3rd Futures Session
Active Senior Life! Thu 15th November 2012
Overview
Issue of concern One of the social challenges facing developed countries is an aging population exacerbated by a declining birth rate. Against this backdrop, Japan is drawing the attention of other countries as one of the “most rapidly aging societies” . Domestically, the working-age population is expected to expand upwards as some companies try to extend the retirement age or adopt a system for continued employment. If, for example, Japanese companies increase the retirement age from 65 to 75, how would working styles and lifestyles change? And what would companies need to do to respond to such changes? The third Futures Session was themed “Active Senior Life”, with Kao Corporation (hereafter “Kao”), who are also concerned
about issues relating to an aging society, participating as the main sponsor. Sugamo, an area dubbed “Harajuku for Grandmothers” was chosen as the venue for the session. About 50 people from various sectors, including private corporations, NPOs and social entrepreneurs participated in the
C a f é ：S h a r i n g a n d s u m m a r y o f t h e inspiration talks and fieldwork Dot Voting：Selection of “10 keys to enable older people to continue working actively” Scenario ：Drawing up of “scenarios for a world where people can remain connected to society and continue working until aged 75”
session.
Closing：Evaluation of the scenarios and review of the whole session by Kao
Process of the Futures session - Taking advantage of Japan’s position as one of the most rapidly aging societies
The following section represents a summary
Session programme: Introduction：Presentation of the session’s theme by Kao Inspiration：Talks on the theme by Japanese and British guest speakers Fieldwork：Fieldwork and lunch break on the Sugamojizou-dori shopping street
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of the session and its outcomes.
INTRODUCTION As the main sponsor of the session, Kao gave a presentation explaining why it chose the session theme “Active Senior Life”. The presentation showed that “Japan is drawing the attention of other countries as one of
Three key points
Explanation
Do not think of all old people in the
Do not regard people aged 65 or older simply as “the
same way.
elderly”. They are much younger and more energetic than imagined.
Think about their ties with other people.
society. For example, when company employees retire at 65, their human relations change dramatically.
the most rapidly aging societies”, and that “Japanese elderly people are growing even older”. Kao also talked about “three points that they believe important when regarding
It is important to pay attention to their ties with family and
Think about how to live a purposeful and
Even people young at heart cannot resist aging and
meaningful life.
growing physically weak. You should consider this reality as part of your own future.
older people” (Table 1) and its philosophy: “We would rather think with various people
Table 1:“Three points that Kao believes important when regarding older people”
about new working styles than rush into planning new products.”
INSPIRATION
generation) used when caring for their
Darren Balcombe (Former staff member of Nesta)
children were not always easy for
— Nesta is an independent charity with a
grandparents (older generation) to use.
mission to help people and organisations
realisation that the items parents (younger
The following three guests described the
— A system allowing all employees to play
background of their organizations and
a role and earn money enables them to
specific examples of their activities: Shizuka
enjoy and continue working.
Kuwahara, a representative of “BABA Lab”,
The studio divides work into small units and
which is a studio producing goods designed
pays wages by the unit, so that workers
by grandmothers to help grandmothers care
never fail to find a job, whoever they are
for their grandchildren; Masayuki Matsuda,
and whatever their abilities.
head of the Rokugatsudashimo community council, where all households engage in activities to reduce CO2 emissions, in Izumi City, Kagoshima Prefecture; and Darren
Masayuki Matsuda (Head of Rokugatsudashimo Community Council in Izumi City, Kagoshima Prefecture)
Balcombe, former staff member of Nesta, a
— The community encourages all households
British charity that supports innovators to
to make efforts to reduce CO2 emissions.
develop new responses to tackle difficult
All households in the community engage in
social and economic challenges.
eco activities. Since 2006, the community has worked to reduce CO2 emissions and
Shizuka Kuwahara (Representative of BABA Lab)
has achieved its target of a 10% reduction
— BABA Lab is a studio producing goods
— They make sure that everyone enjoys their
designed by grandmothers to help
activities, rather than pursue short-term
grandparents care for their grandchildren.
outcomes.
