Japan is one of the countries where people live long, and people living in Nagano area live to an advanced age even in Japan. Why?
1, Many of the people in this area have some vegetable gardens, and they work outside on their gardens even they get old. Their meals are mainly vegetables from their garden. When women have some meeting, they bring some bowls or dishes they cook. They chat and chat, “how to make it”, “when to seed it”, “ how to preserve it”, and so on. I have many friends over eighty who work hard and join some social activities.
2, Medical care system has been built successfully in this area. Seventy or sixty years ago people worked so hard without caring health. They seldom went to doctors even when they got sick. Their food was salty and poor. But one doctor worked and built a hospital. He thought medical care should be democratic and taught people and medical staff. His idea spread all over, and now most people take health check before getting sick, partly thanks to the health insurance covering all the people.
3, Modern medical care and its system save many lives that were difficult to survive some decades ago. Last month one of my friends collapsed when we were together. We called an ambulance and the person called a helicopter with a paramedical. When my son got broken his skull, he could get surgery even at midnight of new year’ s eve, and came back home after a week. We were so thankful. Now he is working as before.
But on the other hand, Japan is becoming an aging society very rapidly, and health insurance system may become difficult to keep . We, elderly people, are worrying about our future, sometimes feeling guilty to have lived long..