 |
| They will probably outlive you. |
Anybody that believes they can
massively extend their lifespan by changing their passport is unfortunately probably going to be disappointed a few decades down the road after they acquire their Japanese passport. And by "disappointed", I mean dead.
Nobody thinks that becoming legally Japanese is going to magically add years to your life. Many, however, are under the impression that if you live in Japan that there must be something in the water, air, or food that makes Japanese have one of the longest lifespans in the world. As of 2011, Japanese in Japan had the following average lifespan:
- Males: 79.5 years old (#12 in the world)
- Females: 85.8 years old (#1 in the world)
- Overall life expectancy for Japanese in Japan: 82.7 (#1 in the world)
What people outside of Japan (and many foreign residents in Japan are in denial over) don't realize is that even foreigners — and those whose naturalize — who live in Japan for decades rarely live a lifestyle that is exactly Japanese. Sure, foreign residents in Japan eat
way more sushi than even the most passionate Japanophile in Los Angeles or New York City. Sure, many foreigners in Japan often live in the same style homes walking around in bare feet and keep warm by sitting under a
火燵 (low table with a heat source underneath of it and a
布団 (Japanese heavy/thick quilt or blanket) integrated into the edges to keep the heat from escaping while warming the legs). However, most people that immigrate rarely abandon all their former countries habits. They probably still eat way more meat and sugar and salt and fried food than the average Japanese.
 |
| Sorry, this is great, but it will only make you live slightly longer. |
And even foreign residents do go full native, they probably spent decades in their home country before immigrating to Japan, and these decades spent living life one way does affect your longevity in the future in a way that suddenly living Japanese-style won't completely erase how your previous lifestyle added "mileage" to your body.
 |
Daniel K. Inouye exceeded expectations (88) for
Japanese-Hawaiian-Americans regarding longevity |
Comparatively, Asian-Americans (including Japanese-Americans) live much longer than both average Americans and average Japanese in Japan,
until they get to the 3rd generation Japanese-American (
三世日系人). Nobody knows definitively why this is, but educated guesses say that by the time one is the third generation, their lifestyles are completely Americanized.
- Average Asian-American in Connecticut lifespan: 92.4 (!) years old
- Average Asian-American lifespan in Hawai'i: 81.7 years old
- Average overall Asian-American lifespan: 87.3 years old
 |
Hawaiian-born naturalized American
retired sumo wrestler KONISHIKI
has removed a lot of weight post
retirement. |
There have been studies on (American and Western European) foreigners who have lived in Japan and they have found that living in Japan only very marginally affected their average longevity. Because the population of naturalized foreigners is much smaller, there are no surveys (that I know of) which measure their health compared to the rest of the populace, but there is no reason to speculate that a naturalized person would live that much differently than a long term foreign permanent resident in Japan.
Similarly, Japanese people who live extreme lifestyles do not live as long as average Japanese. The average lifespan for a sumo wrestler (
相撲力士) is only between 60 & 65 years old — ten years shorter than the average Japanese — due to the extreme diet and weight and punishment they put on their bodies — even if they lose much of their fighting weight after they retire.
