Living by their ikigai (motivation for jumping out of bed every morning) isn’t the only reason why many people on Okinawa island in southern Japan live beyond 100. Those past their eighties and even into their nineties are said to be very active. For them, there is no retirement. They don’t sit by the window and stare at the world passing by – they go on long walks, do a lot of gardening, participate in activities with neighbours and keep moving all the time.
These centenarians from Ogimi, dubbed the Village of Longevity, have given various reasons for having successfully kept death at bay. In their book Ikigai — The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life, Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles have quoted them extensively and categorized their statements under five sub-headings. I have picked out one quote from each category and reproduced it verbatim.
Don’t worry
“The secret to a long life is not to worry. And to keep your heart young – don’t let it grow old. Open your heart to people with a nice smile on your face. If you smile and open your heart, your grandchildren and everyone else will want to see you.”
Cultivate good habits
“The key to staying sharp in your old age is in your fingers. From your fingers to your brain, and back again. If you keep your fingers busy, you’ll live to see one hundred.”
Nurture friendships
“Talking each day with the people you love – that’s the secret to a long life.”
Live an unhurried life
“My secret to a long life is always saying to myself, ‘slow down’, and ‘relax’. You live much longer if you’re not in a hurry.”
Be optimistic
“Every day I say to myself, ‘Today will be full of health and energy. Live it to the fullest.”
Two more reasons
Two other habits of the Okinawans contribute to their longevity — eating moderately and forming close-knit bonds within local communities. Before and after eating, they are customarily said to chant ‘Hara hachi bu’, which roughly means ‘fill your tummy up to 80%’. Accordingly, they stop eating when they begin to sense their tummies are filling up, strictly avoiding an extra side dish or a sinful dessert. This is called the 80% rule.
The Okinawans also follow the custom of joining local groups having common interests, which looks after members’ emotional and financial well-being. Such informal groups are called ‘moai’. The members hold meetings, host dinners, pursue hobbies, play shogi (Japanese chess) and help each other with farming or gardening. Every month, they contribute to a common fund, from which money is loaned to people in times of financial stress.
Take life by the horns
The Japanese are a resilient people who believe in focusing on things they can control and not worrying about those they cannot. This is along the lines of Reinhold Neibuhr’s famous Serenity Prayer, which seeks the grace to accept the things that cannot be changed, the courage to change the things that can be changed and the wisdom to know the difference.
Two other concepts they believe in are accepting the imperfection of things (wabi-sabi) and living in the now (ichi-go ichi-e). As in the well-known example of the cracked tea-cup, they seek and find beauty in things that are broken, imperfect and fleeting because only these resemble life as it is.
This leads to the related concept that only this moment exists and it will never come again. What better than to enjoy the moment and not lose our minds worrying about what is dead (past) and what is yet to be born (future)?