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  • ONLY in JAPAN

  • So you want to live a long life perhaps past a hundred years old.

  • Japan may have some of the answers

  • Welcome to Sugamo in central Tokyo.

  • This place is nicknamed the grandma Harajuku.

  • It's a place where

  • seniors come for high-fashion.

  • Sugamo may be in Tokyo, but it's certainly not like neighboring Shibuya or Harajuku.

  • It retains a lot of the charms of the Showa era

  • The area may have stayed the same, but most of the residents have gotten older

  • and that's reflected in what they sell along the main shopping street.

  • And, this Sugamo neighborhood is a great jumping-off point to ask the question:

  • Why do Japanese live so long?

  • Japan is famous for having the longest life expectancy in the world, in fact.

  • right now, there are two million people over the age of 90 living here in Japan.

  • That's about 2% of the population - which is crazy!

  • So, there's got to be a secret to why people live so long.

  • Some say, it's because everyone drinks green tea daily.

  • It's served everywhere

  • and the most popular item in drink vending machines...

  • is green tea.

  • Japanese eat smaller portions of food

  • More seafood and lean meats

  • It could be the fermented foods they eat, which are healthy for both the heart and the stomach

  • Japan is also a bath culture.

  • Showers are nice, but soaking in a bath relieves stress and improves the body's circulation

  • Natural Hot Springs are everywhere, loaded with minerals good for the skin

  • Access to affordable and top-notch health care?

  • That could be a reason, too

  • Kids learn personal responsibility in school.

  • Most walk or bicycle there.

  • Could that be the setup for a long life?

  • Violence and gun-related deaths are almost non-existent in Japan

  • Japan has a holiday called "Respect for the Aged Day.

  • And, in Japan, senior citizens are "Living Treasure"

  • The government sends them silver "Sake Cups" when they reach 100 years old

  • Six of the top 10 and twelve of the top 20 oldest people alive....

  • live in Japan

  • The oldest,

  • Supercentenarian "Nabi Tajima" of Kagoshima is the last person alive verified to be born in the 19th century

  • She's 117 and her secret...

  • good sleep and three meals a day

  • But it's got to be more than that, right.

  • DNA could also play a role

  • But, it's still a lottery.

  • Although, Japanese have slightly better odds for those disease-resistant genes

  • Now one or all of these things might be the secret to living a really long life

  • But, I'm not really sure.

  • So, I went to Tottori prefecture to ask the one person who I think knows.

  • She's a hundred and six years old...

  • and she was born in the Meiji era.

  • Certainly,

  • she has the answers

  • Tottori Prefecture is on the Sea of Japan side and I visited Mount Daisen.

  • A place with a great environment for living a long life

  • Mt. Daisen protects the area from typhoons, provides people with lots of pure drinking water, and its location by the sea means excellent fish

  • Daisen Temple on the mountain is celebrating

  • it's 1300th anniversary in summer 2018.

  • A symbol of longevity, for sure

  • And, a place where one of the area's oldest residents lives...

  • Tomiko-San.

  • So, what's her secret?

  • Because I've been working in agriculture

  • I've used my body a lot in the field

  • That trains my body to make it stronger

  • Since I'm working in the field every day

  • It trains my body well

  • So basically if you work hard,

  • you'll be energetic for a long time

  • I've actually never ever been sick

  • You've never caught a cold in your life! Am I right?

  • Never caught a cold, Wow!

  • Oh, great!!

  • Well, I caught cold when I was young

  • But after becoming old, I haven't caught anything at all.

  • I wonder why? Do you think it's because of your diet?

  • We're careful about what we eat

  • Raised on a farm she's worked hard and eaten well

  • Way back in the beginning, there was an annual health checkup in town

  • and a lot of people had a high blood pressure

  • The Health Inspection Office told us

  • we need to eat soybeans

  • but for kids and old people, it was difficult, so we made Tofu

  • We started to make Tofu ourselves in 1954

  • and we've been making Tofu ever since

  • Tofu is an amazingly healthy food best made fresh and the family tradition started 65 years ago

  • Continues with Ryo-San who still makes Tofu in the traditional way

  • Tofu was probably made because of its nutritional value, a long time ago

  • now it's made to pursue deliciousness

  • In the past, it was just for nutrition

  • He basically continues to preserve this tradition and also because it's just more delicious to make it yourself a

  • A lot of the family's success is due to the environment and good habits

  • Tomiko-San still walks herself with the help of a chair on wheels

  • And she's surprisingly fast

  • I wanted to see what it was about Tofu. How it is made here

  • So Ryo-San invited me to make it with him starting at 4:30 in the morning

  • It all starts with the soybeans grown on a farm and the pure waters of Mt. Daisen

  • The beans are soaked to absorb the water washed drain

  • And put through a stone grinder that crushes them producing a white milk

  • This is the raw product that will soon become Tofu

  • But before doing that Ryo-San started a wood fire under the cauldron the way Tomiko-San did in the past

  • During the cold months, it keeps the room warm.

