Roundtable Meeting
Productive Aging for The Elderly in the World■Date： February 8, 2013 14:00～16:30■Venue： room “San”, Hotel NIWA TOKYO■Hosted by： ILC－JapanILC-Japan has conducted the “International Comparative Study on Productive Aging andHealth Promotion” as a research project for 2012. This project is funded by the Ministry ofHealth, Labour and Welfare as a part of Health Promoting Project for the Elderly. Throughthis international comparison, ILC-Japan has also sought what the Japanese version ofproductive aging could look like.
We invited Baroness Sally Greengross from the United Kingdom to this meeting. She isChief Executive of the International Longevity Centre UK and Co-President of the ILC
Global Alliance. She talked about movements in developed countries, centering on theUnited Kingdom. An interim report on the study was also presented. In the next second
session, vigorous discussion was seen among various experts in fields related toproductive aging.
In this report, only the summary of the presentation by Baroness Greengross and parts ofthe discussion are introduced due to insufficient space. For details, please read the study
report which will be released in the near future.

Program＜Part 1＞
１４：００ Opening Speech
Kunio Mizuta（President, ILC-Japan）
１４：０５ “Productive Aging” In the Super Aged-Society
Takao Suzuki（Director, Research Institute National Center for Geriatrics andGerontology）
１４：２０ Aging as a key element of a productive society
Baroness Sally Greengross (Co-President, ILC Global Alliance, Chief Executive, ILC-UK）
１４：４５
Participation by All and throughout Life - Second-Life Work Project
Hiroko Akiyama (Professor, Institute of Gerontology at the University of Tokyo）
１５：００ International Comparative Study Report: Productive Aging in each country
Daisuke Watanabe（Research Fellow, Center for Asian and Pacific Studies,Seikei University）＜Part 2＞
１５：２０Discussion with all participants
１６：２０
Tokyo Statement on Productive Aging

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Participants' list
Hiroko Akiyama
Ayako Fujita
Sir
Alan GreengrossBaroness
Sally GreengrossKatsunori Hara
Keiko Higuchi
Tsutomu Hotta
Fumio Isobe

Professor, Institute of Gerontology, The University of Tokyo
Professor, Koshien University
ObserverCo-President, ILC Global Alliance, Executive Chair, ILC-UK
a crossbench (independent) member of the House of Lords
Director-General, Health and Welfare Bureau for the Elderly, MHLW
Chairperson, The Women’s Association for a Better Aging Society
Co-Representative, Japan NGO Council on Aging
Chairman, Sawayaka Welfare Foundation
Co-Representative, Japan NGO Council on AgingDean, Social Work Studies, Josai International University

Tsukasa Kanai

Head Office Executive, Corporate Social Responsibility Office, Corporate Planning Department,
Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings, Inc.

Teruko Kanehira
Hiroumi Kawamura
Rihito Kimura
Jinichi Minagawa

Former Vice Governor of Tokyo, Former President, Japan Legal Support Center

Toshihiko Miyajima
Kunio Mizuta
Shigeo Morioka
Taeko Nakashima
Keiichiro Namai
Fumihiko Odajima
Makoto Ogawa
Takiko Okamoto
Kazuo Otsu
Shino Sawaoka
Hiroshi Shibata
Takako Sodei
Hidehiro Sugisawa
Takao Suzuki
Daisuke Watanabe
Shiro Yamasaki

