Slot machines chatter; playing cards slide over green baize; chips pile up at the baccarat table. The average age in the room is 80 and, for Japan’s greying millions, it is time to embrace Las Vegas daycare.

老虎机响个不停，卡牌在绿呢台面上滑动，筹码堆放在百家乐赌桌上。房间里的人平均年龄达到80岁，对日本几千万老年人来说，是时候接受拉斯维加斯式的日间陪护了。

The ersatz casino in the suburbs of Yokohama, windows blackened to heighten the atmosphere, has become a central part of the lives of local retirees.

位于横滨郊区的这间模拟赌场配有涂黑的玻璃窗以增强氛围，这里已经变成了当地退休人员生活的一个核心部分。

For entrepreneurs, who have controversially opened as many as 60 such establishments across Japan in the past 12 months, the concept represents a potentially lucrative bet on the “silver yen” and the hefty government subsidies available for daycare.

过去12个月，企业家们在日本各地开办了多达60家这样的场所，这引起了一些争议。对这些企业家而言，这个概念是押注于“银发经济”、以及政府对日间陪护数额可观的补贴。这份押注有可能为他们带来丰厚的利润。

For Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, casino-themed daycare may become a pillar of his economic revival plans by occupying some of the 10m Japanese aged over 80 and so freeing up workers who might otherwise have left the shrinking labour force to look after frail relatives — as do some 100,000 workers each year.

对首相安倍晋三(Shinzo Abe)而言，赌场主题的日间陪护所可能会成为支撑起其经济重振计划的一个支柱：让日本约1000万80岁以上的老人有事可做，解放原本需要退出劳动力大军以照顾体弱亲人的劳动者。日本的劳动人口正在萎缩，每年有约10万人因上述原因离职照顾老人。

Mr Abe has vowed to cut that number to zero by 2020. He stands a better chance, say the owners of Las Vegas Tsuzuki, if daycare is an attractive option.

安倍发誓到2020年把这个数字降至零。赌场式日间陪护所拉斯维加斯都筑(Las Vegas Tsuzuki)店的所有者们表示，如果日间陪护所成为一种有吸引力的选项，安倍完成这一目标的可能性更高。

“The honest situation is that we have a rising number of elderly people and there is often not a lot for them to do,” says Kaoru Mori, owner of this and nine similar facilities. “If they stay at home alone, they get worse and the burden for the country is ultimately bigger.”

“真实的情况是，我们的老年人越来越多，他们往往没有多少事情可做，”拥有这家和其他9家类似陪护所的森薰(Kaoru Mori)说，“如果他们独自一人待在家中，情况会更糟糕，国家的负担最终会更大。”

As Japan’s demographic crisis has deepened, the number of daycare facilities has doubled since 2010 to about 40,000. But the majority, say Mr Mori, offer activities that “are too childish, patronising even. These are adults and they want serious activities.”

随着日本的人口危机加深，自2010年以来，日本日间陪护所的数量已经翻了一番，至约4万家。但森薰表示，其中大多数陪护所提供的活动“太幼稚，甚至好像大人对小孩。这些人是成年人，他们想要真正的活动。”

But Mr Mori, who plans to open many more Vegas daycare centres across the country, is playing his cards carefully. Casino gambling is illegal in Japan, so the currency is faux and can only be “earned” through exercise — a “Vegas stretch” warm-up routine performed to the music of Lady Gaga.

然而，计划在日本全国开办更多赌场主题日间陪护所的森薰正在谨慎行事。赌场赌博在日本是非法的，所以这里使用只能通过锻炼“挣得”的虚拟货币。锻炼则是指配着Lady Gaga的音乐进行“拉斯维加斯伸展”热身动作。

Before a single chip is bet, everyone has their blood pressure and temperature checked.

在开始任何押注之前，每个人都要量血压和体温。

The casinos succeed in attracting more elderly men, who are less willing than women to attend regular daycare centres. But not everyone shares the enthusiasm of Mr Mori and his clientele. Some local governments, which heavily subsidise daycare, are reluctant to encourage gambling. The city of Kobe has banned casino daycare as a malign social influence, and the wider prefecture of Hyogo may follow.

这些赌场成功地吸引了更多老年男性。比起女性，他们更不愿意去普通的日间陪护中心。但并非所有人都像森薰和他的客户那样热衷于此。一些地方政府（它们对日间陪护所提供高额补贴）不太情愿鼓励赌博。神户市已禁止赌场式日间陪护所，认为这会带来不良的社会影响，禁令还可能推广至神户市所属的整个兵库县。