Kochi dementia care center aims to set new paradigm in Japan

Shinobu Yamanaka apologized the moment this reporter arrived for an interview at a day care facility in the city of Konan, Kochi Prefecture, one muggy morning in July. "Sorry, I had completely forgotten about it," she said with a smile at Day Service Happy, a traditional Japanese-style house converted into a day care center for people with dementia and other health conditions in need of nursing care. "I must leave for another appointment at a local elementary school soon." Yamanaka, a vivacious 46-year-old woman who has her short hair dyed ash blonde, has early-onset Alzheimer's. She often has memory lapses like the one that morning, she later confided.