TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Psychiatrist Hosaka Takashi said delaying retirement and maintaining social networks are crucial for a happy and healthy old age, Business Today reported Wednesday.
At the “Happy Aging Taiwan-Japan Exchange Forum” on Sept. 17, Hosaka delivered a keynote titled “Creating a Happy and Graceful Old Age.” He told attendees that middle-aged adults should treat the years after 50 as an intermission between life stages, a time to prepare for the second half of life.
“Retirement is no longer the final stage but the start of a new chapter,” Hosaka said, urging people to exercise their minds and bodies and maintain active social networks. At 73, he has spent the past 15 years studying how people over 50 can navigate retirement, dementia, and other challenges of later life.
Even past retirement, Hosaka practices his own advice. He does four clinic days per week, writes books, and gives lectures, demonstrating enduring curiosity and energy.
Hosaka’s interest in aging deepened after moving to psycho-oncology in 2007. Witnessing cancer patients’ daily struggles with life and death prompted him to reflect on his own approach to aging and mortality.
He observed that many patients were more concerned about their elderly parents than their own illnesses. “I had no answers at first for complex issues like dementia and caregiving,” he said, noting that these experiences guided his later research and writing.
Social support is central to healthy aging, Hosaka said. Citing a study from Alameda County, California, he said men without social networks had 2.3 times higher mortality risk over nine years, and women 2.8 times higher.
Group activities, such as park gatherings, offer multiple forms of support: emotional, tangible, and informational. Hosaka encouraged governments and families to ensure older adults have access to these networks to reduce loneliness and stress.
Continuing to work after retirement is another pillar. Hosaka suggested programs like Japan’s senior vocational training centers, which provide job opportunities, corporate experiences, and workshops. Over five years, Tokyo has employed more than 900,000 people aged 65 and older, helping them to stay socially engaged and healthy, he said.
Hosaka has served as director of the Psycho-Oncology Department at St. Luke’s International Hospital in Tokyo and is a leading author on aging, with more than 30 books on health and finance. His work promotes a more optimistic vision of aging in a society grappling with marginalized elderly.
