--- title: Anti Loneliness Chair by Unicare Japan description: This tranquility chair unveiled by Unicare Japan is supposed to comfort older people canonical: https://time.com/3456630/anti-loneliness-chair-japan/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-02T16:17:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:48:23.987Z og:title: This Chair Is Supposed to Make You Feel Less Lonely og:description: By hugging you og:url: https://time.com/3456630/anti-loneliness-chair-japan/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Chair Is Supposed to Make You Feel Less Lonely twitter:description: By hugging you twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # This Chair Is Supposed to Make You Feel Less Lonely > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=f18e7623-df12-4fe0-9e2b-a20adeffb039&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1)  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Oct 2, 2014 4:17 PM UTC  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Oct 2, 2014 4:17 PM UTC  Yoshikazu Tsuno / AFP—Getty Images A chair that boasts a life-size fabric doll with long arms for giving sitters a big hug appears to have stolen the show at the International Home Care and Rehabilitation Exhibition in Tokyo. This $419 “tranquility chair,” manufactured by the nursing care goods company Unicare, is “designed for older people,” a spokesperson [told AFP.](http://news.yahoo.com/japan-unveils-anti-loneliness-hugging-105740583.html) According to the [World Bank](http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.65UP.TO.ZS), about a quarter of Japan’s population is over 65, and the number of seniors living alone in Japan is expected to grow 54% by 2030, per The National Institute of Population and Social Security Research in Tokyo, [Bloomberg reports.](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-19/dying-alone-becomes-new-normal-as-japan-spurns-confucius.html) **MORE:** [Japan: Baby Robots Treat Depressed Seniors](http://techland.time.com/2011/03/03/japan-baby-robots-treat-depressed-seniors/) **MORE:** [How Feeling Lonely Can Shorten Your Life](http://healthland.time.com/2012/06/19/how-feeling-lonely-can-shorten-your-life/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3456630/anti-loneliness-chair-japan/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3456630/anti-loneliness-chair-japan/"},"headline":"This Chair Is Supposed to Make You Feel Less Lonely","datePublished":"2014-10-02T16:17:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:48:23.987Z","description":"By hugging you","url":"https://time.com/3456630/anti-loneliness-chair-japan/","keywords":["Newsfeed","society"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. 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