JIGA
We want to convey to children the wonders of working seniors! Donate gerontology picture books to children’s libraries across the country. “Senior Reading Team” is a great success!
I want to share with children a new, rich and enjoyable way of aging society through reading aloud as work.
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The Japan Industrial Gerontology Association (Representative Director: Miyuki Sakiyama), which works on “creating workplaces that are easy for the elderly to work in and training advisors for that purpose,” teaches children the wonders and joys of working for the elderly. In order to convey this message, we will create a picture book and donate it to children’s libraries across the country.The title is “Grandpa and Grandma’s Work.”The illustrations are by Toharu Kobayashi, a master of Japanese sumi-e. With the desire to spread the importance and splendor of people around the world, we will be working with the “Senior Reading Team”, an organization of people around the age of retirement.For the production of the picture book, we will work with the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Japan Association of Corporate Executives, etc. Various economic organizations and various ministries and agencies, including the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and the Cabinet Office, will also support us. Through opportunities for interaction between children and working seniors, our association hopes to create a prosperous and enjoyable aging society through cross-generational exchanges.
The Japan Industrial Gerontology Association, a general incorporated association, aims to create a society where seniors can demonstrate their abilities through work, and is training advisors and holding study groups for corporations. In addition, in the super-aging society of the future, we would like to convey to children and younger generations that by allowing the elderly to work happily, we can create a prosperous and enjoyable society.
In order to make this wish a reality, we created a picture book called “Grandpa and Grandma’s Work” that vividly and clearly depicts working seniors. The main characters are a working senior couple and their grandson. New ways of working that take advantage of
telecommuting and short-time working hours, a spiritually enriching lifestyle where you can enjoy a date after work, the joy of giving gifts to others with your salary, and the aging of the body that makes you listen to it over and over again because it’s a little hard to hear. I drew etc. The story was created by Representative Director Miyuki Sakiyama from the perspective of industrial gerontology. The illustrations are by Higashiharu Kobayashi, a master Japanese sumi-e artist. (Sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, “Beauty Crosses Borders”)
http://tohun.la.coocan.jp/zharuindex.html
This time, in order to pass on the activities and thoughts of our association to the next generation, we have decided to carry out reading activities to children across the country together with seniors around the age of retirement. Regarding production costs, we received offers of donations from economic organizations such as the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, the Rotary Club, and Rengo. Approval for sponsorship is expected to be obtained from various ministries and agencies, including the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. At next year’s Osaka Expo, we are planning to set up a booth to present the results of this project. The features are as follows.
1. A new attempt to teach children about the aging society.
Currently, there are many initiatives aimed at middle-aged and older generations to think about the aging society, but we have shifted the focus to the next generation. This solves the problem of children being unable to imagine what kind of people the elderly are and what kind of society an aging society is in today’s increasingly nuclear family.
2. Promoting interaction between different generations.
We promote interaction between different generations: seniors around retirement age and children. Gerontology research has also shown that interaction between older people and younger people improves mental health.
There are two reasons for choosing around retirement age. The first is that it is easier for children to have an image of a “working senior.” The second goal is to create opportunities for young seniors to become involved in local activities. If you suddenly become a late-stage elderly person, the level of difficulty increases. Regarding the creation of a system for reading aloud, we referred to the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology’s “Reprint” research. This is a demonstration experiment that reading aloud can improve the health of the elderly, and is connected to our
association’s gerontology activities.
3. A collaboration between culture and social issues: “Sumi-e” and “aging society.”
By combining modern and future-oriented social issues, rather than folktales, with the historical culture of “ink painting,” we created a mechanism that creates surprises and attracts children’s interest. Mr. Higashiharu Kobayashi, a sumi painter, has a close friendship with representative director Sakiyama and has a deep understanding of gerontology, which allows him to accurately depict working seniors and their importance. In Sakiyama’s book, he depicts working seniors in ink paintings, which has deepened the relationship. He is also active internationally in various fields, including Ukraine, China, and the United States, so he can be expected to serve as an advisor for disseminating this picture book overseas.
[Image 1: https://prtimes.jp/i/105472/1/resize/d105472-1-f932fc338cec313076e7-2.jpg&s3=105472-1-8a8c8692fb762f3bd4403a59b1ec0d16-1454×1403.jpg]
[Image 2: https://prtimes.jp/i/105472/1/resize/d105472-1-f1807ad114e8408175a7-1.jpg&s3=105472-1-ab1ed9e581663769c7be18aa9609f750-1976×1816.jpg]
4. Business development through paid volunteering and community business In the past, most of the “reading activities” were done by unpaid volunteers. This time’s theme is “Working Seniors.” Therefore, we will create a system in which the story-telling team also works and receives money. Initially, this strategy will be funded by donations and grants, but from next year we will work with senior members to build a business model by leveraging their knowledge and experience. This allows children to embody the image of a “working senior.”
[Image 3: https://prtimes.jp/i/105472/1/resize/d105472-1-4410b5172750ff928921-0.jpg&s3=105472-1-19bd9faad7e6e11f779003f24c94916c-281×640.jpg] 5 Communicating the state of Japan’s aging society to the world Japan has become an aging society at an unprecedented rate in the world. By disseminating to the world the countermeasures and know-how that have brought about positive aging, we can serve as a model for creating a sustainable society. This will improve your international contribution.
Our association supports April Dream, which aims to make April 1st a day to share dreams. This press release is a dream of the Japan Industrial Gerontology Association.
We are seriously aiming to make this dream come true.
Japan Industrial Gerontology Association
Representative Director Miyuki Sakiyama
http://www.jiga.jp
info@jiga.jp
More details about this release:
https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000001.000105472.html