Redefining the elderly as aged 75 years and older: Proposal from the Joint Committee of Japan Gerontological Society and the Japan Geriatrics Society

In many countries, including Japan, the elderly are defined as having a chronological age of 65 years or older. However, there is no clear medical or biological evidence to support this definition. Recently, this definition of the elderly has come to not match the current situation in Japan, although there are individual differences in the elderly. 

Many of the elderly, especially aged those younger than 75 years, are still robust and active. Many people feel hesitant to treat them as elderly, and many of them feel uncomfortable being treated as elderly. Based on these reasons, in 2013, the Japan Gerontological Society and the Japan Geriatrics Society launched a joint committee to reconsider the definition of the elderly, and discussed the definition of the elderly from various aspects for 3 years. As a result of analyzing various data on the physical and psychological health of the elderly in recent years, a phenomenon of “rejuvenation” has been seen in which the appearance of changes in physical function as a result of aging, including gait speed and grip strength (Fig. 1), have been delayed by 5–10 years among the elderly at present compared with 10–20 years ago.1 Even among those aged 65 years or older who have been regarded as elderly, especially the young-old aged 65–74 years, mental and physical health is well maintained, and the majority of them are capable of taking part in active social activities. Furthermore, according to the results of various awareness surveys, the opinion against recognizing those aged 65 years or older as elderly is generally gaining strength in society as well (Fig. 2).2 According to the survey carried out by the Cabinet Office of the Japanese Government, many people think that those aged over 70 or 75 years should be considered elderly.2 Therefore, our joint committee would like to propose a classification of people aged over 65 years as follows.

Aged from 65 to 74 years: pre-old age 

Aged over 75 years: old age

In addition, people aged over 90 years can be classified as oldest-old or super-old. 

This definition mainly takes into consideration the aging situation of developed countries, but we believe that if the extension of life expectancy and “rejuvenation” phenomenon spreads globally, it is a concept that will be globally accepted. In contrast, with the global extension of life expectancy, it is appropriate to think of those aged over 90 years who have surpassed the average life expectancy as oldest-old/super-old according to the previous definition.  

The significance of re-examining the definition and classification of the elderly is: (i) to consider the elderly according to the previous definition as motivated supporters of society once again; and (ii) to create an upcoming super-aged society with brightness and vitality. However, the trend towards improved physical ability in the elderly is not guaranteed to continue into the future, indicating the need to educate the next generation on the promotion of health once again. As for policy implication, our proposal might lead to the revision of social security policy, because many pre-old people can contribute to productivity and reduce the socioeconomic burden of the younger generation. However, we would like to emphasize that this proposal does not intend to provide a political basis for shrinking social welfare for pre-old and old people. 

We hope that our proposal will contribute to the realization of our citizens’ desire to construct a bright, productive, healthy and long-living society. (Ouchi et al., 2017, literally)

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- Yasuyoshi Ouchi, Hiromi Rakugi, Hidenori Arai, Masahiro Akishita, Hideki Ito, Kenji Toba, Ichiro Kai, 2017, on behalf of the Joint Committee of Japan Gerontological Society (JGLS) and Japan Geriatrics Society (JGS) on the definition and classification of the elderly, link

- photograph Greg Girard (Tokyo, 1979, two school girls) via

Hostile Neighbours: Sino-Japanese Antipathy

According to a survey carried out by Pew Research in China, Japan, Australia and India in 2016 (n = 7.618), stereotypical views of one another are largely negative in China and Japan. The countries see each other as violent, about 8-in-10 Japanese describe the Chinese as arrogant, about 7-in-10 Chinese describe the Japanese that way. Three-quarters of the Japanese (particularly those age 50 and older) believe the Chinese are nationalistic while only 4-in-10 Chinese associate the Japanese with nationalism. Neither country sees the other as honest. Only 11% of Japanese have a favourable view of China and only 14% of Chinese have a favourable opinion of Japan (via).

