Japan’s loneliness epidemic is so severe that elderly women are committing crimes to find friends and health care in prison

Japan, known for its significantly aging population, took first place the healthiest country to age in By National Center for Health Statistics in December. Okinawa in Japan is also considered blue zonehome to some of the longest-lived and happiest communities in the world. However, according to a new report from CNNmany of these older people have difficulties.

Japan’s largest women’s prison has become home to an increasing number of seniors. – CNN reported the number of prisoners aged 65 and over almost quadrupled between 2003 and 2022. Feeling financially and socially neglected in the wake of the global crisis loneliness epidemicmany older Japanese women seek prison community and support.

Akiyo, known by his pseudonym for privacy reasons, is an 81-year-old inmate who was serving time for shoplifting food.

“There are very good people in this prison,” Akiyo told CNN. “Perhaps this life is the most stable for me.”

The companionship that prison provides is a major attraction for these elderly women, along with regular meals, free health care and elder care. And the requirement to work in prisons is not a deterrent.

“There are even people who say they will pay 20,000 or 30,000 yen ($130 to $190) a month (if they can) to live here forever,” said Takayoshi Shiranaga, an officer at Tochigi Women’s Prison, north of Tokyo , in an interview with CNN in September.

“There are people who come here because it’s cold or they’re hungry,” Shiranaga said. And those who get sick “can get free medical care in prison, but when they get out they have to pay for it themselves, so some people want to stay here as long as possible.”

Committing crimes to survive

For some older women, turning to crime is a path to survival. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reports that 20% of people over the age of 65 in Japan live in poverty. According to CNN, theft is the most common crime among older prisoners. As of 2022, more than 80% of older female prisoners nationwide were in prison for theft. Japanese government.

When she was 60, Akiyo was imprisoned for stealing food. Nearly 20 years later, she was imprisoned for shoplifting out of desperation.

Akiyo was left not only without money, but also without family support. Just before she was imprisoned, her 43-year-old son told her: “I wish you would just leave.”

“I felt like I didn’t care what happened anymore,” she told CNN. “I thought, ‘There’s no point in living,’ and ‘I just want to die.'”

Another inmate, 51-year-old Yoko, has been imprisoned five times over the past 25 years on drug charges. She said the prison population only appears to be getting older.

“(Some people) do bad things on purpose and get caught so they can go back to prison if they run out of money,” said Yoko, whom CNN identified using a pseudonym for privacy reasons.

The only place to get support is prison

Lack of caregivers, limited access to health care and abandonment by family members are another aspect of the attractiveness of prison for older women – especially for repeat offenders like Akiyo.

Once they leave prison, there will be no support for their return to society, said another prison guard, Megumi, identified only by her first name.

“Even after they are released and return to normal life, they have no one to care for them,” she told CNN. “There are also people who have been abandoned by their families after repeatedly committing crimes, they have nowhere to belong.”

In 2021, the Japanese Ministry of Social Welfare found that older prisoners who received support after leaving prison were significantly less likely to recidivism than those who did not receive it. CNN reported that the ministry is increasing early intervention efforts and community centers to help the elderly.

This is in addition to the programs launched by Ministry of Justice of Japan that provide education in independent living, recovery from addictions and coping with family relationships. Japan is also considering submitting proposals housing allowances more widely available to older people, because 10 municipalities across the country are testing programs to help older people without close relatives.

Akiyo completed her sentence in October. A month before her release, she told CNN that she was “full of shame and afraid to look my son in the face.”

“Being alone is very difficult and I feel ashamed to be in this situation,” Akiyo added. “I really feel like if I had a stronger will, I could have had a different life, but I’m too old to do anything about it.”