Japan and Its Rapid Ageing Society: Does e-health Technology Provide a Solution?

Abstract

Japan can be called a rapidly ageing society. In 2016, one-quarter of the Japanese society was aged 65 and over. Against this backdrop, in this article I argue that a rapidly ageing society like Japan will rely heavily on technological solutions to ensure adequate care and a decent standard of living for elderly people. Thus, the country is predestined as a case study considering the relationship between ageing, professional care, e-health technology and other assistive devices. I use examples from Telehealth networks and monitoring sensor systems to shed some light on these recent and growing developments in the field of e-health technologies.