Japan. The Oldest People In The World (Episode 5) | Full Documentary

[Music] [Music] yamakawa a citizen of okinawa cannot imagine his life without sport this 93 year old japanese man runs marathons practices swimming and gymnastics his signature exercise is a headstand yohiyah shiga is seven years older than yamakawa she dedicates all her free time to her hobby this 100 year old lady loves karaoke [Music] yoshi yogi has been doing martial arts since he was a child in his 80s he is one of the most sought after teachers of martial arts on the island [Music] what is the secret of these phenomenal people why did their biological clock slow down a team of russian researchers traveled around the world in order to find answers to these questions here's a vote for my grandson and this one's mine it's lighter than the others the aim of this expedition is to visit unique places where people live longer without realizing it the longest living people in these areas have already discovered the secret of a long and active life i'm lucky i met two heresy centenarians according to the examples set by the oldest representatives of the humankind we will try to determine an optimal formula for longevity the set of rules of a centenarian centenarian rules of life okinawa [Music] japan this enigmatic country has been cut off from the rest of the world for centuries it's only in the 19th century that the iron curtain was raised in the 21st century japan has become the birthplace of the economic miracle modern japan has other marvels on display too her citizens boast the highest rates of longevity on the planet their average lifespan is over 82 years tropical okinawa has contributed a lot to this achievement this southernmost island of japan holds the world record for the highest number of super centenarians i am la gusev i'm a biologist i am 35 years old alei gusev the chief of the laboratory of extreme biology at the kazan federal university has been collaborating with colleagues from the land of the rising sun for the past 12 years for instance with the japanese space agency the russian researcher has a good command of the japanese language and culture the key subject matter of his research are living beings with exceptional abilities according to some of those organisms may provide man with an extraordinary method in addressing the question of aging [Music] for instance one of the phenomena i am very interested in is hypo metabolism this is when the normal time flow of a living being slows down it falls asleep and all processes in the body come to a halt a lot of animals for instance bears and some other mammals sleep for extended periods of time which is called hibernation but there are very extreme examples let me show you this is a larva of anaphyles gambay this subspecies of the mosquitoes lives in the dry areas of nigeria during the dry spell the larvae of these insects fall into deep estivation according to the research findings this estimation may last for years even dozens of years the state in which they are the state of estivation cannot be defined either as life or death it is neither alive because all biological processes have terminated nor dead because we can restore them to life right now and we do not need any special equipment or laboratory conditions to do so [Music] the microscopic insects placed in the test tube have been dormant for three and a half years by analogy with real life conditions simple water brings them back to life restored to life the larvae soak in water like a sponge and completely recover within 50 minutes after the start of the experiment even if we place those larvae in outer space and bring them back after a few years which we have already done they will come back to life and continue their life cycle therefore from a scientific point of view life completely stops and so does the aging just as it happens in the sleeping beauty fairy tale this method provided to us by nature is one of the ways to trick the biological clock to stop the process of life and reactivate it when needed russian researcher lake gusev knows a few longest living people personally all his grandmothers and grandfathers are over 90 years old his first encounter with a centenarian took place at a surprising location [Music] this single-story building is the center for social life of the mibaru village its doors are always open to the villagers today the oldest villager of this fisherman's village is singing here [Music] [Applause] [Music] i the population of miboro is about 200 people when this woman was born there were no more than 30 villagers my grandfather was a fisherman whatever he caught that day my grandmother and i took to sell at the market each day we were going to the market loaded with baskets of fish i'm surprised that my legs still function well we didn't have plumbing for water before so i carried water home from school and helped my parents in the garden i still do all the household chores myself [Music] johanna has been connected to the sea her entire life her house is located literally within a minute's walk from the shore she spends most of her free time on the beach i walk along the beach every day [Music] [Music] my neighbors and i often come together here [Music] [Music] our heroine was completely open and welcoming and invited us to our house straight away having lived in japan for quite a while i know that the japanese are rather reserved people okinawa is different though sunny okinawa is not a typical japanese region for 450 years was an independent state the roku kingdom which had its own laws customs traditions and language it only became a japanese prefecture in 1872 the okinawa today is one of the smallest prefectures of the land of the rising sun and the only place in the country where it never snows [Music] but i do enjoy collecting seashells it's very interesting when the tide is low i always do that [Music] i think this woman is very strong physically and spiritually we went to the beach together she showed me her boat and we lifted it up together it weighs about 30 kilograms and the old lady lifted it up with ease of being helpless or having limitations was never raised during our conversations it felt as if her life in terms of what she can routinely do