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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
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John Kampfner

For three years I scoured the world for answers to Europe’s big problems – here’s what I found

A care home in Japan uses a therapeutic robot pet seal. But Japan’s low tech solutions are just as impressive.
A care home in Japan using a therapeutic robot pet seal. ‘But I was more impressed by some of the low-tech solutions.’ Photograph: Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters

It’s mid-afternoon in Fujisawa. Schoolchildren, rucksacks on their backs, bound into a room where a group of pensioners welcome them boisterously, before sitting them down to help with their homework. This group of older people is looked after by some of the pupils’ parents. Up the road, a cluster of university students live above some over-75s. They get half-price rent in return for checking in on them on their way to and from studies.

This multigenerational community I visited in a small town not far from the port of Yokohama is one of 5,000 in Japan.

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