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Monday was Respect For The Elderly Day in Japan, a festival honouring the aged who have helped to build the country and a festival this country might do well to copy.
However, Japanese authorities have been forced to admit that they have ‘lost’ around two hundred people aged 100 or more. They include eighteen ‘super-centenarians, including one 125-year-old woman whose last known address was turned into a park in 1981. Pension fraud, of course, is suspected and the authorities are now investigating the whereabouts of over 800 people over the age of 85. Japan is renowned for its efficiency though the problem is being blamed on antiquated record-keeping, strict privacy laws and weakening family and community ties.
Japanese citizens who turn 100 receive a silver chalice and a congratulatory letter from the Prime Minister. They are fortunate. In this country, they are more likely to receive a demand for underpaid taxes!
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Monday was Respect For The Elderly Day in Japan, a festival honouring the aged who have helped to build the country and a festival this country might do well to copy.
However, Japanese authorities have been forced to admit that they have ‘lost’ around two hundred people aged 100 or more. They include eighteen ‘super-centenarians, including one 125-year-old woman whose last known address was turned into a park in 1981. Pension fraud, of course, is suspected and the authorities are now investigating the whereabouts of over 800 people over the age of 85. Japan is renowned for its efficiency though the problem is being blamed on antiquated record-keeping, strict privacy laws and weakening family and community ties.
Japanese citizens who turn 100 receive a silver chalice and a congratulatory letter from the Prime Minister. They are fortunate. In this country, they are more likely to receive a demand for underpaid taxes!
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