 years or older who can still work hard.
If those active seniors can enjoy an independent life, that will lighten the load for
the younger generation who are working, as well as ease worries about the nation’s
Fig. 6.9 Changes in aging and future projections
Source: “2016 Annual Report on the Aging Society,” Cabinet Office
Sources: The “National Census” by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (until
2010), “Estimated Population (Presently confirmed number as of October 1, 2015 based on the
2015 preliminary reports of the population in the National Census)” by Ministry of Internal Affairs
and Communications (2015), the estimated results calculated from the hypothetical median birth
and death rates in “Japan’s Estimated Population in the Future (calculated January 2012)” by the
National Institute of Population and Social Security Research (from 2020 onwards)
Note: The total numbers from 1950–2010 include unknown ages. To calculate the ratio of aging,
we subtracted unknown ages from the denominator.
6 Platinum Industry and a New Society
wives of the well-to-do classes. Having a place in society through work that is valued and the feeling of being of help to someone is essential for maintaining one’s
mental and physical health.
According to the Cabinet Office’s “Annual Report on the Aging Society: 2016,”
the percentage of the population aged 65 years or older was 26.7% in 2015. It takes
2.3 people who are now employed to support one elderly person. By 2050 the percentage of the population aged 65 years or older will rise to 38.8% and one elderly
person will be supported 1.3 people who are employed (Fig. 6.9). Medical care,
nursing care and age pensions will reach a deadlock if things continue this way.
To begin with, the idea of workers being aged from 15 to 64 was modelled on the
industrial production in the years of Japan’s economic bubble and is not in line with
contemporary society. The percentage of today’s youth, who are fewer in number
than before, continuing on to university has risen so that half of them will not start
work until they are 22 years old. On the other hand, there are many people who are
aged 65 years or older who can still work hard.
If those active seniors can enjoy an independent life, that will lighten the load for
the younger generation who are working, as well as ease worries about the nation’s
Fig. 6.9 Changes in aging and future projections
Source: “2016 Annual Report on the Aging Society,” Cabinet Office
Sources: The “National Census” by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (until
2010), “Estimated Population (Presently confirmed number as of October 1, 2015 based on the
2015 preliminary reports of the population in the National Census)” by Ministry of Internal Affairs
and Communications (2015), the estimated results calculated from the hypothetical median birth
and death rates in “Japan’s Estimated Population in the Future (calculated January 2012)” by the
National Institute of Population and Social Security Research (from 2020 onwards)
Note: The total numbers from 1950–2010 include unknown ages. To calculate the ratio of aging,
we subtracted unknown ages from the denominator.
6 Platinum Industry and a New Society