Its business concept is “to create a
To ensure that residents enjoy what they
manufacturing workplace where employees
do, they give every household a report card
can work until the age of 100”.
on energy consumption and have
— Child care products on the market were
introduced the Eco-Master system as well.
not easy for grandparents to use when
— They won second prize of the
looking after their grandchildren.
Environment Minister’s Award in the Low
What inspired Ms Kuwahara and her
Carbon Cup 2011. They have now begun to
colleagues to establish the studio was the
deal with the issue of abandoned farmland.
every year.
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bring great ideas to life. — Mr Balcombe considered that apart from health and finance what needs to be considered to age well. “Can you participate in society?” “Can you make a contribution to society?” and “Can you lead an active life?” — He suggested that aging is framed through the lens of need, dependency, decline and loss. This needs to change. Services, environments, infrastructures and activities that allow people to stay more connected and contributors for longer are required.
FIELDWORK Divided into small teams the participants carried out fieldwork and took lunch on the Sugamojizou-dori shopping street. The fieldwork consisted of visiting shops with prearranged appointments to conduct interviews, though some teams dropped in on several shops without notice. Tokyo Sugamoen : A restaurant whose specialty is “good luck” bean jam salty rice cakes. Kifukudo: A bakery whose specialty is bean-jam buns. Meganekoubou Kubota / Tokeikoubou Kubota : A
Fieldwork and took lunch on the Sugamojizou-dori shopping street.
watch shop run by a father and an optician’s shop operated by his son, reflecting their own particular values. ALPS Café : An Italian café run by the owner and his parents, renovated in 2001. Tokiwa Shokudo : A popular restaurant serving set meals at two locations on the shopping street.
Title
Description
Follow the Sugamo rule.
Be hospitable, converse with your customers, and value “slow” time.
Teuchisoba Kikutani : The predecessor was a tailor but now a buckwheat noodle shop is operated by the current owner.
CAFÉ Each team reviewed the results of their
Retain a sense of excitement.
people or to fall in love. Maintain affection.
Love yourself, your community, your job and your family.
Create a mix of roles of different
Multiple generations need to coexist with each other, each play
generations.
a different role; for example, the elderly give advice and the young add something new.
fieldwork and compiled a “user board”. The user boards described those people who had left an impression on the participants during the fieldwork. The teams then did a “world café” activity to share their user
Build communities you can be proud of.
Pursue sustainability instead of growth.
Give and take.
Shops (local people) and customers (tourists and other shoppers) need to engage in relationships to lift each other up and to exchange information.
working actively” (for the elderly and their Do not “limit” communication.
Small talk and long conversations are viewed as positive; shop owners are reminded that they exist because of their customers,
outcomes of the session.
DOT VOTING
Be determined to make a contribution to your community by shopping at local stores as often as possible.
team came up with “five keys to continue families). These were the i n t e r m e d i a t e
You need to have great affection for your community, as in Sugamo.
boards with each other. Finally, by reviewing what they had observed and learned, each
Even if you are 75 years old, do not lose the desire to meet
while customers can negotiate a discount for example. Just be yourself.
Do not try to do what you cannot. Just do what you can do each day. People born in the community and people from other places need to live in harmony. A community needs the
Following a review of all the “keys” each
warm atmosphere of a large family.
team had come up with (75 in total), each participant cast five votes based on their own evaluation of the “keys to continue
Permit some degree of meddling.
Neighbors need to be close, and some degree of meddling should be allowed, such as giving advice to children next door.
working actively”. The “keys” with the most Table 2: 10 keys to continue working actively
number of votes were selected to represent the “10 keys to continue working actively” (Table 2). 3
SCENARIO Based on the “10 keys to continue working actively” and fieldwork experiences, the participants divided into nine teams and drew up “scenarios for a world where people can stay connected, continue to contribute to society and work actively until age 75”. When doing so we kept in mind that the scenarios represented stories about “ideal societies” that would materialise if the
10 keys were achieved, and also stories
of a business operator. In the evaluation,
about “how to make such societies happen
Kao’s employees decided which scenarios
through the power of business and innovation”
they would like to invest in, using cheques
(Table 3). The compiled scenarios were
issued by Futures. The main evaluation
presented by each team in the form of
criteria were (1) scenarios matching Kao’s
improvised plays.
image of society in the future, and (2) projects that Kao as a corporation would invest in to bring about a society based on
CLOSING
the future scenarios.
