Yasuko Tagawa, 71, and her Nepalese colleague Ranjit Dhami Khawas are the only people working at the restaurant in the Mita neighborhood, a few minutes' walk from Tokyo Tower.

The scene above does not come from a Ghibli animated film but is actually increasingly common at more than 2,000 Skylark restaurants across the country.

bloomberg robots
Yasuko Tagawa works with a cat-eared robot at a Skylark restaurant. Photo: Bloomberg

Faced with a severe labor shortage and the world's fastest-aging population, Japan's service industry is increasingly investing in robots that don't require supervision and can work alongside humans.

These service robots also make it easier for businesses to hire seniors or foreigners by overcoming language barriers and physical demands.

“My job is no problem working with robots,” said Ms. Tagawa, wiping down tables. She works 20 hours a week at Skylark’s Gusto restaurant, including helping to hire new staff.

She started working here six years ago. Half of her work now is done with the help of machines. “At this age, it’s not easy to get around anymore.”

For foreign staff like Khawas, the fact that customers order via tablet and are served by robots is also a big help. “When I first saw these cat robots, I was very surprised,” the 20-year-old student said. “But they are very useful.”

Japan has been struggling with demographic challenges for years. The Asian nation has the highest unemployment rate among OECD countries and could face a shortage of 11 million workers by 2040, according to the Recruit Works Institute.

A recent study estimates that by 2065, about 40% of Japan's population will be 65 years of age or older.

The shortage is particularly acute in industries such as hotels and nursing homes, while the service robot market here is expected to reach more than 400 billion yen ($2.7 billion) by 2030, nearly triple the size in 2024, according to research firm Fuji Keizai.

The global market is estimated to reach 2.57 trillion yen ($17.2 billion) this year, up from 1.35 trillion yen in 2021.

bloomberg robots
Cat-eared robot with rich expressions. Photo: Bloomberg

Takayuki Ito, president of the International Federation of Robotics, said the service robot market is just beginning. The federation defines a robot as “a precisely programmed system with a certain degree of autonomy in movement, manipulation or positioning.”

Service robots support a variety of tasks from vacuuming, playing with pets, or monitoring shopping malls, scanning inventory, and fulfilling orders at warehouses.

The Japanese government is encouraging businesses to hire foreign and elderly workers to address the labor shortage.

Skylark currently employs about 3,000 robot cats, equipped with 3D sensors, dozens of facial expressions and the ability to carry heavy objects.

The company also employs more than 4,000 people aged 65 and older. Foreign workers account for 3.3% of part-time employees, up from 2.6% in 2020. Bloomberg estimates that the robots save Skylark about 5 billion yen in labor costs each year.

Service robots are also gaining traction in the elderly care sector as the government predicts a shortage of about 570,000 care workers by 2040.

At Zenkoukai's Flos Higashi-Kojiya nursing home in southern Tokyo, staff regularly use automated devices to lift people, monitor the behavior of those with dementia and assist with communication.

The Flos Center has a cross-shaped design, with a central area where staff monitor people's vital signs on large screens.

Sensors placed under the mattress can monitor sleep, heart rate, and respiration in real time, allowing staff to check 40 people at once, without having to check every hour.

Notifications will be sent to staff phones if an emergency occurs as devices in each room can detect falls or unusual movements.

The devices help caregivers avoid back pain – a big problem in the industry, according to operations director Takashi Miyamoto.

A study by the US National Research Council found that nursing homes that use robots retain staff better. Robots and digital technology help Zenkoukai attract seniors and foreigners.

While industrial robots have been around since the 1960s, service robots have only emerged in the past two decades. They are cheaper than industrial robots and often operate without specialized knowledge.

According to Werner Kraus, director of automation and robotics research at the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Engineering and Automation IPA, about 1,000 companies worldwide are producing service robots.

Kraus notes that this market is significantly larger and more diverse than industrial robots. Therefore, the growth potential is also higher.

However, there are still limitations to service robots and the initial investment cost can be a barrier for some businesses, according to Mr. Ito.

(According to Bloomberg)