A Fresh Approach Gives Dementia Patients New Meaning

A Bamboo Bench Built in One Hour

Machida, with a population of 430,000, is a commuter city located on Tokyo’s southern edge, but its residential area is close to hilly, forested areas. One morning in mid-February, some 20 locals have gathered in one of the city’s bamboo groves. Many of them are elderly people with mild dementia. As they sit around a fire chatting, the group leader, Matsumoto Ayako, representative director of the Dementia Friendship Club, or “D-Friends Machida,” announces that they will make benches that day.

Matsumoto Ayako, at right, helps to cut down stalks of bamboo some 20 meters high in February 2025. (© Mochida Jōji)

They set to work. Group members use saws to cut down some of the almost 20-meter-tall bamboo. They trim off the branches and cut the trunks to the length of the benches. Some members drive pairs of posts into the ground, while others arrange lengths of bamboo between the posts and bind them with rope. Members of the orderly group encourage and caution one another: “Watch out—you’re cutting it too short!” In just an hour, they have completed two comfortable benches.

Working together to drive posts into the ground. (© Mochida Jōji)

Once the benches are completed, the group shares a pot of udon. As they slurp the noodles, discussion flows freely, “I wonder if there’s anywhere near here selling cheap imported rice?” The group members have helped to create a spot that will host events year-round: Two months later, in April, the benches will be used as seating for a concert in the bamboo grove, and plans are afoot for a sōmen event in summer where the chilled noodles will be channeled down a bamboo sluice for fun.

Activities are held in the forest each Thursday, making it convenient for people to include it in their weekly schedules. Seeing the group work together and conversing normally, it is difficult to perceive that any of them suffers from dementia.

The bamboo benches provide seating for an April 2025 concert. (© Takahashi Yūji)

Seventeen Years Living with Dementia

Much-loved member Okamoto Kanji (84), nicknamed “Oka-chan,” visits a daycare service most days. But this group provides a valuable opportunity for social interaction, “This is so different from the facility. Here, in the mountains, I can do things I enjoy, and eat my fill of udon.”

Okamoto Kanji strikes a pose in May 2025. (© Mochida Jōji)

Okamoto continues: “Members of this group don’t expect special treatment on account of their dementia. They interact freely with one another, and are buoyed by the intimacy.”

Previously, Okamoto worked as a graphic designer producing advertising material for a major corporation, but in 2008, he was diagnosed with dementia. “Everyone gets a bit forgetful if they live long enough. If we treat it too seriously, and don’t try to fight it, we cease to exist. I fight that fear. I tell myself I’m still the same person.”

Sometimes he has misunderstandings or forgets things, but his manner of speech reflects determination, and his aura of positivity belies his age. Seventeen years on from his diagnosis, his enthusiasm can be attributed to his temperament, the existence of the bamboo social group, and his open-minded family, who give him the freedom to live as he pleases.

Okamoto at work in February 2025. (© Mochida Jōji)

Although he has resigned from his old company, he is now creative director of his own design studio, and employs eight staff. He goes to the office most days after daycare, except on Thursdays, when he joins D-Friends Machida in the grove.

Supporting One Another

The bamboo activities group began in 2018. Matsumoto, head of D-Friends Machida, says that patients often told her they wanted to work or join in physical activity. The group began renting space in the city-managed forest for this project, and in seven years, they have met here almost 300 times.

According to Matsumoto, “Dementia sufferers are often overlooked by society, but here they can be themselves. They can enjoy physical activity and maintain their dignity, which helps forestall the symptoms of their condition.”

There are also significant benefits in being able to open up and find support from people with the same condition.

Although they can make acquaintances at regular facilities, notes Matsumoto, “during their time at daycare, as patients, they are constantly supported by carers. They can’t go out with friends as they please. Basically, their actions are managed.” In addition, because carers bear heavy responsibilities, they are sometimes unable to provide much-needed emotional support. This has led care managers to refer patients to the bamboo forest group.

Relaxing after sharing a meal together in May 2025. (© Mochida Jōji)

People with dementia have concerns they will not share with family, and often feel they are battling the symptoms alone. The neuroscientist Onzō Ayako spent many years caring for her mother after she was diagnosed with dementia. In her opinion, patients need more than the routine life of home and daycare, “It is important for them to make friends they can discuss anything with.”

“Not the Only One Suffering”

Having friends they can share with has brought some group members back from the brink of despair.

One day, Suzumoto Tarō (an alias) suddenly lost his memory, was unable to walk, and felt his mind become foggy. When he was diagnosed with dementia, he became silent and seclusive. But this did not reflect his inner feelings. His family overheard him muttering “I want a friend,” and sought assistance from Matsumoto, whom they had heard about.

Matsumoto acted as an intermediary to help Suzumoto to make a friend who shared the memory of suddenly becoming lost while out walking the dog, and phoning for family help from a payphone. Hearing this helped Suzumoto realize: “I wasn’t the only one suffering this way. I’m glad to have someone who understands. If I’d just stayed shut in at home, I would have gotten worse.” From his lively manner, it is hard to imagine he is that silent person from the early days of his diagnosis.

Law Versus Reality

Fortunately for Matsumoto and D-Friends, their activities are backed by the local authorities. The Machida authorities developed a policy for the city to deal honestly with dementia, which is expected to affect 20% of elderly people by 2040. But Machida’s collaborative approach to grassroots organizations is a rare case.

The Machida D Summit, launched to promote understanding and awareness of dementia, attracts a large attendance each year. (Courtesy Machida Municipal Government)

Many other municipalities do not have this degree of preparedness. Cooperation from those tasked with community development is essential. Indeed, the present state of affairs brings into question the effectiveness of municipal administration. According to Kurita Shun’ichirō, senior manager of the Health and Global Policy Institute, “First, the authorities need to learn what dementia patients actually want.”

In 2024, the Japanese government promulgated the Basic Act on Dementia to enable those with the condition “to live in dignity with a sense of purpose.” But Kurita believes: “There is still a large discrepancy between the aims of the legislation and reality. In wider society, there is still a strong perception that dementia renders people unable to do anything.” The acceleration of population aging behooves us to act now.

(Originally published in Japanese. Banner photo: Cutting bamboo to make benches. Photo taken in February 2025, Machida, Tokyo. © Mochida Jōji.)