President, Foundation of Social Development for Senior Citizens
Professor Emeritus, Waseda University
Free JournalistAdvisor, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co., Inc.
The late Director-General, Health and Welfare Bureau for the Elderly, MHLW
Adviser, Sompo Japan Research Institute Inc.
Former administrative vice-minister, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare
Hon. President, ILC Global Alliance
Former CEO of Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (current Astellas Pharma Inc.)
Senior Researcher, Institute for Health Economics and Policy
Standing Advisor, ILYA Corporation
Corporate Fellow, Wellness Business Division, Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
Director-General, Employment Measures for the Elderly Persons with Disabilities Department,MHLW
Professor, Meiji Gakuin University
Journalist (Yomiuri Shimbun)
Chief Research Scientist, Research Planning Department, the Dia Foundation for Research on
Ageing Societies
Dean, Professor of Graduate School, Faculty of Health Sciences,
University of Human Arts and Sciences
Professor Emeritus, Ochanomizu University
Professor, Graduate School, J. F. Oberlin University
Director, Research Institute, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology
Assistant Research Fellow, Center for Asian and Pacific Studies, Seikei University
Director General for Policies on Cohesive Society, Cabinet Office2Ageing as a key element ofa productive society
Baroness Sally Greengross
Co-President of ILC GA, President of ILC-UKABSTRACT

Society must adapt to the New Demography. To be successful Productive Ageing canonly happen in a ‘Productive Society’. This includes employment, health care andhousing considerations as well as the built environment, design for ageing etc.

Productive ageing applies not only to formal occupation or employment, but
encompasses all forms of social and political participation including education,
volunteering, advocacy and decision-making

Older people have an immense contribution to make through employment andvoluntary activities in their community. Retaining older workers in the labour force
helps them to stay healthy, active and productive

As well as being of immense value to the wellbeing of the individual, this continuing
contribution to the local community’s social capital has an economic value thatshould not be underestimated.

The promotion of healthy and active ageing requires a change of attitudes ofindividuals and society towards retirement and working longer. While Equality and
Human Rights Legislation, including age being a protected characteristic, has reduced
age discrimination in the UK, barriers to older peoples participation, both individual andinstitutional, remain and are underpinned by economic factors, including a depressed
economy and a high unemployment rate.

Older workers’ attitudes and aspirations must shape the agenda for a strategic
approach to employment in later life

In the UK partnerships between local authorities and NGO’s are an important elementof care and housing provision for older people and similar partnerships between thePublic, Voluntary and Private Sectors will ensure the efficient delivery of the fulleconomic value to society that the funding and provision of Older people’s services
could provide.

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Achieving bright future for the super-aging society: acollaborative effort“Productive Aging” is a concept with wide range of meanings. It includes work-related
issues, volunteer activities in local areas, as well as maintaining strength and agility. These
concepts are integrated in the idea of remaining healthy, functioning, and independent until
the end of life, an endeavor that proves itself to be a truly collaborative effort.
Various experts in fields related to productive aging are here today. We hope to hear avariety of opinions and different perspectives and explore what the Japanese version ofproductive aging could look like in the future.

■ Elderly people playing a leading in a society
Tsutomu Hotta (Director, Sawayaka Welfare Foundation)
I have been working on rebuilding the cities in Tohoku region where thebig earthquake and tsunami hit. Together with other members from theSawayaka Welfare Foundation across the nation, I visit 9 cities andtowns to promote our vision to the people, medical personnel, long-termcare corporations and local governments. Our vision is to rebuild thesecities with comprehensive care system. That means to make the cities
into a place where the elderly can remain until they die, and everyone,
young and old, can help each other with strong bond.
I would like to introduce two activities from the viewpoint of productive aging.
One is about the volunteer activities by the elderly to rebuild cities. Many elderly people
are engaged in this city rebuilding activities as volunteers who are full of energy. Younger
generations need to go out and work for living, so the remaining elderly started non-profit
organizations in the local areas utilizing their own experiences. They gather together on aregular basis for discussions, and collect opinions from the victims of disaster in order tobring those voices to administrations and being active on various issues.
The second activity is one in which the elderly make and sell accessories like corsages.
People started gathering at places like temporary housings and organizing activities likethese that will help form bonds among victims from disaster and create purpose in life. In
one group, the leader is a woman who is 98 years old.

