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Why Japan is the perfect place to turn 50
A significant birthday feels less so in a country that has become a global pioneer of ageing – for better and for worse.
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In 2023, after a three-year hiatus caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, Japan resumed its multi-decade pattern of advancing life expectancy.
PHOTO: AFP
Leo Lewis
So. A big, round-numbered and menacing birthday coming up in a few weeks. Not to give too much away, but in the month I was born, Momoe Yamaguchi’s Fuyu no Iro was electrifying the charts, Terror Of Mechagodzilla was about to hit cinemas and Okinawa was busying itself with last-minute preparations for Expo ’75.
There are various ways to put this sombre milestone in context. I am a year younger than Hello Kitty, a decade younger than the Shinkansen bullet train and 100,000 years younger than Mount Fuji. All of those are still going strong, I suppose, although none are troubled by high cholesterol, resting-rate ruefulness or the ever-louder clicking from the mileometer of missed opportunities.
