Elderly Foreigners

I do not intend to go back to my country. Probably I will die in Japan. Hopefully at an old age after a rich life. What is my wife dies first and I'm left behind as an old man? There will to many old people in Japan. The health care system will be under pressure. Will foreigners get similar levels of medical and nursing-care services as the Japanese? I'm not sure:

"Terri Nii, who has lived in Japan for more than 20 years and speaks fluent Japanese, is far from being dependent on her Japanese husband. But the 49-year-old resident in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, is concerned what her life in Japan will look like in another 20 years.

She fears that the Japanese government may single out foreigners as the first target when it reduces medical outlays, nursing-care benefits and pension payouts.

Japan is expected to become unable to maintain the same level of social security benefits because of its aging population and declining birthrate, unless it slashes expenditures and raises taxes.

Nii, a California native, is arguably one of the most visible foreign residents in Kanagawa Prefecture. She runs a company in Fujisawa and sits on advisory panels to the municipal and prefectural governments.

But she said foreign nationals are in a sense invisible in Japan, where they are not granted what she calls regular status.

One reason is that foreigners are not covered by the resident registration systems, managed by local governments.

"I am a producing, tax-paying citizen in Japan, but I am not considered an official resident," said Nii. "I am uneasy about my status in the future when I may need to receive benefits rather than pay into the system."

Growing Old in Japan: Future care (Asahi – 2006/08/12)