photograph by Issei Suda via

Japan's Ageless Society

“The general trend of uniformly seeing those aged 65 or over as elderly is losing credibility. The government will review the (current) standardization by age bracket and aim to create an ageless society where people of all generations can be active according to their wishes.” (via)



The General Principles Concerning Measures for the Aging Society emphasise independence, participation and choices of the elderly by, for instance, securing employment and working opportunities, offering ability development throughout their lives, promoting lifelong health improvement and creating a lifelong learning system, promoting the involvement of the elderly in social activities, ensuring stable and comfortable housing and community development for the elderly, protecting them from traffic accidents, crimes and disasters, and promoting research. One goal is to create a society "where people are respected as important members throughout their lives" (via).



Japan's policy on the elderly aims to create an ageless society by giving people the opportunity to choose to start receiving pensions at any time between the ages 60 and 70. There is the target to increase the rate of employment among people aged 60 to 64 to 67% by 2020. In addition, measures to enhance well-being and reduce the need for nursing care and the prevention of isolation are included (via).

“Expansion of the right to choose when to receive a public pension has great significance in our changing society. If individuals can choose to delay retirement and get more money on a monthly basis later in life, it could give them a feeling of security about living longer.”
Yoshikazu Kenjo

"Japan has one of the longest longevities in the world. It is expected that Japan’s population will age even more rapidly and the total population will continue to decline.
Under such circumstances, those who reached their advanced ages nowadays remain motivated to work. Taking into consideration also that their stamina and physical fitness have been improving consistently, it is important to realize a society where people of all generations, including the elderly, can take full advantage of their skills and abilities to play an active role in a range of areas. At the same time, we must provide sufficient assistance and a safety net for people to lead a fulfilling life in their golden years, safely and securely.
Therefore, the new General Principles Concerning Measures for the Aged Society has the following pillars: aim to develop an ageless society where people of all generations can play an active role based on their desires; create local communities where people can clearly envision their livelihoods in the golden years at any stage of their life; and intend to utilize new measures enabled by the achievements of technological innovation to deal with an aging society.
I would like all of you to use this General Principles Concerning Measures for the Aged Society as a guideline for taking steps toward building a Japanese society which provides an environment for people of all generations to lead a fulfilling life, along with the initiatives under the Plan to Realize the Dynamic Engagement of All Citizens."
Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister (2018)

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photographs via and via and via

"Dear applicant, we regret to inform you...". Rejection letters and politeness strategies in Japan and the U.S.

An analysis of Japanese and US-American rejection letters sent to applicants came to the conclusion that politeness strategies differ. While US-American letters tend to look personal - e.g. by addressing letters personally, often by forename - Japanese letters openly show that all rejected applicants receive the same letter and don't use forenames as not preserving a certain distance would be considered as disrespectful. US-Americans attempt to look positive and communicate concern while Japanese feel less uncomfortable when they are rejected as "one of many" (Baresova, 2008).



"To counterbalance the negativity of refusal and inadequacy with something positive, the Americans frequently added praise for the candidate’s “excellent qualifications”, which, although very personal in appearance, lacked any specifics and were, upon closer comparison, remarkably similar, even between letters addressed to the candidate with many years of experience and the new graduate with no qualifications at all."
Baresova, 2008:108

"It could be argued that the Americans only seem to be more personal than the Japanese, because the Americans also send virtually the same letter to all applicants, but this would be to ignore the more significant fact. Of course neither the Americans nor the Japanese are going to write individualized letters. The difference is that the Americans want to seem personal."
Baresova, 2008:109



"Each culture has a different perception of what is polite, and each language has various devices for expressing politeness. Some situations call for more politeness than others. The importance of politeness increases with the degree of potential offense to the hearer. Rejection is, by its very nature, one of the most offensive speech acts, and if not done politely it is quite likely to negatively impact the hearer’s self-image. Therefore, various politeness strategies are employed to minimize its negative impact. To perform a rejection is not easy, even if both parties have a complete understanding of the language and rituals concerning politeness in that culture. To reject someone from another culture without causing offense or misunderstanding is even more challenging."
Baresova, 2008:11




