31% of Japanese elderly have no close friends: survey

Over 31 percent of Japanese aged 60 or older say they do not have any close friends, according to a government survey involving elderly populations in Japan, Germany, Sweden and the United States.In the survey conducted by the Cabinet Office, 31.3 percent of the Japanese respondents said they do not have any close friends of any gender outside their families, a figure far higher than 14.2 percent among U.S. respondents, 13.5 percent among those from Germany and 9.9 percent among Swedish participants.Although the survey covered only four countries, the results suggest Japan's elderly people …READ FULL ARTICLE