not changed much in the last say 30 to 50 years okinawa is one of the few places on earth where centenarians have been studied since the 1970s the pioneer of this research still works on the island [Music] i'm a makoto suzuki that's a professor emeritus of the university of the uk's university of the uk i'm now 81 years old now [Music] makoto suzuki arrived in okinawa in 1972 the objective of the cardiologist was to improve the local health care system almost immediately the doctor from the capitol encountered an unexpected problem most of the elderly inhabitants in this location did not need any health care even if they were 100 years old asked that's a kamasan that's in the name of our centerline that that's a woman is very healthy i looked at it but he is holding the big bucket basket in the uh stack please follow me that's i understand we are we are followed her we go into our house and you know going up to the floor again he asked where kamasan is that's she said that's me wonderful i i understand that you are i said we said i'm lucky i met two heresy [Music] centenarians having examined all okinawan longest living people the doctors discovered that 90 of them were completely healthy this surprising fact determined the course of the scientific research of the future professor studying the okinawan anomalies have become his life's work in the beginning of my research i'm interested in the genetic factors you know the two hundred thousand organic people are living in brazil the india you know life extension of brazilian okinawa is a 17 years shorter than the original food living okinawa but any environmental factor is more important than the digital heritage factors maybe makoto suzuki the world renowned gerontologist has been researching this age phenomenon of his fellow countrymen for 40 years which components of the okinawan lifestyle slowed down the aging process what is the seeker of the exceptional health and longevity of the locals i categorized all of the channel data to the four items first such chapter is a giant culture secret second one is a physical activity third one is a self-help manner maybe first has helped we can understand easily about the physical health also mental health and social cells that is the you know spiritual health manner the 80 year old professor suzuki is not even thinking about retiring he regularly updates his unique archives together with his colleagues those shelves hold the data of all okinawan longest living people the dossier of johanna shiga is also there other than her extremely old age this charming lady boasts another fascinating peculiarity even at over 100 years old she continues to make plans for the future think that if you want to live long you have to keep yourself busy with something yeah i like to grow sugar cane but my relatives stop me from doing so they say do you remember how old you are how are you going to work in the field we talk to the person whose age exceeds the average lifespan by dozens of years and not once did she say that she suffers from old age that she's too old or that she would like to be young all that she appeared to be worried about during our conversation was the color of her hair the fisherwoman from mibaru literally does not notice her age she lives an active life this prompted a short test which yielded mixed results [Music] on it this classic test allows one to quickly identify the signs of mental deterioration the okinawan centenarian drew a rectangular clock face and even all the numbers but she did it anti-clockwise quarter to one on it [Music] the corrected drawing did not present a problem to johina she performed the task with ease thus from a scientific point of view we see the first signs of dementia however those signs [Music] [Music] singing karaoke her normal routines and taking care of her house and herself the little japanese okinawa is the world's center of longevity today there are 319 centenarians even the bloody battles of the second world war did not diminish this extraordinary count almost one-third of the civilians of the island died at the battle of okinawa most of the populated settlements were completely destroyed only one street survived out of the entire city of naha [Music] i am andre and i am the head of the okinawan russian society i am 37 years old [Music] moscow andrei chorilov became an okinawan citizen in 2002 today he is a certified translator a graduate of the local university specializing in japanese culture within 12 years andre learned a lot about the nature history and customs of the island's citizens ancient okinawa was called the land of happy immortals and some of their traditions support that statement [Music] they have a festival a ritual festival called kajimaya to celebrate one's 97th birthday the 97 year olds are put in a car given a windmill like those that children play with and roll down the streets and even if you ask someone about their plans for the future the answer in most case will be i'd love to reach the age of kajimaya [Music] the main reason why andre moved to japan was martial arts okinawa is considered to be the birthplace of karate however the young man from russia was attracted by a different type of martial arts diagonally is that clear if you do it this way then the sword turns on its side raise it over your head then a quick thrust now repeat that [Music] for six days a week tudor hamamoto passes on his knowledge to his students his ancestors going back 14 generations have not been separated from a sword his own professional career spans over 70 years i am hamamoto i am 78 years old [Music] he does not look his age either if i met him in the street i think that he's around 50 or at most 55 years old the main rule of the season sensei is cast iron discipline his daily regimen is very strict i eat everything but i never overindulge i have never over indulged in me i normally wake up at six in the morning have breakfast do household chores and go to the center of martial arts i first go for a four kilometer walk in the park the classes start at nine by eleven pm i'm normally asleep the life of this japanese pensioner is constant self-improvement he still works out four hours a day he calls the sharp two kilogram sword the main weapon