A five-hour drive north of Tokyo, Chieko Sugai lives alone in a two-story house that¡¯s seen better days. The paper sliding doors are torn, and spiderwebs lace the corners of empty rooms.
In the coastal city of Murakami, Niigata Prefecture, the 72-year-old widow relies on a monthly pension of ?110,000 ($671). In April kerosene costs alone ate up more than a third of her budget, because of the Iran war. ¡°When I don¡¯t have money, I just have to put up with it because I have no other choice,¡± she says.
With many senior citizens facing a similar situation in her community, Murakami passed a petition in December, urging Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to boost pensions in line with inflation to ¡°revitalize local towns.¡± In 2024, Japanese age 65 to 74 and living alone found themselves digging a deep financial hole. Each month, on average, they were spending 21% more than their disposable income of ?142,000, according to the latest government data.
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