Eileen Mariano

According to the World Bank, the average world life expectancy was 69.6 years in 2010.[i] However, a simple average does not represent the variation that exists in life expectancy by country. While the Central African Republic, for instance, has a life expectancy of 48 years, a citizen of the United States is expected to live to 78 years of age.[ii] Japan exceeds practically every other country with one of the highest life spans in the world. A man born in Japan is expected to live to 80 years of age and a woman is expected to live to 86.[iii] So how do the Japanese achieve such a notably higher life expectancy?

Many attribute Japan’s life expectancy to a healthier diet, as a traditional Japanese diet consists of fish, rice, oils, and vegetables.[iv] Teachers stress “shokuiku,” or “the importance of healthy eating,” in classrooms beginning in primary school.[v] Others credit government initiatives that extended access to quality health services. In 1961, Japan’s government universalized health care and began giving free tuberculosis treatment. The government began to require all children have extensive, and free, vaccines at birth, greatly lowering childhood mortality. In addition, government officials started a campaign to advertise the harmful effects of excessive salt consumption, decreasing the number of deaths from stroke.[vi]

Diet and government initiatives are crucial to determining life expectancy. However, Dr. Yoshiko Matsumoto, Professor of Japanese Language and Linguistics at Stanford University, also emphasizes that “ikigai,” or “purpose in your life, joy of life, why you’re living” plays a role.[vii]  Matsumoto explains, “when people have purpose in their lives, they tend to be happier. This leads to having a good quality of life instead of a sad life, and feeling useful can make people live longer.” Japanese elderly engage in significant activity; according to a 2001 Japanese government study, “half of the elderly participated in some kind of social activity and 70% were interested in taking part in volunteer activity.”[viii] Thus, Japan’s extended life expectancy may relate not only to diet and government initiatives but also its seniors sense of purpose and happiness.

Matsumoto is not the only expert to believe that life style and quality of life contribute to Japan’s high life expectancy. One study conducted by the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Research on Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease sought to examine the influence of socioeconomic status. After extensive research on Okinawa residents, the study concluded that “the social gradient thesis does not apply in Japan.” Instead, WHO found that “what is more important for health are healthy lifestyles, especially… social support.” [ix]

The biological mechanism behind this theory is difficult to prove, and scientists have not discovered why a healthier lifestyle is associated with longer lives. However, Matsumoto provided a case that illustrated this belief. In the 1980s, elderly women of one community of rural Japan came together to collect leaves that had fallen from the trees surrounding their village. The elderly women realized that upscale restaurants often decorate tables with leaves instead of flowers, and thus began selling their leaves to restaurants. Restaurants started buying the women’s leaves, which boosted the economy of the town. However, researchers also noticed that health care costs lessened. Matsumoto hypothesizes that “being useful in this community, having purpose in life… by doing business and moving, the elderly people felt healthier and ultimately were healthier.”[x] Despite the biological uncertainty for this reduction in health care costs, contributing to a community later in life ultimately proved beneficial.

As demonstrated, the combination of diet, government initiatives, and an active lifestyle has led Japan to have one of the highest life expectancies in the world. Significant benefits of having an older population include contributions to society through wisdom and experiences, love and support for families, and safe, reliable childcare while parents continue to work.  However, downsides exist to caring for an aging population, including increased national healthcare expenses, which strain the economy.[xi] Moreover, there is “an ideology that young members of the family should take care of their parents,” according to Matsumoto[xii]. Children are seen as “bad children” if they do not care for their elderly parents, an ideology that increases family loyalty but also places burden on the younger members. This poses a dilemma: is it possible for a life expectancy to be too high?

 

Yoshiko Matsumoto is a Professor of Japanese Language and Linguistics and Coordinator of the Japanese Language Program at Stanford University. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California Berkeley and has since worked at Stanford since 1992. She has been the Department Chair for the Asian Languages department and is currently studying the conversational narratives of elderly Japanese women and the chan