Given Japan's fascination with gadgets, perhaps it's no surprise that the country is turning to technology for help with one of its most vexing problems: an aging population.

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And you can see that in urban areas all across the country where communities that may have been hollowed out when manufacturing left, or were having problems because of an aging population, suddenly you see an influx of immigration, and you see streets that were full of boarded-up buildings, suddenly they're vibrant with life once again.

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Those familiar with the discussions in the BOJ have said Mr. Shirakawa was concerned that badly needed efforts to address structural problems such as an aging population and the country's dire public debt at more than twice the size of the economy were left unaddressed under the frequent changes in the nation's leadership.

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Sam Zell, the chairman of Equity Group Investments, opined that Europe faces problems stemming from both its sovereign bureaucracies and its aging population.

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The population also is aging: Every eight seconds, another Baby Boomer turns 65, an age when health problems typically increase.

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