March 14, 2010
Age: Just a Number?
By Dominic Carter
Here in Japan the traditionally taken path has been the one of
respect for the elders in society. Well, traditions may not have
changed, but society has.
With Gen X’rs taking center stage slowly
but surely, Japan’s largest demographic, senior citizens, is not taking
the backseat ride so well anymore.
But exactly what new elderly
profiles are emerging in Japan as of late?
First, we see the “disgruntled, confused criminal”. Recently, Japan
has been hit by a wave of elderly crime. Most often, cases involve
theft, but murder and violent crimes are also on the
rise. Researchers are not blaming this problem on money entirely,
as some attribute these acts a response to changes in society negatively
impacting the mental well-being of Japan’s elderly. In a society that
used to take care of its’ aged individuals, the elderly now awake to
realize that they cannot recognize their city anymore than they can
relate to the demographic now surrounding them. In 2008, the
number of recorded crimes by elderly individuals stood at 48,597
cases, a sharp rise from around 13,000 merely a decade ago. Many
elderly admitted to prisons admit that upon release they purposely
commit crimes so that they can be re-admitted and be close to people
their own age in surroundings familiar to them. The polite
demeanor that the elderly were so well known for in the past is also
being slowly replaced by a more contemptuous, condescending
attitude towards the young generation of today.
Another, more entertaining emergent type of elderly individual is
the “go-getter”. For example, we see the individual Shigeo Tokuda, a
seemingly normal retiree at the age of 73 last year in 2008. But, to
female individuals in his age group as well as industry
connoisseurs, he became one of the most recognized porn stars in the
industry last year in Japan. This type of stardom would be less
classified by possibly appearing on television or in magazines, and
more so through internet blogs, videos, website postings,
etc.
Tokuda’s fame is special due to his breaking out of the
commonly assumed “helpless” role the elderly play in Japanese
society.
Post-retirement, elderly individuals often become lonely
and bored due to lack of activity and sometimes lack of physical
contact with others. Tokuda symbolizes a victory for aged society in
Tokyo, as his participation in his current line of work boldly tells
the public not only that the elderly can work past 60 nowadays
(previously the socially accepted retirement age in Japan), but that
they can do things that younger individuals can just as well as the
rest of us.
No matter what they are involved in, though, one common stereotype
about these individuals is that they possess quite significant sums of
personal funds from sources including pensions, savings, etc.
As
Japan’s largest demographic, it would do business owners and service
providers well to understand how to market and sell to this group.
Statistics like the one stating that by 2013 one in four Japanese will
be 65 years or older have convinced companies such as Sharp,
manufacturer of appliances and other such technology, to produce
elderly-friendly devices from DVD players to remote controls. NTT
Docomo also became largely popular among this demographic for
their “Raku Raku” phone series, which featured large buttons and
re-enforced sound quality for those hard of hearing. Elderly in
Japan may be hesitant to let new-age robots take care of them in
their homes, infringing on the small chance for human interaction
that they have left in life, but they are in need of no-nonsense,
simplistic approaches to every day life in this technological age.