Japanese living longer, lonelier by MARK MACKINNON
Not long after reading this article, there was another Japanese article that talked about Japanese elderly people that I'm sure is related to this topic.
According to Yomiuri Online, the number of shop lifter whose age is 65yr+ reached twenty thousand and eighty two between January-September 2010, according to National Police Agency.
The number of elderly shoplifter has increased by hundred forty one since last year, and has been increasing every year for the past nineteen years.
If the elderly criminals whose age are 50+ confessed their loneliness and the loss of meaning in life, the police introduce them to the community gatherings and try to avoid their subsequent offense, and discuss different solutions with the small retailers who often find these criminals at their shops.
This issue if often featured in evening news and documentaries, and many people are aware of the situation. Just as the issues about the elderly homeless people, many are aware but feel almost helpless in the situation.
Shoplifting once used to be done by kids who wanted attention from their parents or friends, now being done by elderly for the same reason.
3 件のコメント:
Instead of creating robots, Japanese government should stimulate people to build families and have 2 or more kids... this would solve lots of problems, I believe...
It would be interesting to see the figures in percentages instead of numbers. I wonder if this is just because the population is getting older, and it looks like younger people are committing less crimes because there are fewer of them (the birth rate is declining).
Anyhow.. in any case that's not a good thing. I'm visiting Japan right now and had two elderly ladies cut in front of me in line at the JR ticket counter... I guess I will give them the benefit of a doubt (maybe they were running late?). Or maybe it was more elderly people misbehaving? :/ Just to be fair though, most I encounter seem very polite, saying すみません and ありがとう when I stepped out of the way for a big group in a narrow stairway at Fushimi Inari Shrine. I also took a photo for two ladies in front of Yasaka Shrine and they thanked me multiple times and had smiles on their faces.
I guess the challenge is to find a girl who will end up like those nice ladies instead of the shoplifters ;)
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