Old in Japan

Sad news. Japan's oldest person died today. At the age of 113. She had taken over the position in February after the last 113 year old died. Japan has a lot of old people. The average life span is 85 for women and 79 for men, the highest in the world.

"Japan has one of the world's longest average life spans — a factor often attributed to a healthy diet rich in fish and rice. In 2006 Japanese women set a new record for life expectancy at 85.81 years, while men live an average of about 79 years. The number of Japanese living beyond 100 has almost quadrupled over the past 10 years. There were 32,295 centenarians in 2007, according to the Health Ministry."

You think the US of A is going to have a massive Social Security issue in 30 years think of Japan. Long life span, low birth rate. Whats a country to do?

Simple: Westernize. And they're already on their way.

I see it on every street corner. Kids smoking. Drinking Soda. Eating KFC. Sitting around watching TV. Getting fat. They're learning it from their parents who do much the same thing, only they add on a large amount of job related stress and drinking into that mix. With any luck the average life span in Japan will start lowering itself naturally once all these super fit and health 'old timers' die, and they will be no old age problem!