On the 18th, Respect for the Aged Day, events were held in various parts of Hiroshima Prefecture to celebrate longevity. On the other hand, against the backdrop of an increase in the number of elderly people, some regions are reviewing events that used to be held every year, such as not holding them this year.
On the 18th of Respect for the Aged Day, various events were held in various parts of Hiroshima Prefecture, and in the Kamo district in the northern part of Fukuyama City, the residents' association held a celebration event at the gymnasium of a local junior high school.
77 elderly people over the age of 90 participated in the event, and a junior high school student ensemble and local people performed Japan dances.
The participants enjoyed themselves with smiles while singing and clapping along with the performers songs they knew.
An 83-year-old man who participated said, "It was fun, and there were many people I hadn't seen in a long time, so it was good to be able to interact with them."
In the Kamo area, except for the fact that we did not hold Respect for the Aged Day event for three years until last year due to the influence of the new corona, we have held events every year for many years.
Tatsumi Kubo (3), the executive committee chair of the event, said, "Elderly people don't have many opportunities to go out, and due to the coronavirus pandemic, we haven't had many opportunities to meet people, so we wanted to create an opportunity at the ceremony, and I'm glad that people enjoyed it."
This is a celebration of Respect for the Aged Day.
In Fukuyama City, until 71, before the Corona disaster, the city and the community co-hosted the event in all areas of the city's 2019 districts and school districts in principle.
However, in addition to the increasing number of elderly people who are the target of the event, there were opinions that the burden was becoming heavier, such as the elderly in the community taking charge of holding the event.
For this reason, the city stopped holding events in all areas from this year, and revised the method to provide subsidies when holding events based on the judgment of each region.
As a result, out of 80 regions this year, only 80 regions hold events on or around Respect for the Aged Day, and the other 22 regions have decided to limit themselves to distributing commemorative gifts or holding events in conjunction with local events.
In 58 of these areas, there will be no events or distribution of souvenirs at all.
The city has also raised the age of the elderly to celebrate from 8 to 75.
In the future, we will raise the age to 77 years of age and over.
According to the city, the cost of distributing events and souvenirs was 80 million yen last year and 8100 million yen this year.
Regarding this revision, Takashi Hosoi, manager of the Fukuyama City Elderly Support Division, said, "We received a request for a review as the aging of the population progresses, the number of people aged 75 and over is increasing, and the image of the elderly is changing.
Areas that do not hold events
A local representative of Fukuyama City, who did not hold a Respect for the Aged Day celebration event, cited the increase in the number of elderly people and the shortage of local workers as the reason for the heavy burden.
In the Asahi district near the center of the city, events have been held every year on Respect for the Aged Day as in other districts, but this year we did not hold any events and only distributed souvenir towels individually to the elderly.
According to Hiroshi Ohara (82), president of the neighborhood association federation in this area, in addition to the fact that the same content continued every year and became a rut, the number of elderly people who were eligible for the celebration increased year by year, reaching nearly 1000,15 this year.
Under these circumstances, the burden was becoming heavier due to the shortage of local leaders, such as the elderly taking charge of holding events.
For this reason, when we surveyed 3 district chairmen about whether they would hold a senior citizen event this year, more than two-thirds answered that they would not hold it.
Ms. Ohara said, "The caregivers are getting older and the number of people who can help is decreasing.