Young people in Japan are gaining insight into their future in old age through interactive experiences and conversations held at events with elderly individuals about their personal journeys of aging.
In a country with the world's largest proportion of elderly citizens, seniors are ever-present in everyday life.
Although extended families are now less likely to live under one roof, young people are finding more opportunities than ever to learn about the elderly through such specially designed social events.
At a time when reaching 100 years old is within the grasp of many, an event titled "A Dialogue with Time," held in Tokyo from April through July, gave visitors a taste of old age. For the young attendees, it seemed to offer a chance to experience a future that feels both near and distant.
Participants were encouraged to "Go Meet the Future" at the venue where guides aged 70 and older led a tour of a number of rooms with themes related to aging.
The point of the program, said the organizer Dialogue Japan Society, was to get attendees thinking about growing old. To achieve that, they were first shown a sequence of images of children becoming adults, before wrinkles and gray hair appear.
They then moved into a room with questions written on the wall, such as, "How old would you like to be?" "At which age do you think old age occurs?" and "How old would you like to be seen as?" Participants were encouraged to think about their answers.
In a room tinged with yellow light, guide Fukiko Fuse, 88, explained to the visitors that "this is how the world looks to you when you get cataracts."
To further demonstrate the effects of aging, participants were given headphones, yellow-tinted 'cataract' goggles, and ankle weights, and were instructed to walk around while wearing them.
"You can better stabilize yourselves if you spread your legs apart and look down rather than look straight ahead when you walk," Fuse said.
In the next room, Fuse, who is known as Fuki-san, reflected on her own life, showing attendees photographs of her younger self.
Fuki-san explained that she was in Beijing when World War II ended with Japan's surrender and therefore has no childhood photos to speak of. Among other jobs, she worked as a member of a mediation commission and continues to enjoy ballroom dancing, which she started as a hobby at the age of 60.
There was a pile of photos of elderly people on a table where participants could choose their "ideal old self" and discuss how they hope to live their sunset years.
"I want to be fashionable like this when I grow old," one participant said. "I want to keep laughing together with friends of mine," another added.
After the event was over, a woman in her 20s said, "Now I have a more positive outlook on getting old." A man in his 40s said, "I took part in this event to get an idea of how my parents feel, but it made me think about how I should live my own life in old age."
According to DJS, the Tokyo-based organization that arranged the event, many young people came to the event "just for the fun of it."
The organizer, which conducts other programs such as ones led by the visually- and hearing-impaired using the same "social entertainment" model, added that some of the elderly people who worked as guides at the event became unquestionably brighter through their interactions with young people. DJS plans to hold the event again in the spring of 2025.
The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan) in Tokyo's Odaiba district launched its "Park of Aging" exhibit last November in response to the growing interest in the challenges facing graying Japan.
It provides visitors with simulated experiences of how human organs, such as the eyes, ears and those that make up the musculoskeletal system, change due to aging. Families and young people among others waited their turn in long lines to take part in the simulations that included shopping while having to push a cart to a supermarket off in the distance.
"In recent years, events with unusual themes have been popular among young people, and 'aging' is one of them," Yohei Harada, a professor at the Shibaura Institute of Technology and expert on youth culture, said.
Harada explained that one reason young people may be taking an interest in the elderly is a growing bond formed by grandparents spending more time playing with their grandchildren.
"With an increasing number of elderly people living alone, more and more are finding fulfillment in communicating with their grandchildren via social media and other means," he said.
© KYODO
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