against old age another seeker of longevity is a special attitude to age as most age citizens of okinawa mr hamamoto rarely thinks about his own age we perceive aging and our age as unavoidable evils as some kind of tragedy even the words we use twilight declining years are negative [Music] and it is normal for them to adapt to those and there is nothing negative about it push it step forward another leg that's it [Music] during his long career hamamoto fully trained 60 students yet he is not the oldest teacher of martial arts on the island one floor up an 80 year old sensei demonstrates his skill [Music] people have entered their 90s regularly work out here at this gym i don't feel my age i don't even think about it i just work out every day and communicate with my students if you deal with the youth all the time you become younger yourself i turn 78 and i still have 28 of my own teeth [Music] you have to agree that doesn't often happen one of the most renowned okinawan longest living person starts his day with a demanding morning exercise to see this unusual scene you'd have to go to the city beach at six in the morning this little beach is highly popular among the elderly citizens of naha an hour before sunrise a group of pensioneers are already there exercising as a rule this man of very advanced years is always the first to arrive [Music] i am yamakawa [Music] i am 93 years old [Music] [Applause] [Music] the 93 year old gentleman approaches morning exercise more seriously than others his hour-long workout consists of a set of exercises which are not within the range of abilities of every middle-aged person to be honest i haven't seen many people half your age who could repeat this including myself i can't even imagine how it is possible six o'clock in the morning when it's still dark it left an indelible impression on me a man who is 90 years old can do all those complex exercises jog swim and do a headstand it is simply surreal the headstand is the proof of an exceptionally good physical condition of this longest living person it is remarkable that he only learned to do it when he was 40. 25 years later mr yamakawa ran his first marathon [Music] i started jogging when i was 55. my name is at the age of 65 i ran a marathon in naha quite late in life isn't it at the age of 69 i learned about the track and field competitions for pensioneers i have taken part in them ever since i do hammer throwing and long jumping [Music] the sport career of mr yamakawa started after his retirement prior to that he didn't have the time for most of his life he was working with finances he ended his career as a senior manager in the bank of ruku in europe and most definitely in russia retirement is more or less the end point of an active full life in japan the situation is different living in a communal society the japanese get an opportunity to pursue their dreams and wishes only who constitute the majority of the members of voluntary organizations in japan life acquires new meaning after retirement therefore one's life in japan is not divided into periods of active life and the twilight years in fact upon retirement japanese pensioners in a way start a second life yamakawa jaso is a member of various social organizations among his hobbies are calligraphy drawing gardening and collecting rocks but his main hobby is definitely sport [Music] i am training to set a record in a hammer throwing in the senior sportsman category my next goal is to do a long jump at the age of 95. no one in japan has done that before my main dream is to run a marathon at the age of 100 but i want you to clearly understand that i'm not practicing sports only to stay healthy i am healthy because i enjoy what i am doing this is what i am living for in okinawa we call it the king i is a special word in japan but in other countries no not so you know adequate words translated in me in english and other countries but only in french that's uh some not [Music] is the key concept of the okinawan life philosophy nearly every islander will not hesitate in supplying an answer to the question of what their key component is to having a happy life my iggy guy is to communicate with everyone to make friends and to be busy with something while i still have energy for it to do whatever i like [Music] to the next generations consists of to live and guy a value but is not a value as understood by europeans that makes you get out of bed in the morning and carry on living yokinow and citizen rarely ask questions on the meaning of life boredom and depression are foreign to them for hundreds of years the islanders have been sorting out such issues jointly with the help of support groups called moai this unique phenomenon emerged spontaneously members of moai used to provide financial physical and social support to each other nowadays the main principles of those groups are common interests for instance singing [Music] the gerontologists consider ikigai and moai to be the main constituents of okinawan longevity most locals differ from modern societies in other ways too they are not in a hurry they are easygoing about tardiness do not feel anxious do not worry about or remember evil because it only harms oneself they still live in a communal way helping and supporting each other the okinawan dialect has a word maru means a circle if you put all company workers in the line you will not be able to tell the head of the company by looking at them there are no expensive cars in okinawa everyone drives the same cars and this is their way of displaying equality [Music] the former banker yamakawa fumijasu cycles around the city you will not find luxury items in his humble apartment his main treasure is his collection of sporting trophies in the last 20 years this elderly man has ranked first 139 times so it is not surprising that he agrees to do a simple test [Music] now we will conduct a simple test i will show you once and then we will repeat these movements together three times [Music] this exercise a litmus test for some of the mental processes it is used to evaluate someone's working memory coordination and concentration now do it yourself five times [Music] thanks [Music] [Music] and [Music] just don't over indulge on fatty foods the main thing is