  • Although, a little smoky

  • The buckets of unprocessed soy milk gets poured in with "Nigari" sprinkled in to help it coagulate

  • It's stirred in and covered to raise the temperature to 90 degrees Celsius.

  • That takes a while

  • The sides are skimmed to prevent any burn taste to the final product

  • This is when Tomiko-San's great-grandson Bunkichi wakes up to help Ryosan make the Tofu

  • He's the heir apparent to take over the tradition

  • and it helps that he's curious about everything,

  • including making Tofu with Grandpa

  • When it reaches close to 90 degrees Celsius,

  • it's strained

  • all the liquids separated from the curd

  • And, the collected curd,

  • it's used later since it has a nutritional value

  • At this point,

  • we have some very delicious soy milk

  • It's naturally sweet and only slightly creamy a very delicate taste

  • It takes about 30 minutes to coagulate at which point Ryo-San transfers it to a cheese cloth in a handmade wooden press

  • It takes time to naturally let the water string through the holes

  • Tofu should be delicate

  • So you don't want to push it if you push hard the Tofu will become hard and rubbery the weights give balance and even pressure

  • When enough water is out Ryo-San extracts the Tofu inside a tub of water where it floats staying protected and in shape

  • He cuts them in large blocks for the customers

  • and his own family

  • to eat for today

  • Customers come from all around the neighborhood with their own bucket to bring some home

  • It's first-come, first-serve

  • I was here first,

  • so I got a cup of the freshly-made Tofu

  • The same recipe Tomiko-San has been making since the 1950s

  • When Tofu is made right,

  • it's very tasty,

  • even on its own.

  • It has a slight sweetness to it

  • And, that diet is one reason for Tomiko-San's happy and healthy life,

  • as she gets closer to a hundred and ten years old

  • Not far away is a market that sells local farmers produce

  • prices are cheaper than at the supermarket

  • And, the farmers bringing it in

  • are all seniors and very strong,

  • doing everything themselves

  • Your hands look super strong!

  • Oh, they are! Amazing!!

  • Also, because I'm a table tennis player at Japan National Competition

  • She's full of energy, just like Tomiko-San,

  • so the environment certainly plays a role

  • I wanted to get another point of view so a friend recommended I talked with Nakajima-San,

  • who is a Shinto priest near Mt. Daisen

  • He lives next to the shrine in the middle of a farm

  • Visitors to the shrine pray for safe pregnancies and deliveries

  • and a happy and healthy life.

  • What's Nakajima-san's secret to life?

  • Maybe, the simple life makes me like this

  • Not eating luxurious stuff but eating

  • such as brown rice, and farm nearby to cultivate eggplant and pumpkin which I eat daily

  • The area around the shrine really is a farm

  • and exercising.

  • Well, I don't do it anymore because I'm older, but I love moutains so I climbed Mr.Daisen couple of hundred times

  • Also, Japanese Alps, and Mont Blanc in Europe, and some mountains in Nepal

  • So, I believe living with nature being surrounded by it, is what makes a life good

  • Living peacefully and in harmony with nature is a recipe for success in Japan

  • But, that's certainly not the only thing.

  • You got to know how to stay young

  • and have fun, no matter how old you get

  • That's right.

  • He drives a Porsche.

  • He shares the car with others who have a passion for driving like he does

  • On a nice evening like this,

  • why not go for a short drive?

  • And, going around town in a Porsche

  • is just a little more fun

  • We could definitely feel the energy of driving a sports car

  • And, couldn't help, but smile

  • So, I guess the secret to a long life is also about having fun

  • Ask my Japanese neighbors

  • And, what's Mr. Seiichi's secret?

  • He just celebrated his 97th birthday,

  • and only recently retired from his job selling peanuts to customers

  • The secret?

  • It's his passion for life...

  • Karaoke.

  • He even has a favorite go-to song

  • It's "Enka" a traditional kind of Japanese ballad

  • He goes to a community center for the elderly three times a week and sings

  • There's a lot of energy to being on stage and singing to others

  • Karaoke is a way to release your mind and stay young

  • He sings at home with his family, too

  • Another secret is to be surrounded by loved ones and seniors often live with their families at home

  • With Karaoke, you can remember those good times and make new memories with neighbors from faraway lands

  • The seniors from today come from a different era, they grew up in the 1930s 40s 50s and 60s

  • They didn't have a lot of stuff, and they lived more humbly

  • It was my generation from the 1970s, 80s, 90s, until today

  • We have so many things like fast food, our diets have changed our lifestyles have changed, and this has made things

  • Well,

  • Let's just put it this way

  • I'm a little bit skeptical that...

  • Japan is gonna be able to hold on the crown for having the longest life expectancy in the world

  • But, if we take some of the lessons from our grandparents and incorporate it into our life today

  • Yeah, there's a pretty good chance that we're gonna live a lot longer and a lot happier, too

  • Next time,

  • Japan has been a leader in video gaming for decades

  • and those old games.

  • Well, they find a home somewhere

  • We'll check out a retro Game Center in Tokyo

  • and take a trip back...

  • to our childhood

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  • Matane

ONLY in JAPAN

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