At 5:30 in the morning, in a narrow alley in Tokyo's Shitamachi district, 85-year-old Kazuko Sato has already boiled water and laid the last few old newspapers beside the cash register. Her husband, Kenichi Sato, is squatting at the door, one hand braced on his knee, slowly lifting the insulated bento box onto a small handcart. This couple-run shop, open for thirty years, now has grooves worn into its floor, and the refrigerator door handle is wrapped in layer upon layer of tape.
There are not many customers, but the shop must open - because the pension is simply not enough to cover living expenses. Kenichi Sato was hospitalized with pneumonia last year, and out-of-pocket medical costs came to 350,000 yen. His wife Kazuko's knee joints have long been deformed; she has to rest after walking a few steps, but physical therapy at the clinic costs 4,000 yen per session - she cannot bear to go.
Under Japan's latest pension system, retiring at 65 after 40 full years of contributions brings 68,000 yen a month, about 2,869 yuan. But the monthly rent for an ordinary single room in Tokyo is 80,000 yen; adding utilities, food and medical care, a month needs at least 150,000 yen. The gap is nearly 100,000 yen - how could they survive without working?
This is not an isolated case. In Japan, a 73-year-old security guard braves typhoon rain to work, earning 9,000 yen a day; a 70-year-old taxi driver drives 12 hours a day, and after deducting car rental and fuel, takes home only 8,000 yen. Of the nation's 570,000 security guards, those over 60 account for 45% and those over 70 for 15%. In the taxi industry, drivers over 60 make up 40%, of whom those over 70 account for a full 18%.
