In ageing Japan, robots become increasingly indispensable

Record ID: 1110064

  • Title: In ageing Japan, robots become increasingly indispensable
  • Date: 26th March 2018
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) AIBO OWNER, YOICHI SUZUKI, SAYING: "To put it simply, this is my father's memento. I want to use it for as long as it moves."
  • Embargoed: 9th April 2018 12:22
  • Keywords: Pepper nursing home SoftBank Japan Sony Robots ageing society Aibo elderly
  • Location: TOKYO AND IBARAKI, JAPAN
  • City: TOKYO AND IBARAKI, JAPAN
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Science
  • Reuters ID: LVA00788WK1FP
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: At a seemingly ordinary nursing home in downtown Tokyo, an unusual leader was in charge during an afternoon exercise routine - Pepper, a humanoid robot created by SoftBank Corp.
    The elderly, all smiles in front of the white, sleek, talking robot, moved along to its musical instructions, raising their arms and closing their fists. On a different floor, the elderly mingled with Sony Corp.'s pet robot dog AIBO and Intelligent System Co.'s robot seal PARO, cuddling and petting the robots that moved like their real-life counterparts.
    "I can talk to them without being too careful about what I say. If this was a human being, I have to consider what type of person they are," said Kazuko Yamada, 84, who has been coming to Shintomi nursing home for over 10 years.
    Up to 40 elderly people live in Shintomi. Twenty robots were introduced to the facility in 2013 after receiving funds from the Tokyo Metropolitan government under a program aimed at overcoming labour shortages.
    Japan faces a serious labour issue, as people aged 65 or older account for 27.2 percent of the total population -- the highest on record -- and is set to grow to almost 40 percent by 2065.
    The robots, which include Japanese robotics company Cyberdyne's power suit, not only keep the elderly company in an attempt to alleviate dementia but also help the workers carry out daily tasks that can be physically taxing.
    For other elderly people in Japan, such robots were like family members with irreplaceable memories.
    Yoichi Suzuki, 63, purchased Sony's AIBO when his father fell ill, in the hopes that the mini-robot dog would keep his father company as his health deteriorated. After his father passed away, Suzuki now hopes his bed-ridden mother will take a liking to the robot.
    "To put it simply, this is my father's memento. I want to use it for as long as it moves," Suzuki said.
    Stories like Suzuki's are what motivates former Sony employee Hiroshi Funabashi to repair old, outdated models of AIBO.
    "How pleasantly people react when I fix their AIBOs is different from how they would react if I fixed an ordinary electricity appliance. They react as if I had fixed their family member, and that really moved me," Funabashi said of what made him start fixing AIBOs in his workshop near his home in Ibaraki.
    Some experts say such reliance and attachments to robots will increase as Japan, which is becoming increasingly grey, faces a serious labour shortage.
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