Last fall, he went on a tour of elderly housing in Japan. After turning 61, he thought that the issue of elderly housing would soon be his problem, so he looked around carefully. It was a memorable trip where he kept thinking about where and with whom he would live, what he would do in his old age, and then die.
The first place he visited was a place near Tokyo. It was a day service facility for the elderly located in a suburban area, and it was a cozy place where people of all ages, including the elderly, children, mothers, and local residents, lived together.
The home for the elderly is operated by the Sony Group, which opened in June last year. It was a newly built facility in the middle of a residential area, so it was clean, and all services, including a dog robot companion, were provided. Still, he wondered if this interior-focused space was the best.
He also visited Yokohama City. It was a village where elderly welfare facilities, rehabilitation facilities, and service-type elderly housing were all combined on a fairly large site. In low-rise single-family homes, the elderly receive various services and live. The alleys and the bridges on the second floor connect all the houses, which he liked.
The place he liked the most was in Koto Ward, Tokyo. It is a two-story building located in an ordinary residential area, and it has a lot of rooms. It was built as a kindergarten in the 1970s and was once used as a funeral hall, but it was remodeled after being vacant for a long time and opened in May of last year. The first floor is a day service facility for the elderly, and it operates from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. On the wall of the central passage on the first floor is a Library, where local residents donate their books to run a bookshelf. The second floor is an after-school classroom for elementary school students from 2:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. There is also a play area for infants.
At 2:00 p.m., children who have just returned from school file into the central passage, greet the elderly, and go up the stairs to the second floor. The elderly receiving care read books to the children and helped change diapers for infants and toddlers. In the evening, when the elderly and children go home, the library owners enjoy their programs while drinking beer. Seeing many people using a small space for various purposes all day was impressive.
The places he visited included the uniquely named ‘Center' in Kanagawa Prefecture. It is said that the name was given with the hope that the supermarket, which had served as a local center for a long time but closed in 2016, would be revived and become a village center in 2022. It consists of various functions, such as a senior day service, a childcare facility, a shared kitchen, a laundry research center, and a group home for the disabled. The building's design won the Japan Good Design Award.
Where should the elderly live to be happy in this aging society? Where among the places introduced above would be a good place to live and die? While visiting Japan’s senior housing, he thought of the ‘Care Farm’ in the Netherlands, which he had visited six years before. Care farms where dementia patients and adults with developmental disabilities can come and spend the weekends on farms with cows, horses, pigs, chickens, and colorful plants seemed like a great solution. He remembers thinking that care farms, where the elderly and the disabled receive care and live dignified lives by caring for animals, plants, and others, are the best housing for the elderly.
We live in an aging society. Where is the best home for an elderly person facing death? How will it be okay if they live and die? Who will they be with, and what will they do before they die? Let’s think about it. Where will we die? A good meditation for the beginning of Lent.
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