- Baresova, I. (2008). Politeness Strategies in Cross-Cultural Perspective. Study of American and Japanese Employment Rejection Letters. Olomoue: Palacky University.
- photographs by Micheal Rougier (1964) via and via and via and via

Narrative images: Waiting for the bus

"May 2, 1942—Byron, California. Third generation of American children of Japanese ancestry in crowd awaiting the arrival of the next bus which will take them from their homes to the Assembly center." (via)



"Mother and baby await evacuation bus. Posted on wall are schedules listing names of families, buses to which they are assigned, and times of departure. May 9, 1942. Centerville, California." (via)



Dorothea Lange (1895-1965), known as "America's greatest documentary photographer" (via), took photographs of US-Americans of Japanese ancestry who were incarcerated after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 - photographs that were "quietly censored by military commanders" who disapproved of Lange's work. Her prints were not actively distributed, in fact, many of them were marked as "impounded". After the war, the photographs were deposited in the National Archives where they remained unseen for decades and were released only in 2006.
Over 120.000 persons - including children - had to evacuate their homes and businesses and were relocated to camps surrounded by barbed wire and armed guards for a couple of years.
The War Relocation Authority recruited Dorothea Lange to create a photographic record of the evacuation and relocation. Lange accepted despite - or because of - her moral objection to prison camps (via and via and via). She never had a comfortable feeling about the war relocation job but hoped to expose what the government was doing to its citizens (via)

"Ms. Lange’s critique is especially impressive given the political mood of the time."
Linda Gordon

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photographs by Dorothea Lange via and via

The Tokyo Beatles, Culture, Odd and Even Numbers

While Westerners show a tendency to prefer even numbers, Japanese prefer odd numbers - with few exceptions such as "eight" ("increasing property) and "nine" ("suffering"). In the Seven-Five-Three Festival, for instance, boys and girls at the age of three, boys at the age of five and girls at the age seven celebrate their growth at shrines. According to a custom, festivals are held on odd numbered days in odd-numbered months. At weddings, there is the tradition to give gifts of 10.000, 30.000 or 50.000 yen, never 20.000 or 40.000 yen.



Even numbers, on the other hand, generally do not have positive associations. "Two" means separating, "four" is associated with death and "six" means "good-for-nothing". At funerals, condolence payments are entirely in odd numbers. Hospital sickrooms avoid the number "four" as it sounds like the pronunciation of the word meaning "death".




The clear roles of odd and even numbers can be traced back to the Chinese philosophy of yin and yang (Nishiyama, 2004) - literally meaning dark and bright - which describes the complementary, interconnected and interdependent character of apparently opposite or contrary forces (via).



The Tokyo Beatles were a Japanese cover band, "a group of skinny, mop-topped Japanese rock and rollers" that drove their fans wild borrowing their name of "a group of skinny, mop-topped British rock and rollers". The band was most popular for some time and had "highly energized fans" but broke up after seven years in the 1960s "without too many people noticing they were gone" (via).

::: "I want to hold your hand" in Japanese: Dakishimetai 




Michael Rougier (1925-2012) was a LiFE Magazine staff photographer for 24 years (via) and an accomplished sculptor. He was recognised as a "stellar photojournalist" and won the "Magazine Photographer of the Year" award from the National Press Photographers Association in 1954 (via). In 1964, he was on assignment in Japan where he did not only take photographs of the Tokyo Beatles and their fans but "an astonishingly intimate, frequently unsettling portrait of teenagers hurtling willfully toward oblivion" (via).

- Nishiyama, Y. (2004). The Cultural History of Numbers. Studies in Economic History, 8, 146-174.
- photographs by LIFE photographer Michael Rougier (1964) via and via and via and via and via and via and via and via and via and via and via and via and via and via