Japanese customers see a dramatic shift in the structure of households as the number of elderly living alone increases

"According to the 2011 governmental Annual Report on the Aging Society, 50.1 percent of households with a family member of an age over 65 lived together as a three-generation nuclear family in 1981. The numbers, however, fell to 17.5 percent in 2009 and those of senior residents, who reported living alone or only with their partners, accounted for a combined 52.8 percent for the same fiscal year."

Source:With collapse of traditional family values, Japan's elders turn to joint graveyards
Mainichi Japan
October 24, 2011
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/features/news/20111024p2a00m0na013000c.html