As the main sponsor of the session, Kao evaluated the scenarios from the viewpoint
The session ended after participants shared thoughts about how their future behavior might change as a result of participating in the session.
A society where people can experience a second adolescence (or can relish the taste of adolescence again). When shop owners retire and an offspring takes over, they continue to do what are able to, and what they are good at, instead of handing over the whole business to their child. This will allow them to remain healthy while rejuvenating the shop at the same time.
A society where everyone plays a part in contributing. If shops can put aside efficiency to spend enough time communicating with their customers, a new relationship is more likely to develop beyond the shop-customer one.
A society where you can cultivate new talents. Workers at retirement age will be re-employed and be allowed to attend customers at a slower pace. This means they can develop new talents as a contact point connecting people in the community and can assume a new role.
A society where people of different generations are connected through conversations. Menus or lists that do not show prices create more situations for communication between shop staff and customers. The importance of dialogue between people of different generations is incorporated into the business.
A society where careers can be maintained and businesses handed down to the next generation. When a child takes over his/her parent’s shop, the parent can take care of existing local customers, while the child takes charge of cultivating a new customer base beyond the local area. This will create a stable business base and the child can adapt as the times require.
A society where people can play a main role no matter how old they are. The owner of a long-established shop developed a new product hoping that culture would be passed on to the next generation, but the product failed. But advice by a customer led to successful sales overseas. Ideas that embrace modern times can create new opportunities for success, regardless of age.
A society where being able to work no matter how old you are is the norm.
A “community-based job placement agency” will be founded where job seekers are offered jobs selling a large variety of goods in small quantities in the community. In such a society, people can work no matter how old they are.
A happy “sharekobe” society where if you love, you will be loved.
Work while loving your community, your job and your family. Care about younger generations and think about the progress of society even after your own death. This will help create and hand down an environment in which affection can be shared across generations while keeping your business strong.
A “feeding” project to create “slow” time. Shops will create an “eat-in” space to allow customers to spend relaxed time. Shops will recruit young employees for customers to enjoy communicating with younger generations. This will revitalize communication in the community. Table 3: Future scenarios - Continuing to work and be actively connected to society until aged 75
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Spotlight
The theme of this session was “Active
the importance of paying attention not only
between, for example, a current store owner
Senior Life: Building a society where older
to what the elderly have trouble with and
and his predecessor; a current store owner
people can stay connected, continue to
what they cannot do, but also on how to
and his successor; a university student
contribute to society and work actively”.
“unlock what they can do (their wisdom and
part-time worker and elderly customers;
Through discussions and group work, the
potential)”. In addition, we shared first-hand
and the father of a shop owner and the
participants came up with ideas about what
knowledge such as “looking closely at the
children of a neighboring shop’s owner.
a society described in the theme would be
elderly as individuals, instead of thinking of
These examples made us aware of the
(visions for the future), what the process
them as simply old people” and “creating
inherent value of such relationships. We
leading to such a society would be, and
an atmosphere and environment where the
also realised that communication based on
what schemes and systems would be
elderly can engage in activities
these relationships should be conducted at
needed to make such a society to come to
comfortably”.
a slow and relaxed pace, and that our daily
fruition. The session enabled us to see important perspectives about how older people can continue to be active. “Pay attention to what each person can do, unlock their potential, and then create opportunities for them to do it” We gained an appreciation of older people as contributors to society and key players in creating a better society. We also realised
lives should reflect these values contrary to “There should always be abundant opportunities for people of different generations to interact and communicate with each other” Through our fieldwork on the Sugamojizou-dori shopping street, we discovered that opportunities for intergenerational interaction exists in our daily lives, as exemplified by interactions
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that of one of efficiency. We believe these viewpoints are important when considering how senior people can be more active, and also reveal the key points of community design in an aging society.
Published in May 2013 by: British Council / FUJITSU LABORATORIES LTD. / Center for Global Communications, International University of Japan (GLOCOM) / Future Sessions Designed by hereticanthem co.,ltd. All rights reserved
Š 2013 British Council, Fujitsu Laboratories ltd., Center for Global Communications, International University of Japan, Future Sessions