Respect for the Aged Day - Japan

Zach Mansour D2P1

Japan is a country that is experiencing a fast changing demographic within the

last century. The life expectancy is rapidly on the rise, 21 percent of Japans population
is 65 years or older. In Japanese culture the elder members of the communities are
taken in stride with the rest of society. After retirement or raising a family, people still
seek to contribute or be a part of society. Retirement isnt the same massive impact that
it can hold in a place like the U.S..

The holiday is said to have originated in 1947 within a small town of Japan.
Hyogo Prefecture is this town that is known for first celebrating this holiday, day of the
elderly, and at the time was called otoshiyori no hi. Other places in Japan followed suit
and started their own celebrations. In the year 1963 on Sept. 15th the holiday was
officially established under the name rjin no hi (day of the old people). Then the last
name change came in 1966, keir no hi, when the national government declared it a
national holiday. The many name changes could incite curiosity but there is an evolution
of language reasoning, in modern cultures words and meanings are always being
redefined. rjin no hi was a common and neutral expression in referring to elders but
more recently it has taken on more of a negative connotation. This shifts it more into the
realm of referring to side effects of aging like weakness and frailties. On the other side
of language, many terms and words have come to represent or refer to old age in a
neutral or respectable manner. Examples of this are kreisha which literally means
person(s) of high age, jukunen and jitsunen which mean mature years and first got
its use in the late 70s. Jitsunen literally means true years and was introduced by the
Ministry of Health and Welfare in 1985 but failed to take root in common talk. The
reasoning for the drive for constant language change in this specific topic connects to
the fact of Japan and its demographic. Older citizens are a bigger factor there than
before so it has become more of a cultural phenomenon in how to refer to their older
counterparts.
Elder citizens of Japan have long been recognized and been endowed on their
special day. One way this was show was a gift from the government itself, to the elders.
Centenarians is a term coined for living people 100 years of age and growing. With such
an increased life expectancy existing within Japan there are more and more citizens
joining this prestigious club. It is worth pointing out too that there are probably many
societal practices, norms, and different ways of life they live from the rest of the world
that yields so many citizens able of reaching 100. The Japanese government celebrates
this, by gifting a sakazuki which is a silver cup that has a value around $64, each year
to the new centenarians. As this club of golden oldies grows, it becomes much more
expensive to accommodate this tradition and the government has realized they will not
be able to keep this tradition going. An excerpt from Time Magazine puts it into
perspective, According to Japans Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, 29,357 people
over the age of 100 were registered in the country last year. When the sakazuki
program began over 50 years ago in 1963, there were only 153, the Japan Times
reports. The gift programs cost has risen to over $2 million in 2014 alone. To break it
down, the government is shelling out millions because they have so many citizens
present that are living at the high end of human possible life expectancy. The same
article states that by 2018 there will be around 39,000 centenarians. This pretty much
speaks for itself, and it is something Japan is very proud of facilitating.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2008/09/02/language/so-is-it-respect-for-the-aged-the-
elderly-or-the-seniors/

http://www.planettokyo.com/blog/japanese-culture/what-is-respect-for-the-aged-day/

http://time.com/4004281/japan-centenarian-gift-seniors-day-sakazuki/