日本人口老龄化

“Coping with Senility in Japan”

本文节选自《经济学人》一篇题为“Coping with Senility in Japan” 的文章。节选部分以日本老龄人口比重在世界的排名引出讨论主题：日本应如何应对老龄化带来的一系列问题。文章接着展开对日本老龄化问题的讨论，首先以老年痴呆为例介绍日本正面临严重的老龄化问题，亟待解决，然后肯定日本政府为此做出的努力，继而指出其不足之处，最后引用专家观点对日本政府的表现予以评价。本文结构清楚，采用列数据、举例子、引用他人话语多种论证方式，说理克制却有力，值得赏读。

原文

I ①Japan is one of the planet’s oldest societies, pipped only by tiny Monaco for the proportion of elderly in the population. ②Lengthening life expectancy is a boon for millions of Japanese retirees leading full lives. ③But it also means a sharp increase in the numbers suffering from dementia. ④Who, asks Florian Coulmas, an expert on Japanese ageing, should accept responsibility for people unable to articulate their own interests or care for themselves?

II ①Over 5m elderly Japanese suffer from dementia. ②By 2025 some

7m will need care, the health ministry predicts. ③Most live at home, putting a strain on relatives. ④A new survey says three-quarters of people looking after elderly family members are at their wits’ end, and many have considered suicide, or worse: last year police recorded 44 cases of murder or attempted murder in such homes.

III ①Japan has made strides in coping with the problems of a population with ever fewer young people. ②The retirement age has been pushed back, and it is not unusual for 70-year-olds to be driving taxis, working as watchmen on building sites and serving in supermarkets. ③Many elderly say they are keen to keep on working for as long as they are fit.

④As for dealing with senility, some approaches have been innovative.

⑤Convenience stores, everywhere in Japan, offer themselves as safe havens for wandering pensioners. ⑥Phone and car companies have made products with simpler, more intuitive functions.

IV ①Policy and spending lag, however. ②Public funding for long-term care for the elderly was the equivalent of just 1.2% of GDP in 2010 versus

3.7% in the Netherlands, according to the most recent OECD comparison.

③One reason is that relatives are still the main caregivers in Japan, says Miharu Nakanishi of the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science.

④Family members often quit work and burn through savings to look

after senile parents.

V ①Undaunted, the prime minister, Shinzo Abe, promises that Japan will become an example to the world in dealing with se nility. ②Among his promises is better funding for research into Alzheimer’s disease and more money to train 60,000 doctors in its early diagnosis. ③But much more should be done, including lowering the immigration barriers that keep out foreign care workers (which Mr Abe shows little sign of doing).

④Ms Nakanishi says the entire national strategy for dealing with dementia is fragmented. ⑤Above all, she says, the government has failed properly to consult with those who actually take care of the elderly.

“Coping with Senility in Japan” The Economist, Apr. 9th.

词汇短语

1. *pip [pɪp] v. 打败，击败，险胜

2. life expectancy n. 预期寿命，平均寿命

3. *boon [buːn] n. 恩惠；福利；利益

4. retiree [rɪ,taɪə'riː] n. 退休人员

5. *dementia [dɪ'menʃə] n. 痴呆

6. put a strain on 使……（极度）劳累