to know when to stop american food is very popular here now young people simply love it and i think they become ill more often now than the older generations [Music] in the 20th century okinawa experienced harsh times more than once the japanese economic miracle did not reach this island up until 1972 okinawa was controlled by the usa despite this the locals managed to maintain their traditional systems of communal living and the peculiar customs of their ancestors the food traditions have remained intact on the island for hundreds of years professor kazuhiro taro knows all about the okinawan cuisine he's been studying that from a scientific point of view since the 1980s [Music] [Applause] [Music] it only grows on the coast of okinawa this seaweed is rich in iodine and minerals they used to collect it from the seabed and now it is harvested in special farms a traditional okinawan dish made from vegetables eggs and fried tofu tofu contains a lot of vegetable protein okinawans have it nearly every day various types of seaweed vegetables and soy tofu comprise the typical components of the okinawan cuisine other than that okinawan daily meals include pork and seafood for instance thinly sliced raw fish sashimi okinawan cuisine is very versatile its basis is the balance of all ingredients without any extremes we've been comparing okinawan cuisine with the cuisines of other countries for 30 years and we have arrived at the conclusion that our diet is the basis of a healthy lifestyle and longevity according to the statistics of professor tairo the local longest living people hardly ever have stomach cancer okinawa boasts the lowest rate of obese people in the whole of japan this is due to a number of reasons one of which is right here on this table whatever an okinawan eats the food is placed in small portions to eat moderately here is an ancient tradition called harahachibu harahachibu 0.8 that is 80 so this means that you don't eat to feel full always leave some room this i often hear from the longest living people that it is to over indulge food is low in salt here is this just my impression or is it a fact you are absolutely right okinawa rates last in the scale of salt consumption in japan and this has been the case for a very long time that is why the rate of strokes and cardiovascular diseases is very low here too [Music] this house in nishihara belongs to an okinawan centenarian today there's a happy event three generations of ivault came to visit the head of the family who recently celebrated his 101st birthday [Music] i was born on the 29th of november 1913 [Music] was born 100 kilometers from okinawa on the neighboring island of kumai he suffered a lot of hardships during the first half of his life the worst times were the period of world war ii in august 1945 a 30 year old gunman otokazu found himself in the chinese manchuria [Music] soviet troops were approaching manchuria at the time they shouted us every day and had a serious leg injury [Music] was sent to central asia as a prisoner of war until 1950 he was building hydro power stations in the soviet republic [Music] a worker fitting work concrete work group commander is working very well this longest living person still surprises others with his knowledge of russian not suffering from sclerosis is an important attribute of healthy longevity the hundred-year-old participants of the project demonstrated very good memories of ivaro is no exception which is proved by our last test [Music] so let's start where are we now [Music] building 153. [Music] please memorize and repeat five words [Music] [Music] okay [Music] [Music] he made no mistake in the day of the week place where we were located and repeated three words out of the five not even the easiest ones which is a remarkable result for his age the longest living person from nissihara not only succeeded in the intellectual task he also astonished our expert with his physical condition the centenarian offered to see who was the strongest in an arm wrestling match okay okay let's do that okay anyone what is behind the extraordinary health of this person [Music] i think my main secret is my but they never to live [Music] according to gerontologists the harm caused by social isolation to the elderly people can be compared to that of smoking russian researcher alek gusev shares this opinion close-knit family and friends are able to extend one's life combating loneliness is one of the rules of okinawan longevity first of all live without thinking about time don't be afraid to try something but at the same time maintain a certain rhythm loosely speaking keep regular hours secondly maintain social links and communication all our longest living people communicate a lot with their relatives friends and students and finally ikigai an activity or a hobby something that brings joy to you every day makes you feel fulfilled and prolongs your life [Music] a healthy active and happy old age is the result of daily work genetics and good heredity are important but not foremost [Music] therefore the lifespan of each person depends on themselves [Music] our tv expedition is drawing to a close over a year the centenarian's rules of life has visited many places around the world that have the highest concentration of centenarians eight russian researchers have studied the experiences and achievements of 35 centenarians here is the result of our scientific journey the set of rules for healthy longevity intellectual and physical work strong social ties eating in moderation optimism a passion a leisurely lifestyle regular medical care and a mild climate [Music] you

Channel: Science

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Keywords: science, documentary, centenarian rules of life, how to live to 100, centenarian in japan, japan centenarian, longevity, old age, longevity diet, how to live longer, live longer, how to be healthy, long life, science of aging, health science, healthiest diet, why do we age, how to live forever, reverse aging, slow aging, education show, live to 100, live long, extend life, how to live 100 years, stop aging, aging, how to stop aging, japan, japan old people

Id: PE4dCyi71O0

Length: 42min 55sec (2575 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 02 2021