A style of shared housing in which young people live with the elderly has cropped up across Japan, freeing elderly residents from the fear of living alone without help during an emergency or sudden illness, while offering a measure of support for some young occupants.

Subscribing to this arrangement is the apartment complex Hotto-kan in Tokyo’s Edogawa Ward. Operated by Hot Community Edogawa, it has 10 individual lockable rooms with their own toilets, as well as a shared living room, kitchen and bath. Staff are on duty at the complex during the day, and events that both residents and other locals can enjoy, such as handicraft workshops and dinners, are put on in the living room.

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