Japan's elderly priced out of homes in Tokyo

Tokyo

"I HAVE nothing to look forward to," a 77-year-old man, who always wears pajamas, said while sitting on his bed. "I've just given up." It has been two years since he moved to this home for the aged in a remote place far from the bustling area of Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward where he had lived for more than 40 years. It takes about two hours by train and car from central Tokyo to get to his new home.

After graduating from a middle school in Saitama Prefecture, the man worked for a small factory and a store in Tokyo. He has never married and lived at a corporate dormitory and other places. He enjoyed watching movies and playing mahjong with friends on holidays.