老齡化嚴重，日本興起“賭場主題日間陪護所”

老虎機響個不停，卡牌在綠呢臺面上滑動，籌碼堆放在百家樂賭桌上，房間里的人平均年齡達80歲。如今，日本正興起一種新型老年人陪護場所——類似拉斯維加斯賭場主題的日間陪護所。

Casino-themed daycare may become a pillar of Japanese economic revival plans by occupying some of the 10m Japanese aged over 80 and so freeing up workers who might otherwise have left the shrinking labour force to look after frail relatives — as do some 100,000 workers each year.
賭場主題的日間陪護所可能會成為支撐起日本經濟重振計劃的一個支柱：讓日本約1000萬80歲以上的老人有事可做，解放原本需要退出勞動力大軍以照顧體弱親人的勞動者。目前，日本的勞動人口正在萎縮，每年有約10萬人因上述原因離職照顧老人。

As Japan's demographic crisis has deepened, the number of daycare facilities has doubled since 2010 to about 40,000. But the majority offer activities that "are too childish, patronising even. These are adults and they want serious activities."
隨著日本的人口危機加深，自2010年以來，日本日間陪護所的數量已經翻了一番，至約4萬家。但其中大多數陪護所提供的活動“太幼稚，甚至好像大人對小孩。這些人是成年人，他們想要真正的活動。”

The casino-themed daycare centres succeed in attracting more elderly men, who are less willing than women to attend regular daycare centres.
這些賭場主題的陪護中心成功地吸引了更多老年男性。比起女性，他們更不愿意去普通的日間陪護中心。

But not everyone shares the enthusiasm of them. Some local governments, which heavily subsidise daycare, are reluctant to encourage gambling. The city of Kobe has banned casino daycare as a malign social influence, and the wider prefecture of Hyogo may follow.
但并非所有人都像他們那樣熱衷于此。一些對日間陪護所提供高額補貼的地方政府不鼓勵賭博。神戶市已禁止賭場式日間陪護所，認為這會帶來不良的社會影響，禁令還可能推廣至神戶市所屬的整個兵庫縣。

（中國日報網英語點津 丁一）