Article/Sina columnist Jiang Feng
With the development of time, the generation born in Japan's first "baby boom" after World War II has gradually reached the age of 65. According to the latest data released by the Ministry of General Affairs of Japan, the population of Japan has been decreasing for four consecutive years, with the total number falling to about 127 million, 0.71% less than last year, a record low for 15 years. Among them, people over 65 years old accounted for more than a quarter of the total population, more than twice the number of people under 14 years old for the first time. Japan is becoming a veritable "silver haired society". How to let these old people spend their old age in peace is the top priority of Japan's social problems today.
In March this year, an 85 year old Japanese man died in an apartment in Tokyo. Since the old man's bank account automatically pays the rent every month, neither his family nor the landlord is surprised. It was not until neighbors smelled the stench of decaying bodies that someone finally found that the old man had died for a month.
In recent years, such "lonely death" incidents of the elderly are common. Due to the lack of children's care for the elderly, safety accidents also occur frequently. In 2011 alone, the number of elderly people in Japan who died from drowning alone reached 17000, even exceeding the number of deaths from fires and traffic accidents.
The aging population has brought many problems to Japanese society. At the same time, crimes committed by the elderly have also attracted the attention of Japanese society.
In May 2014, an 88 year old man in Kitakyushu, Japan, strangled his 79 year old wife alive in her sleep. It is reported that the murdered wife was bedridden two years ago due to a broken leg. In two years, the elderly husband alone shouldered the burden of caring for his wife. Neighbors around said that the old man was serious and careful, and he was a good husband who did his duty. Before the crime, the old man had listened to others' persuasion and sent his wife to a nursing home. But his wife had only lived in the house for two days when he picked her up again. When the nurse asked the reason, the wife replied, "My husband, it's too lonely to be alone." It seems that the couple's feelings are quite harmonious. According to the lawyer, the old man has been worried that his wife will be left unattended after his death and will not be able to take care of herself. Two weeks after his wife returned home from the nursing home, the old man looked at her sleeping face and thought, "If you die like this, it might be a good result!" So he killed his sleeping wife and then voluntarily surrendered to the police.
The helpless choice of the elderly makes people feel more sad than shocked. How lonely and helpless the old man was, so that he could kill his wife. According to the statistics of the Japanese Police Agency in 2013, 19.7% of the elderly crimes were motivated by fatigue and despair due to "elderly care".
In addition to homicide, theft has also become the main behavior of elderly crimes. According to the data provided by the Japanese Police Agency, the number of elderly thieves in Japan was 3321 in 2013, surpassing the number of juvenile thieves for the first time. Eighty percent of the stolen goods are food.
Due to the continuous downturn of Japan's economic situation in recent years, consumption taxes and prices have been rising. Many Japanese old people steal for survival, and they are really "heroes for a penny". But more old people steal because they are too lonely. These old people are left unattended and in a state of emotional loneliness for a long time. They will have serious cognitive errors psychologically, such as indifference, bigotry and even seeking stimulation by committing crimes. Food and other inexpensive commodities become their main goals. When they enter prison after committing a crime, they not only feel comfortable with food and clothing, but also have company every day, which seems to be more comfortable than life outside the high wall. After serving their sentences, some old people even commit crimes again just to live in prison. According to statistics, 60% to 80% of the elderly who have committed many crimes are living alone. This has also led to the transformation of some Japanese prisons into sanatoriums for elderly criminals.
According to a survey by Tatsuya Taida, a professor at the Law School of Keio University in Japan, 43% of the elderly who committed homicide had no contact with their children, and 63% of the elderly who committed theft had no contact with their children. To reduce crimes committed by the elderly, it can be summed up as providing the elderly with stable life security and meticulous care. That said, it is easier said than done. Nowadays, the problems caused by aging are also increasingly prominent in China. How to take precautions to truly ensure that the elderly have a sense of security and a sense of support needs the consideration and efforts of the whole society. ■
(Statement: This article only represents the author's view, not Sina.com's position.)