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■Change of attitude towards the elderly
Teruko Kanehira（Former Vice-Governor of Tokyo, Former Directorof Japan Legal Support Center）
Something I am wondering is whether we have been working to understandthe aging society from the best direction. We have always believed that theelderly is a population that we should support, and we have sought waysthat families, administrations, national government and local governments
can provide this support. However, I think this idea needs to bereconsidered in today’s circumstances.
Once you retire and start living in your own community, you cannot help
realizing how many other elderly people there are in the neighborhood. Wherever you go,there they are, everywhere, in the morning, noon and night. Then you finally realize that
community is sustained by those elderly people. It means that community will not survive
unless, as elderly people, we help other elderly. We must not depend upon young people or
the administration to help the elderly.
However, I have noticed that men do not come out very much. They may have kind wives whoare taking care of them at home, but one concern I have is regarding what those men will do if
their wives pass away before they do.

■Approach from a work perspective
Hiroko Akiyama, Ph.D.（Executive Committee Professor,Tokyo University Institute of Gerontology）
In old age, men have more serious issues in general than women. I havebeen working on building communities in preparation for an aging society inKashiwa, city of Chiba Prefecture and Fukui Prefecture. After men retire fromwork, they have no friends in the neighborhood, no business cards to exchangewith which to introduce themselves, and they often do not know what to do or where to go.
This is a very noteworthy phenomenon in urban areas.
For these circumstances, we are working towards helping retired men to be able to dosomething outside their homes as soon as they retire. Providing work opportunities works bestfor them and it is the least challenging thing for them to do. Starting volunteer work is too
difficult for those retired businessmen. Therefore we encourage them to start with a simple
community activity, and we reiterate that going out is the most important thing at this point.
Then they will see what is happening in the community and they may start thinking about how
they can spend their time. They may get ideas in what areas of their expertise may be helpful,and that could be the starting point of getting outside and trying paid or non-paid volunteer
work. I strongly feel that this is a very effective way for men to improve their post-retirement
lives.

5■Approach from an education perspective
Ayako Fujita, Ph.D. (Dean ofHumanities, Koshien University)

theFacultyofMy research focuses on how the elderly can go beyond ageism andbe productive. The elderly people themselves are used to seeing
themselves as “someone who should be supported by other people.”
Consequently it is hard for them to be active right away even if they are told to be productive.
Universities for the elderly have great impact on cultivating volunteers. In Osaka City, there
is a University for the Elderly established in 1979, and I have been involved in their activities
since then. The City of Osaka had been giving a grant to the university, but it was suddenly
discontinued since the Mayor changed to Mr. Hashimoto. When the university was forced to
be independent, the elderly stood up for themselves and started managing it as “a university by
the elderly for the elderly.” They are now in their third year. When the grant-fundedadministration ran the school, there were 800 students. Now the number has risen to 1,800
despite an increase in tuition.
People who come to the university attend mostly for pleasure, and 70% of them are men. I
have been engaged in their activities hoping that the university will serve as a place of reeducation and provide them an opportunity to work within our society.
Changes in attitude can be seen within 30% to 40% of the students each year. Thosestudents are the ones who make many friends at school and begin to share the value ofwanting to do something for the aging society. These students often begin to participate involunteer activities together after graduation.

■Time to challenge propositions
Shiro Yamasaki (Director General for Policies on Cohesive Societyof the Cabinet Office)I happen to work in the Cabinet Office right now, which is a position fromwhich I am able to oversee the overarching issues of the country. I
oversee issues of aging as well as low birth rate. While it is important toenhance individual’s performance, I foresee that our country will have to
face serious challenges on a large scale in the future. Urban areas
especially will have to face a full-scale challenge of mass aging for the firsttime in history. Large-scale risk management for medical care and longterm care is not enough. I think the most critical issue for the aging
population is about housing. Not having your own home in old age canderail your entire life plan. Unless we consider housing as a basic necessity for life andrespond accordingly, whatever measures the government takes or services it provides arefruitless endeavors. Nobody is here today from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transportand Tourism, but I am deeply concerned about the future unless we seriously tackle the issueof housing.
I think that this issue is the deciding factor of whether Japan can build a productive aging
society. Whether Japan can demonstrate a functioning model of society will have a biginfluence on other Asian countries where aging is advancing rapidly.

