2008年9月3日号 The Japan Times
共同通信からのインタビューが英字紙になりました。非介護シニアビジネスというのは、公的介護保険報酬に依存しない自費負担の介護的なサービス（付き添いや話し相手など）のことを意味しています。
Duskin’s success comes at a time when low-cost nursing-care providers are collapsing at an alarming pace, epitomized by the fall of scandal-hit industry leader Comsn Inc. last year.
Some experts are questioning the notion of providing the red carpet treatment for an exclusive segment of the population while the rest scrape by on pensions to meet rising nursing-care and medical costs.
“There is often an image that the elderly are rich, but in general, most are dependent on pension benefits,” said Hiroyuki Murata, a leading Japanese expert and author on senior businesses.
“So a service that costs 3,000 yen per hour will be a luxury that most would not be able to afford,” Murata said, referring to Duskin’s Home Instead’s basic service fee of 3,150 yen per hour.
Even then, Katsuya at Sunnyside emphasized that what he offers is not a free volunteer service for anyone but a profitable business that promises him an annual income of 12 million yen.
“I’m not asking my customers to waste their money, but I want them to spend their money freely and effectively,” he said.
