For three years I scoured the world for answers to Europe’s big problems – here’s what I found

Japan and Taiwan have enviable care systems because they had the courage to plan – some solutions are radical, most are hiding in plain sight

It’s mid-afternoon in Fujisawa. Schoolchildren, rucksacks on their backs, bound into a room where a group of pensioners welcome them boisterously, before sitting them down to help with their homework. This group of older people is looked after by some of the pupils’ parents. Up the road, a cluster of university students live above some over-75s. They get half-price rent in return for checking in on them on their way to and from studies.

This multigenerational community I visited in a small town not far from the port of Yokohama is one of 5,000 in Japan.