80-year-old man arrested over bedridden wife’s murder

@Justin Case

Theres more than just culture and economics at play. Medical science has increased our lifespans immensely in the last two centuries. The whole “children taking care of their parents” thing worked in ages passed because (as uncouth as this may sound) the children wouldn’t be taking care of their parents for long. The parents would die in their sixties or so, so an adult child might only need to care for an invalid parent for 10 or so years. Now, children might have to care for adult parents for decades before nature takes its course.

Because of societal dynamics, these kinds of incidents are going to keep happending. Tradition has not kept pace with the modern Japan. Traditionally, the elderly would stay at home and there would be several individuals--children, grandchildren, etc.--to help provide care. Caring for a bedridden individual is beyond exhausting and they are not always pleasant to deal with. Now, fewer children live with their parents, or only one does, and that is not enough to provide such intensive care. For an 80 year old to be able to provide round the clock care for a bedridden person is extraordinarily taxing. There is a good social system that does its best to monitor the elderly, but the reality of the modern world is that more of them need to go into a facility where they will get the kind of care they need. The old stay-at-home paradigm just does not fit modern Japan.

so sad to hear, a 80 years old man took care a 72 years old bedridden wife. can government provide some type of help? i feel sorry for both of them.

Stress...

What is it in the Japanese culture that makes so many grannies kill family members?