Unexperienced New Horizon

Since the end of last year, I have often been hearing a radio commercial for the “Grandma Moses Exhibition.” I seldom go to a museum, but I was interested and went to see the exhibit. Mrs. Moses started painting in her 70s, after her husband and second daughter passed away. She kept painting American landscapes with a warm touch until her own passing at age 101. Her works were not valued highly by art critics, but captured the hearts of many regular citizens.

According to Juan, our capable editor in chief of UNI-SIGHT, the average age of our NAKAMA in the UNIVA CAPITAL Group is 38.2. My message today may not resonate with many of our young NAKAMA, but may be of an interest of people in my generation as an immediate issue. Chairman Inaba will become 60 years old this year; I will follow him next year.

The year 1986 when I started working was during the peak of Japan’s post-war economic growth. I experienced the “oil shock”, “bubble economy” and “bubble burst”. Lifetime employment was guaranteed, and the retirement age was uniformly 60 years old. There was no concern about social security. Everyone expected to enjoy ten or so years of retired life, and after that one’s life would quietly and gradually come to the end. Eighty years was the universal assumption of life expectancy.

Thirty-five years later in 2022, perhaps thanks to medical advances or to changes in our life styles, many of us will live up to 100 years or longer. The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare formed the “Planning Committee for 100 years of life expectancy”, seeking a social structure that can sustain the population. Some projections suggest that a half of the population who were born in and after 2007 will live up to 107 years old. Prolonged life is an uncharted territory for Japanese.

Therefore, someone like Grandma Moses will not be rare. Mr. Takashi Yanase, a famous cartoonist, started drawing popular “Anpan Man” at age 54. The TV program of Anpan Man animation was launched when he was 69 years old. Mr. Yanase was said to have kept working until 94 years old, just before he passed away. In Edo period, when the life expectancy was 50 years, Tadataka Ino, a geographer and surveyor, broke off his retirement and started surveying the whole of Japan at age 55. He kept traveling and surveying, and completed a map of Japan with the accuracy that had never been attained previously at age 71.

I am no artist or traveler, so how should I age? Humans are social animals. We cannot live without participating in society in some way; at least, I can’t. “Work in the field in fine weather and stay at home reading when it is wet.” is not really my thing. I enjoyed reading and content subscription services when we had to stay home due to COVID-19, but I got bored after three months. I don't have a hobby in which I can completely engage, forgetting time. I wish to make social contributions, but cannot picture myself passionately volunteering for causes. My network of friends was formed through work. They do not just offer me practical benefits. I cherish them and consider them precious.

I thought I had a wide range of experiences through work, but with hindsight, I may have been “the frog in the well (“The frog in the well knows nothing about the great ocean” from the book of Zhuangzi)” who only knows the world of business. Wait, even if I am the frog, I should not despair, as there is a convenient phrase added later in Japan, “The frog in the well knows nothing of the great ocean, but he knows of the blue sky.” Well, I like it. Here is another one, “The frog in the well knows nothing of the great ocean, but flower petals fall and moonlight shines into the well.” Yes, the phrases are empowering!

They say the essence of work is to make people happy. If so, it is not so bad to keep swimming in the well of work until I die.

Fumiaki Nakaya
Representative Director
ZYX Inc.