The ideals of mankind are now becoming a reality in Japan

The reason behind the faster aging population in Japan is both due to an increase in longevity and a decrease in the birthrate. Eternal youth and longevity have been the ultimate goal of mankind since ancient times. In other words, Japan is probably beginning to achieve this goal. Both its average life span and healthy life expectancy are one of the longest in the world. The average life span (life expectancy of a person from the year of birth) in Japan reported in 2017 was 81.09 for men and 87.26 for women. The healthy life expectancy (duration of time a person can live independently and healthy in both mind and body) reported in 2016 was 72.14 for men and 74.79 for women. Japan is also the top runner in the world that people live longer and healthier.

However, not many Japanese would be happy to hear this. Following comments can be predominantly heard. “We may take the leading position, but this is not something that we can be happy about without any concerns. There are too many problems piling up about the aging population. The burden of social security costs is increasing year by year, and our concerns about the future of the public pension scheme are only increasing. How can we have hope for the future?”

Each country has its own problems. There are countries where people live next to life-threatening dangers, such as riots and terrorism. There are also countries where the majority of the population suffer from famine, and others where people cannot express their opinions because of a lack of freedom of speech. Countries like Japan are a rarity where people are safe and free. Japan's aging population is certainly a problem, though it is not impossible to solve. Other countries are watching every action of Japan regarding this issue. If Japan succeeds in making solutions for aging problems, they would be useful guidance for other countries. Japan is now behind China in terms of its GDP, however it can be respected by other countries as a model regarding countermeasures to tackle the aging population issue. This is a great opportunity for Japan to show its wisdom to the world.