This is a picture I took of an older gentleman working in Japan. The reason I chose this as a point of interest is because I am so surprised at how many older people here are working and are as active as anyone else is. I see people( that in America would not go anywhere without a car) riding a bike down the steet with a basket of groceries on the handlebars and a basket of various things on a rack above the rear tire. My Grand father is 80 years old and I always considered him pretty healthy. He walks around a lot and does yard work etc... He keeps himself active, but I never see him do the things that I see older people in Japan doing. The man in this picture is not 80 years old and I am not sure how old he is because of it being rude to ask people their age. It took me long enough just to get someone to allow me take a picture of them.
My point of all of this is that what I have seen from people in Japan is that the work is never really over. I talked to an older friend of mine and he says he feels useless when he is not being productive. this could all change in the future because of how younger people are "becoming more lazy".
I tried to get pictures of many other people doing normal things in their lives but they were not willing to allow me to take their pictures. What I saw and continue to see though is people not being effected by aging the same as I am used to in America. I am used to my family and friends that are not lazy they just say they are tired and don't want to exert themselves as much as they use to when they were younger. I am going to continue looking into this and see why there is more active people in the older generation here.
3 comments:
My host father is 70 and still works in construction. I can't believe it, but it's just because he loves to do it, he says. I would think at that point in time, you deserve a break. Then again, it might just be that he wouldn't know what to do with himself otherwise.
I read a book about some Japanese people actually getting divorced when the husband retired. The wife was not used to him being around and it frustrated her so much that she had to leave. I understand where he would be coming from if everyday all you did was work and occasionally took a vacation. Seems like a difficult situation!
You might want to check out the work of John W. Traphagan - he is an anthropologist who has done work with the Japanese elderly. I used to offer this topic as a choice in the Issues class but students never chose it. However, with the aging population in Japan, perhaps this topic is more relevant and important now.
When a man retires, he often times has nothing to do. Gateball is an option.
http://fyoshie060861.blogspot.com/2008/03/japanese-elderly-people-after.html
KGU hires many older men to be security guards. My own example are the older men and women who act as volunteers to prevent people from parking their bicycles in front of the entrances to train stations. They are very effective, by the way. Older people want to be active.
The divorce thing you mention was widely covered in the media. Women referred to their retired husbands as "wet leaves" - clinging useless things that can't easily be swept away. After a man has worked all day and night his entire life, his wife no longer know him. And now all of a sudden he is home all of the time. What is the poor wife to do?
Divorce at all ages is rising in Japan.
Do you remember that clip from the Danshi rakugo clip in Body/Comm last semester when he talked about the differences between older men and women when their spouse dies? men fall to pieces; women plan trips to Thailand...
Good luck with your continued research into this area. And with your picture taking. Establish nice relationships with people and they might be flattered with your request to photograph them.
I like that you are introducing important issues in your post, soliciting comments and answering the comments. This is the kind of dialogue we are aiming for.
Why are there more active people of the older generation here? Because there are more older people here...
-scf
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