The Island of Okinawa

The Island of Okinawa

Okinawa is an island about four hundred miles south of Japan. It is a beautiful island, with wonderful beaches and clear blue water. It also has more centenarians – people who are a hundred years old or more – than anywhere else in the world. What’s more, they seem to age more slowly than other people. According to scientists, people there who are actually seventy often have the bodies of fifty-year olds. Many of them are very healthy all through their lives.

What is their secret? Most people think it is because of their healthy lifestyle. They do not have big meals – they have a cultural habit called hara hachi, which means you always stop eating before you’re full. They usually just have fish and vegetables, especially sweet potatoes, and they eat a lot of seaweed, which is one of the healthiest foods there is.

But diet is not the only reason why they live so long. The Okinawans are very active, and they often work in their garden until they’re eighty or more. Many of them also do t’ai chi or martial arts, every day. They have a good social life. They visit friends or family, and a lot of them belong to community centers. Some play the traditional Okinawan guitar, an instrument similar to a banjo.

The old people of Okinawa are very positive and happy with their lives. They are not stressed, because they are never in a hurry. Their spiritual lives are important to them, especially the women, and many of them meditate every day.

In Okinawa, people say you’re a child until you are fifty-five. And when you reach ninety-seven, your local town holds a special ritual called kajimaya to celebrate the fact that now it is time to be young again, to be free of all responsibilities and to simply enjoy life.