Needed: English Speaking Day Service & Senior Activity Social Centers

[Stuart@Japan]

Do you know anyone with an entrepreneurial spirit who wants to Immigrate to Japan under the terms of the Business Management Visa program but is still looking a viable business plan? If so, please pass along this idea for them to consider as some of us retirees may benefit from it in the future.

THE IDEA:

The plan is to establish one or more English Speaking Adult Day Services and Senior Activity Social Centers based on the existing Japanese model. The Japanese “for fee” model consists of drivers who pick up and return the elderly from/to their homes to a center where they are bathed, fed, nursed (as needed) and engage in social activities and exercise with other members one or more days per week. For the purposes of this suggestion, I denote the elderly who may benefit from this day service as age 80 and up.

With many aging English-speaking expatriates in Japan, there is an unmet need for them to stay socially engaged once their mobility, mind and Japanese language skills begin to be reduced.

The business owner would be able to charge a premium for this service as most existing Expats are economically well-off at retirement and may appreciate a clubby and familiar “western” setting and food. Critically, often as we age, languages acquired as adults begins to wane and only our mother tongue remains, so having an English-speaking cultural oasis with our peers in our twilight years would contribute to a higher quality of life. If the expat’s Japanese spouse pre-deceases him, his situation is often worse yet, with isolation expected to increase quickly.

WHY THIS SHOULD WORK:

According to the United States Social Security Administration (SSA), in 2023 there were over 101,000 persons receiving monthly retirement benefits in Japan (the second most recipients in a foreign country after Canada). Concentrations of these beneficiaries are in the Yokohama, Hiroshima and Okinawa areas and suggests that many of these beneficiaries are also receiving full United States Military pensions because of the US Military Bases also located in these areas. For background: Those with full military retirement plans get ‘on-base’ privileges that can include free air travel, shopping at food, liquor and general goods stores, chaplain services, club and recreation facility privileges.

Alone, US Social Security benefits and Military Pensions combined handedly exceed the retirement income of most local Japanese and are sources of guaranteed income until the recipient expires.

RUNNING THE NUMBERS:

Per the SSA, of the +101,000 beneficiaries in Japan about 56% are the primary beneficiaries (assumed mostly male and native English speakers).
So, with about 56,000 male beneficiaries equally divided by each of three retirement phases, there could be as many as 18,600 English speaking males in any one of these three categories. Further, equally divided geographically (Yokohama, Hiroshima, Okinawa) that puts the estimation at around 6,200 men over the age of 80 per region who might find this English-Speaking Day Service and Senior Activity Social Center program useful.

For background purposes: Often retirement is seen in three phases including the “Go-Go” years (Retirement to age 72); the “Slow-Go” years (age 72 to the early 80’s); and the “No-Go” (years for the balance of time).

The entrepreneur might also establish a closely associated clubby English Speaking Senior Activity Social Center program for an added source of revenue as well as a feeder to attract the younger group that would eventually move on to the Day Service for the elder as they age into it.

I will also point out the obvious that in addition to the US Expats identified above from the SSA statistics, there are also many other English-speaking males in Japan from across the globe who would also be potential and appreciative clients of an English-Speaking Day Service and a Senior Activity Social Center near where they live.

ENGLISH SPEAKING EMPLOYEES:

In addition to any local hires, the business operator can take advantage of hiring English speaking employees (e.g. from the Philippines) under the Japanese Specified Skilled Worker (SSW) program. Overall, the job areas that need staffing include Administration, Drivers, Janitorial and Kitchen staff, Activity facilitators, and Healthcare/Nursing/Bathing Aids.

I hope that someone finds this niche business lead useful. Best of Luck!

[RetireJapan]

That is not a bad idea. I wonder what the paperwork is like to get recognised to use kaigo hoken etc.

[Nancy]

Also, to get the subsidy from the ward (ku) in Tokyo, you have to be registered with that city. Maybe an English service to senior day care centers in cities with large expat populations might be a better fit...(kind of like sending English teachers to pre-schools etc.)

[captainspoke]

First, the shisetsu place my mother in law has been in is licensed and subsidized by the government. It also seems to be tied really closely to a local hospital, such that the residents can bounce back and forth as needed. And the one she had been in is also tied to the one she is in now--for a higher level of care and assistance. I'm not sure if someone who is not on 国民保険, and paying 介護保険 would be eligible for acceptance. From what I gather, cost is on a sliding scale, determined by a given resident's pension--cheaper for those with only national pension, more for those with another. Even day care, before she moved to a place where she became a full resident, being picked up and taken for some activities and then returned home several days a week, was subsidized (integrated with the health care system).

Next, the social security system in the US doesn't give full pensions to those who are also collecting other pensions, even if fully 'vested'. Look up the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). Police, fire, teachers (depending on the state), state employees, federal employees and the military all have their own retirement systems (some quite generous). Many of those people can fully vest their separate pensions, retire, and then work jobs that pay into social security. Of course it's controversial, but the WEP is there to prevent double-dipping by reducing the SS amounts if a person has another pension. I suppose it's a restricted version of means testing.

Someone with a military pension who has also worked enough to qualify for SS benefits won't get much. One of my sisters is a retired teacher who then worked for another 20+ years (paying SS taxes all along), and she only gets about $100/month more than I do (and I only qualify due to totalization, and also have pensions here--I get $350/month, tho that is more than my 国民年金).

Good luck. Unless what you're conceiving is completely separate from any subsidies (and there will still probably be oversight), I think there will be an avalanche of paperwork.

[Roger Van Zant]

The business owner would be able to charge a premium for this service as most existing Expats are economically well-off at retirement

Huh?
The only well-off Expats I know in Japan are those who served in the US military and now have nice pensions and savings.
Thanks to being in the military, most of them were also able to keep medical costs to a minimum (often a huge cost to ordinary Americans) throughout their lives due to the socialized medicine afforded to the military.

[Tsumitate Wrestler]

The business owner would be able to charge a premium for this service as most existing Expats are economically well-off at retirement

Huh?
The only well-off Expats I know in Japan are those who served in the US military and now have nice pensions and savings.
Thanks to being in the military, most of them were also able to keep medical costs to a minimum (often a huge cost to ordinary Americans) throughout their lives due to the socialized medicine afforded to the military.

Linguistic differences may be at work here. Expat is starting to mean "richer, developed country immigrant".

https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20 ... d-an-expat