日本現賭場式日間陪護所 Japan places bet on Las Vegas themed daycare to offset price of agei

Slot machines chatter; playing cards slide over green baize; chips pile up at the baccarat table. The average age in the room is 80 and, for Japan’s greying millions, it is time to embrace Las Vegas daycare.

老虎機響個不停，卡牌在綠呢檯面上滑動，籌碼堆放在百家樂賭桌上。房間裏的人平均年齡達到80歲，對日本幾千萬老年人來說，是時候接受拉斯維加斯式的日間陪護了。

The ersatz casino in the suburbs of Yokohama, windows blackened to heighten the atMosphere, has become a central part of the lives of local retirees.

位於橫濱郊區的這間模擬賭場配有塗黑的玻璃窗以增強氛圍，這裏已經變成了當地退休人員生活的一個核心部分。

For entrepreneurs, who have controversially opened as many as 60 such establishments across Japan in the past 12 months, the concept represents a potentially lucrative bet on the “silver yen” and the hefty government subsidies available for daycare.

過去12個月，企業家們在日本各地開辦了多達60家這樣的場所，這引起了一些爭議。對這些企業家而言，這個概念是押注於“銀髮經濟”、以及政府對日間陪護數額可觀的補貼。這份押注有可能爲他們帶來豐厚的利潤。

For Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, casino-themed daycare may become a pillar of his 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.

對首相安倍晉三(Shinzo Abe)而言，賭場主題的日間陪護所可能會成爲支撐起其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。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。

Mr Abe has vowed to cut that number to zero by 2020. He stands a better chance, say the owners of Las Vegas Tsuzuki, if daycare is an attractive option.

安倍發誓到2020年把這個數字降至零。賭場式日間陪護所拉斯維加斯都築(Las Vegas Tsuzuki)店的所有者們表示，如果日間陪護所成爲一種有吸引力的選項，安倍完成這一目標的可能性更高。

“The honest situation is that we have a rising number of elderly people and there is often not a lot for them to do,” says Kaoru Mori, owner of this and nine similar facilities. “If they stay at home alone, they get worse and the burden for the country is ultimately bigger.”

“真實的情況是，我們的老年人越來越多，他們往往沒有多少事情可做，”擁有這家和其他9家類似陪護所的森薰(Kaoru Mori)說，“如果他們獨自一人待在家中，情況會更糟糕，國家的負擔最終會更大。”

As Japan’s demographic crisis has deepened, the number of daycare facilities has doubled since 2010 to about 40,000. But the majority, say Mr Mori, offer activities that “are too childish, patronising even. These are adults and they want serious activities.”

隨着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。但森薰表示，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。”

But Mr Mori, who plans to open many more Vegas daycare centres across the country, is playing his cards carefully. Casino gambling is illegal in Japan, so the currency is faux and can only be “earned” through exercise — a “Vegas stretch” warm-up routine performed to the music of Lady Gaga.

然而，計劃在日本全國開辦更多賭場主題日間陪護所的森薰正在謹慎行事。賭場賭博在日本是非法的，所以這裏使用只能通過鍛鍊“掙得”的虛擬貨幣。鍛鍊則是指配着Lady Gaga的音樂進行“拉斯維加斯伸展”熱身動作。

Before a single chip is bet, everyone has their blood pressure and temperature checked.

在開始任何押注之前，每個人都要量血壓和體溫。

The casinos succeed in attracting more elderly men, who are less willing than women to attend regular daycare centres. But not everyone shares the enthusiasm of Mr Mori and his clientele. 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.

這些賭場成功地吸引了更多老年男性。比起女性，他們更不願意去普通的日間陪護中心。但並非所有人都像森薰和他的客戶那樣熱衷於此。一些地方政府（它們對日間陪護所提供高額補貼）不太情願鼓勵賭博。神戶市已禁止賭場式日間陪護所，認爲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。