Old age far from gentle for Japan's graying homeless

Homelessness in Japan is a decades-old issue, yet it has a worrying new twist. A vast majority of the homeless are now aging, a reflection of the overall graying of Japanese society that poses new problems for policy makers. The number of homeless in Japan has fallen sharply in nearly 5 years, to 9,576 in 2012 from 18,564 in 2007, according to Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. But those in higher age groups - 55 years old and above - have surged to 73.5 percent in 2012 from 58.8 percent in 2003.