A new class of elite citizens is emerging in Japan, the Genkinarians, or Super Elderly. There is the head of Tokyo's leading hospital, who is 97 years old, reports The Sunday Times of London. On the Amakusa Islands of Japan, the nightly newscast is hosted by three anchors, aged 84, 92, and 105. "It is amazing that Japanese live so long—and it is also frightening," says Takashi Shimokawara, a 102-year-old Japanese man who holds world records in the shot put and javelin toss for athletes over 100 years old. "The problem is that, as more Japanese live longer and claim pensions, the young are having fewer children, which means fewer workers to pay the taxes that fund the old age pension. In the long term, the books simply cannot be balanced." The high number of centenarians in Japan is attributed to their healthy diet and lifestyle. In 1950, there were only 97 citizens over 100 years of age. Today there are 36,726. The demographic is even developing its own genre of adult entertainment, The Times reports: "Shigeo Tokuda, 73, is the male star of 350 pornographic films, including Maniac Training of Lolitas and Forbidden Elderly Care. The porn business's oldest talent, Yoshiaki Yasuda, 90, had to retire a few years ago after a career-wrecking back injury."
Read it at The Times of London
