My Fieldwork on Longevity in Tokyo and Kamakura
Updated: 2 hours ago
In February I went to Japan for a longevity research study run with the London School of Economics. The question was why some people stay healthy and connected for so long, and what culture has to do with it.
Most of the work was ethnographic fieldwork. My team interviewed residents and watched everyday life in Tokyo neighborhoods, learning about aging and community from the people living it.
In Kamakura we visited a living lab where people over 100 are still working and taking part in community life. We also went to the Bunshin Robot Café, founded by Ory Yoshifuji after his own experience of illness and isolation. People with physical disabilities work there remotely by controlling robots.
We joined a traditional tea ceremony, which made me think about how ritual and patience fit into a long life. And we heard from Taro Kodama, founder and CEO of Anchorstar, about how leadership looks different in Japan and the US after his years at Yahoo and Facebook.
Our mentors were Dr. Tim Deeson and Dr. Rosie Turner from LSE, and Dr. Henrique Nascimento trained us in unconscious bias analysis and systems frameworks.
