Tube-feeding to prolong the lives of the elderly with dementia isn’t standard in the western world yet common in Japan — so common, in fact, that it is rarely discussed. It is a way of life — or at least a way to subsist. When Tokyo-based health reporter Kanoko Matsuyama’s grandmother was given one initially without her family’s consent, she was both incensed and intrigued. After having spent the best part of 2012 writing about issues of aging in Japan, Matsuyama’s editors encouraged her to consider sharing her own story. She thought about it for a couple of weeks, decided to move ahead, and then persuaded her family to take an active role. Her intent was to highlight an area of neglect for a society facing a rapidly aging population and diminishing resources to manage it. The result is a deeply researched medical story and a deeply moving personal story that touched our readers.
