Aging with Grace: Some insights from Japan

Published 09/10/2024 in Scholar Travel Stipend

Written by Alyssa Chiang | 09/10/2024

Spending a month in Japan, I started my journey in the cities. The cities, including Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto, were filled with hustle and bustle.

Though each city had its own unique tastes, I noticed there were a lot of young people in the cities working or even running their own businesses. As the cities offer more employment opportunities and modern lifestyles, the youth of the country appear to be increasingly moving from rural to urban populations. However, the appearance of the young people in Japan stands in stark contrast to the recent talks Mike Milken has given about aging populations. 

Globally, countries across the world are facing a decline in birth rates and an increase in the average population age. Japan stands out as the front-runner of this trend. Japan is already a country whose proportion of people aged 65 or older comprises almost a third of the total population [Osamu 2021]. While other countries, including China and Italy, join Japan in having birth and immigration rates low enough to be below replacement, Japan has the most rapid rate of decline in total population in 2024 [NYT 2021]. Cumulatively, this trend brings alongside increased usage of healthcare and emergency services as well as a decrease in the number of working people and the income taxes they generate. Often, this is framed as a burden placed upon society.

As I ventured out into the more rural areas of Japan during the second half of my travels, I began to see this statistic reflected in the smaller towns. Restaurateurs, the lady running the public onsen I visited, and city bus drivers were all elderly men and women. Walking around the towns, I encountered many older people who were exercising, biking to get their groceries, or playing croquet. Along the lengthy Shimanami Kaido bikeway through many quiet island towns and across bridges, the folks running the service stations were all elderly men. The few young people I saw in the small countryside towns were happy and cheerful, but far fewer in number than those in urban Tokyo and Kyoto.

Coupling my personal observations with my brief research into government-level strategies employed in the face of an aging population, I was encouraged to consider the meaning of longevity on an individual level. Travel always opens my eyes to the diverse ways people define meaning and purpose in life that might be different from my own. One of the core tenets of the Milken Institute and Milken Family Foundation is helping people help themselves lead meaningful, productive lives. Exploring the idea of longevity has challenged my own naive assumptions about the allure of longevity. Longevity is prized across many cultures and individuals, and modern medical care and lifestyles have successfully extended our lifespans. But as it turns out, there’s more to successful longevity than just the numbers: healthy longevity is a challenge of its own and it is an essential complement to the success of the strategies mentioned. From that standpoint, I considered what we can learn from Japanese society and attitudes that support healthy longevity, as this has become a crucial consideration in the framework of an age-supportive society.

Earlier this year, I watched the Netflix documentary Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones from National Geographic Explorer Dan Buettner, who visited the “blue zones” of the world where there are reportedly high densities of long-lived individuals who also are enjoying an exceptional quality of life in their advanced age. He identified some of the commonalities, including life outlook, social connections, physical activity, and balanced diets [Blue Zones 2023]. With that in mind, I looked into some of the qualities of Japanese society that seem supportive to healthy longevity. 

There was a study done in 2011 that compared cultural perspectives on aging and well-being in Japan and the U.S. [Karasawa 2011]. Granted, though the first of its kind at the time, the study pointed out some of its own limitations, including narrow recruitment strategies and lack of longitudinal data. But some things still stood out and aligned with the framework Buettner identified for healthy longevity. In particular, the study pointed out a more positive outlook on longevity and social interdependence in Japan. Aging carries a benign connotation in Japan’s culture and there is a defined role for the elderly. Even in their language, there are honorific titles for addressing the elderly. While I was traveling, people consistently showed a deep respect for the older population, offering up their seats in public spaces or immediately allowing the elderly to proceed before themselves without thinking twice. Though many of the elderly in the rural areas were still hard at work even in their advanced age, the study also suggests a more “personal growth-producing context” in Japanese society, which is perhaps indicative of the potential benefits of the country’s aims to keep its elderly employed.

Indeed, it seems like Japanese society is paving ways for re-envisioning an “age-ready” future that recognizes the need to actively include its senior citizens in society in order to promote healthy longevity [World Bank 2022]. I recalled that one night, as I was briskly walking across Kyoto to wait in line for a bowl of ramen, I noticed there was a basketball game in a public park close by. Upon closer look, I realized it was full of elderly folks. I also noticed other community- and individual-level efforts around Japan like this—with elderly people volunteering in community spaces, giving tours, or cultivating artistic pursuits. Furthermore, accessibility in the infrastructure, such as public transportation and accessible spaces, no doubt serves to promote participation in society and community, contributing ultimately to a healthier longevity.

The push for inclusion of the elderly, community-led initiatives, and efforts to develop a more accessible landscape are supportive of the population maintaining a sense of purpose and enjoying a place of belonging as they move into their older age—important to healthy aging on both an individual and societal level. The demographic trend Japan is experiencing is not unique. There is a lot more to understand and learn, but I hope that the lessons we can learn from a country that is walking this path ahead of us can be informative in our journey of aging gracefully as individuals and as a society. 

References:

[1] Sawaji Osamu; Measures to Address Japan’s Aging Society; Public Relations Office, Government of Japan (2021); https://www.gov-online.go.jp/eng/publicity/book/hlj/html/202102/202102_09_en.html

[2] Damien Cave, Emma Bubola, and Choe Sang-Hun; Long Slide Looms for World Population, With Sweeping Ramifications; The New York Times (2021); https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/22/world/global-population-shrinking.html

[3] Buettner, Dan; Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones; Blue Zones (2023); https://www.bluezones.com/documentary/

[4] Karasawa, Mayumi, et al.; Cultural Perspectives on Aging and Well-Being: A Comparison of Japan and the U.S.; The International Journal of Aging and Human Development (2011);

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3183740/pdf/nihms322284.pdf

[5] Das, Maitreyi Bordia, et al.; Silver Hues: Building Age-Ready Cities; World Bank Group (2022); https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/d4b84e5a-8d31-5b32-b8ad-3d23b7f0c61e