ABSTRACT
In his New Year’s column, Masaru Yoshida, an economic journalist, speaks of the ‘the power of senior citizens’ (shinia pawª) by which he means their potency as
consumers. By 2010, people 50 years and older will exceed 50 per cent of the total population (Figure 7.1). The composition of the elderly population will change too. In 2005, about 40 per cent of the elderly were over 75 years of age. Twenty years later, an estimated 60 percent of the elderly will be over 75. Simultaneously, the workforce will shrink by some 15 per cent. What does this imply for Japan Inc.?
