President Barack Obama has said that he and his family will remain in Washington,

D.C., after they leave the White House in January so that his youngest daughter,
Sasha, can finish school. And it looks like the Obamas have settled on a
neighborhood.

Obama and first lady Michelle will lease an 8,200-square-foot mansion in the
Kalorama neighborhood of D.C., according to Politico. The residence is reportedly
owned by Joe Lockhart, Glover Park Group co-founder, and his wife, Giovanna Gray
Lockhart, the Washington editor of Glamour.

MORE: 5 Homes for President Obama to Buy If He Decides to Stay in Washington, D.C.
Long-Term

The nine-bedroom, eight-and-a-half-bath home was built in 1928 and last sold for
$5.3 million in May 2014, according to Redfin data. Redfin estimates the home is
now worth $6.3 million.

Click here to see more images of the home or watch a video tour below.

Jiji Press
TOKYO (Jiji Press) Volvo Cars XC60 sport-utility vehicle was given the 2017-2018
Car of the Year Japan award on Monday, becoming the first model from the Swedish
automaker to win the prize.

It is the second imported vehicle to win the honor on record, after Volkswagen AGs
Golf car, which was given the 2013-2014 award. A winning vehicle is chosen by a
board including automobile magazine editors.

Id like to declare the complete revival of the Volvo brand in Japan, Volvo Car
Japan President Takayuki Kimura said at an award ceremony.

In November, the Automotive Researchers & Journalists Conference of Japan (RJC)

chose Suzuki Motor Corp.s Swift compact car as the 2018 RJC Car of the Year in the
domestic vehicle category.

Nissan Motor Co. and Subaru Corp. declined to have their vehicles nominated for the
two awards after it came to light this year that the companies had allowed
unqualified workers to carry out final inspections of finished vehicles

The Yomiuri Shimbun

How can our society prevent lonely deaths?

Some people die lonely deaths in their own homes, unnoticed by anyone. In last
months series, we recounted various cases of people dying alone, a growing and
inescapable phenomenon, and explored the background of each case. Here, we ask
three experts about what measures need to be taken to reduce the number of lonely
deaths.

Government needs clear picture of reality

Yasutomo Arai

Associate Professor at Bukkyo University

Some people say that we should not see lonely deaths as a problem because they are
simply the result of people choosing to live without connections to others.
However, I disagree. Bodies that lie undiscovered can cause problems for a
neighborhood and lower house values. On top of that, they should be considered as a
phenomenon that symbolically represents the fact that people who needed support
from their family or community failed to receive it.

Some of the people who died lonely deaths had lost contact with those around them
for reasons such as deteriorating cognitive function, mental illness or difficulty
conversing with others. Many others did not experience problems when they simply
became less involved with their families or neighborhoods, but later found
themselves in need of help as they grew old or fell ill.

Because they did not interact with anyone, they failed to notice their own mental
or physical deterioration and ended up dying without receiving the medical
treatment, nursing care or living assistance they needed. I believe this is a
typical pattern that leads to lonely deaths. From a different perspective, these
peoples lives would probably have gone very differently if they had only stayed in
touch with someone.

People started becoming aware of lonely deaths as a phenomenon in the early 1970s.
Back then, it was still common for three generations to live under one roof, and
cases of people dying alone were rare. Then, consecutive cases began appearing in
the areas affected by the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995, and in housing
complexes in urban areas where many elderly people live by themselves. In recent
years, lonely deaths have also been reported in rural areas. In addition, we have
seen elderly couples experiencing medical emergencies at the same time and dying
without anyone else noticing.

When we are coming up with countermeasures and initiatives to prevent lonely

deaths, we first need to know the reality. How many people died alone? How did they
end up dying? However, because the central government and local authorities take a
passive approach, we have almost no information about the problem on a national
scale.

About 10 years ago, I worked with the police to research the scale of the lonely
deaths problem in a newly developed area of Sakai, where I come from. How often did
isolated deaths occur among the more than 100,000 residents of the area, and what
was the gender and age of each deceased person? I found that about 20 to 40 people
per year died alone, and the figure was increasing year after year.

The residents were particularly shocked by
most of the deaths were men, an initiative
accessible to single elderly men. Once the
developed a sense of urgency and were able
cope with the situation.
the high number of cases. However, as
emerged to create gathering places
reality became clear, the residents
to figure out some countermeasures to

Given that the number of elderly people and people living alone continues to
increase in the nation, the central government must swiftly establish a system to
discover the reality about lonely deaths. When implementing such a system, it is
imperative to share information with the police who can find out about specific
individual cases and the government agencies responsible for the welfare of
residents.

