The Japanese Have a Term For Trouble Caused By the Elderly: Rogai

This time, I would like to write about a phenomenon that concerns the Japanese elderly: rogai. This Japanese word applies to elderly people who create trouble in their surroundings. However, as often in Japanese culture, it has several levels of meaning.

The Original Meaning of Rogai

In Japanese, the word rogai is a neologism written with the characters for “old” [老] and “damage” [害].

Elderly people complaining about the young, and the young complaining about the elderly is probably a universal phenomenon. However, Japanese culture is influenced by Confucianism, especially the fact that younger members of the society must owe respect to their elders. In September, Japan even has a holiday called “Respect for the Aged Day” [Keiro no Hi]. In such a context, how did the derogatory term “rogai” appear?

Originally, it was used to qualify “real” damage caused to society by elderly people. In Japan, a third of the population is now over 60 years old. The aging of the population has been the cause for repeated accidents and crimes that have been heavily covered in the Japanese media.

Among them, we find traffic accidents caused by elderly drivers: people taking the highway on the wrong side, crashing into buildings, and…