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■ Balance between self-help, mutual help and public aid
Katsunori Hara (Director, Health and Welfare Bureau
for the Elderly, Minister's Secretariat, Ministry ofHealth, Labour and Welfare)
The long-term health insurance system will be reviewed soon and ways tomake the system sustainable is a major challenge. It is often said that thecombination of self-help, mutual help and public aid is important, but thelong-term health insurance system which acts as the safety net when longterm care is necessary is public aid. Unless the structure of this public
service is solid, self-help and mutual help will not be nurtured in society.
On the other hand, public aid is not strong enough by itself to support the super-aging society.
One implication of this is that there will be many elderly who will need long-term public care. Itis crucial to build capacities of self-help and systems of mutual help in society for individuals to
support themselves and communities to support each other. We as a government also want towork hard to establish self-help and mutual help in our society. We have heard various ideas
and advice today from all of you. We hope that you will continue bringing the wisdom together
and we, the administration, are willing to support your work.

■ Crusade for productive super-aging society
Keiko Higuchi (Director, The Women’s Associationfor a Better Aging Society)
The combination of declining birth rates and continuing aging that we arefacing in the near future is an unprecedented situation on an enormousscale. Therefore, I think that everyone, male and female, will have to use
their full potential to overcome the challenges of this situation. In that sense, I was very
pleased today that you discussed not only work issues for healthy elderly people but also
included conversation about others; frail people, very old people and ways that their activities
of daily life can contribute to a productive aging society.
We need to do all-out battle against this new super-aging society. Our lifespans haveextended, and it is significant of a period peace and prosperity. This all-out battle is to support
the elderly until the very end with dignity and never exclude them but support them as a cohort.

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Productive Aging

TOKYO STATEMENT
Participants of the Round Table Meeting
International Longevity Center-Japan
International Longevity Centre –UK
With the Longevity Revolution, the world entered a new and unprecedented stage of humandevelopment, the impact of which has been made greater because of its speed. While many
people now enjoy healthy long lives, institutions such as education, work, politics, economy,ethics, and elderly people ’ s way of living have been rendered obsolete. This is theopportunity to make fundamental changes in outdated mind-sets, values, and socio-economic
arrangements to meet this new era of longevity.
For instance, society needs to abandon the notion that people make contributions in theirworking lives in return for support in retirement. Such an approach does not understand thevalue of social contribution by the elderly throughout life.
In order to truly enjoy benefits from longevity, elderly people themselves need to beindependent, live actively, and keep contributing to society.
We believe it is important to clarify the rights and responsibilities of the elderly for betterand happy living.
When possible, older citizens have a responsibility to remain in the labor market tocontribute to the socio-economy, which will also enable retention of skills andminimize the fiscal burden on taxpayers. Employers and society should also support
the elderly to enable longer working lives.

The elderly have a responsibility to remain active in their communities after retirement.
Many old people are eager to be involved in volunteer work to stay active afterretirement. Volunteering should be flexible, enjoyable, and oriented towards utilizing
the skills, wisdom and the experiences they have developed during their working lives.

The elderly should have a right to remain in their own homes. At the same time, it isalso important for the elderly to work on establishing independence and mutual aid
systems in their communities. In addition to the elderly who are healthy, those whoneed assistance and care can also contribute by lowering the degree of social
dependence by having the determination to live dignified lives with appropriate“personalized” care plans which also contribute to the new economy.

Advanced aging countries have a responsibility and are expected to lead the world toprove that longevity makes society affluent and all generations can benefit from it.

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