Then, based on the reality learned, measures should be swiftly taken to reduce
even if only slightly the number of people who live in isolation. I think that if
we stand by and do nothing, there may be an explosive rise in the number of lonely
deaths in the future.

After working as a staff member at a special nursing home and as a home care
worker, Arai became a researcher. He specializes in elderly welfare theory. After
working as an associate professor at Chubu Gakuin University, he took up his
current position in April. He is a social welfare counselor and care worker. He is
44 years old.
(This interview was conducted by Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer Katsuro Oda.)

Find people to rely on outside of the family

Katsuhiko Fujimori

Manager and chief research associate at Mizuho Information & Research Institute

The 2015 census revealed that 18.42 million people in Japan live by themselves,
more than twice as many as 30 years ago, accounting for one-third of all households
in the country.

Single-person households are now the most common type of household in Japan. They
greatly exceed the number of households consisting of a married couple with
children, which has been regarded as the typical family arrangement since Japans
postwar period of high economic growth.

The situation surrounding single-person households is also set to change

dramatically around 2030 when the baby boomers enter their 80s. One change we will
see is that the most numerous age group for men will be that of men in their 50s
instead of those in their 20s. There are already many elderly women, but the number
of those aged 80 or older is expected to increase by 50 percent.

It is also estimated that the number of unmarried elderly people will more than
double by 2030, among both men and women. The number of unmarried people who live
with their elderly parents also continues to increase. There is no change in the
trend of an increasing number of people at high risk of dying a lonely death.

However, in global terms, the proportion of elderly people in Japan who live alone
is still relatively low.

The Cabinet Office conducted a survey in 2015 that compared the proportion of
households of people aged 60 or older who live by themselves in Japan, the United
States, Germany and Sweden. In the three Western countries, 40 percent to 50
percent of households consisted of people living alone, but in Japan it was 16
percent although the figure has been increasing year by year.

Nevertheless, elderly people in Europe and the United States are less likely to
face social isolation than those in Japan. According to the Cabinet Office survey,
the background to this is differences in interpersonal relations surrounding
elderly people between Japan and the other three countries. For example, when asked
whom they could turn to for help with everyday problems or nursing care in times of
illness, 67 percent of Japanese respondents answered family members who live
separately the highest among all four countries.

About 50 percent of respondents from the United States, Germany and Sweden answered
friends, an option chosen by only 20 percent of Japanese respondents. While 27
percent to 45 percent of respondents in the other three countries answered
neighbors, only 16 percent of Japanese respondents chose this answer.

In Japan, where for a long time it was quite natural for elderly parents to live
together with their children, elderly people have been strongly inclined to rely
only on their families for help. However, in Europe and the United States, which
have a deep-rooted culture of parents and children living separately, many elderly
people seem to have friends and neighbors to rely on.

The way in which Japanese people work also makes it difficult for them to build
deep relationships with people other than their families. Long working hours make
it difficult for them to make time for their friends and neighbors. When I spent
four years in Britain for work, I saw many people strengthen their ties with
residents in the community through sports or eating out after work.

Now that the number of people who live alone is on the rise in Japan, it is better
to increase the number of people whom the elderly can rely on outside of their
families. It is also time for people in the working generations to review their
lifestyles so that they can build good relationships with their friends and
neighbors.

He specializes in social security policy. He has lived in London and other places
and took up his current position in 2004. Since April this year, he has also been
working as a professor at Nihon Fukushi Universitys Department of Social
Healthcare and Business Management. He is also a member of an expert panel of the
Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry and the Cabinet Office. He has authored several
books, including Tanshin Kyuzo Shakai no Kibo (Hopes of a society of singles). He
is 52.

(This interview was conducted by Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer Kyohei Ishii.)

Communities should not give up on them

Reiko Katsube

Head of welfare promotion office at the Social Welfare Council in Toyonaka, Osaka
Prefecture

After the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake, one case after another emerged of elderly
people dying unnoticed after they had been moved into so-called restoration housing
after the disaster. Ever since that time, I have been working to find people who
cannot ask for help elderly people who live alone, elderly couples where one
partner takes care of the other, and so on and visit them at home to assist them.

Three years ago, I began to visit a man in his 60s who lived alone. His neighbors
had complained that he was letting garbage pile up in his house. He refused to open
the door to me, but for about a year, I periodically visited his house. Every time,
I slid a business card with Im worried about you written on it into a space
between the door and the door frame.

One day, I arrived to find the business card I had left two weeks before still in
the space, untouched. When I forced the door open, I found the man dead among the
garbage.

