As National Review’s in-house demography bore, I’m heartened to see the BBC picking up on Japan’s geriatrification. This line puts it all in perspective:

Japan has the world’s highest proportion of elderly people. More than 20% of the population are now over the age of 65. By 2050, that figure is expected to rise to about 40%.

What does a country where 40% of the population is over 65 look like? Well, for a start the big bucks are no longer in youth culture:

There are no burger bars, CD shops or coffee chains. Instead, small shops and stalls sell clothes, traditional food and health products all designed to appeal to pensioners.

I wouldn’t want to be a Japanese teen circa 2020 in a Lawrence Welkified society. But maybe by then the robots will be hot enough to be pop singers and movie stars. I wonder what year they’ll get the vote.