Inside the room, I found about a dozen of my business cards. Each had the date of
my visit written on it. The man never opened the door, but perhaps he was looking
for some sort of connection with another person. I was filled with regret because I
had failed to help him. At the same time, I had a feeling that I could have saved
him if I had done something differently.

There have also been many cases in which I did manage to help people who were at
risk of dying a lonely death because I doggedly continued to visit them.

One woman in her 70s who was suffering from advanced dementia was living in a room
where the water and gas had been turned off. She also did not have enough to eat.
As a result of my visits, she was able to get nursing care services. She still
lives by herself today.

There was a man in his 40s who had fallen into despair after losing his job. He
became very thin, even on the verge of starvation. I encouraged him to apply for
public assistance. As a result, he was able to survive.

In the city of Toyonaka, Osaka Prefecture, where I work, the citys Social Welfare
Council has about 20 employees whose primary task is to visit people and keep an
eye on them. Toyonaka has about 400,000 residents, so 20 people are not enough to
track down everyone who needs help and make sure they get support.

Under these circumstances, other residents who can cooperate with these employees
as the eyes of the community are all the more important. Toyonaka has a system in
which residents can register with the social welfare council to become volunteers
who help visit and watch over others. About 8,000 volunteers are registered today.

The council also has 18 professional community social workers who work together
with these residents who know what is going on in particular areas. This system
seems to have helped reduce the number of needy people who slip through the cracks.
Take so-called garbage houses where hoarders live, for example. In the past 10
years, about 400 such houses were fixed.

What I have seen through my work is that when people get involved in the problems
that are happening in their areas, local community ties are strengthened.

For example, some people who complained about garbage houses started to help the
residents with their garbage once they found out why they lived the way they did.

If more people come to see the problems in their areas as their own business, it
will also become easier to create the kind of ties that can prevent many people
from dying lonely deaths.

Born in Toyonaka, Katsube is a social worker. Since 2004, she has been working for
the municipal Social Welfare Council as a community social worker. As a member of a
deliberative council of the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, she was involved in
designing the law for supporting the independence of individuals in need that came
into effect in 2015.

(This interview was conducted by Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer Ayano Kume.)

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Japan and the European Union concluded more than four years of negotiations over an
economic partnership agreement on Friday that will bring to fruition an enormous
and significant free-trade bloc. The two sides intend to use the agreement to
promote free trade amid a global spread of protectionism.

A World Trade Organization ministerial meeting the bodys highest decision-making

entity is set to begin Sunday in Argentina. In advanced talks over a joint
ministerial statement, the United States, which has signaled it is putting its own
interests first, took issue with language describing the importance of multilateral
trade.

Japan and the EUs announcement on the conclusion of an EPA demonstrated the
importance they place on free trade.

The EPA talks faced difficulties regarding procedures to settle investment disputes
between companies and governments, even after a broad agreement was reached in
July.

Japan insisted on the use of existing international organizations, but the EU

called for the creation of an investment court with stricter procedures, given its
concern that it might be forced to revise its own systems due to a series of
lawsuits from large companies.

A break came in autumn when the EU side unofficially approached Japan with the idea
of splitting off talks on the investment issues, including the dispute-resolution
mechanism.

The EUs 28 members have a unified customs system, and the right to conclude
agreements that would eliminate or reduce tariffs is held by the EU, not its
individual member states.

However, if the accord covered the investment issues, approval from the national
assemblies of all 28 member states would be required, which could delay the pacts
implementation.

Japan agreed to split off the investment issues in a bid to ensure that the tariff
provisions which will bring major benefits to automobile makers and consumers
come into force at an early stage.

Japans automobile industry welcomed the conclusion of the EPA because lowered
tariffs on automobile exports which would be implemented in stages would reduce
the retail prices of their products in the EU.

Japan exported 610,000 automobiles, or 13 percent of its total automobile exports,

to the EU in 2016. The EU is an important market, second only to North America,
which accounted for 41 percent of exports.

That said, Japanese automakers are increasingly manufacturing vehicles in Europe.

Its unclear how big the direct benefits will be, an industry source said.

In the meantime, imports of cheese and wine, two products with deep roots in
Europe, are expected to increase. Consumers would benefit, but domestic producers
could be threatened. If were flooded with cheap foreign cheese, it could lead to
a culling of domestic dairy products, a 59-year-old dairy farmer raising about 130
cows in Sarabetsu, Hokkaido, said anxiously.

Producers of products such as Japanese sake, tea and wagyu-branded beef see the EPA
as a chance to increase exports to Europe. The government plans to increase support
for livestock farmers and strengthen export assistance programs