Going with the flow of aging, not against it

Whether it's a trusty old cooking pot or a favorite fountain pen, a well-used utensil feels like an extension of the body. You grow attached to it.

You could also say the same about life itself. In "Rakurosho" (Enjoying old age), novelist Seiko Tanabe says of her own experience with aging, "My life is becoming a better fit for having been well used."

Tanabe was in her late 60s when she made that observation. That summer, she was given a blank fan, upon which she wrote these lines: "My advancing years expose my true colors/ Making life a lot easier." Here is someone who understands life and knows how to age gracefully, as a perfectly natural thing.

I sense the same spirit in the phrase "with aging," a new expression I came across recently in the vernacular Asahi Shimbun.

Advocated by Kenji Toba, a Kyorin University professor of geriatrics, the expression is supposed to mean the opposite of "anti-aging," and implies a willingness to age with grace, instead of fighting it.

It's good to be young, but getting old isn't half bad either, Toba insists. Wrinkles on one's face are indelible evidence of maturity. One's memory may have started going, but one's thoughts and feelings about nature and day-to-day occurrences actually become richer as one ages. According to Toba, a 70-year-old's vocabulary is more than double that of a young person in his or her 20s.

Takashi Yanase, a cartoonist who turned 90 this year, notes in his recent book from Kamakura Shunjusha, "Tasogare Shishu" (Collection of twilight poetry): "This is my first experience of being crusty and cute in my advanced years, and it's fun." Yanase is neither disgusted nor discouraged by his aging, nor does he try to ignore it. His attitude probably represents just what Toba meant by "with aging."

Unlike "anti-aging," which has a confrontational tone, "with aging" sounds more gentle, evoking a sense of respect for life in its evening years. I hope this expression catches on, especially in light of the harsh reality of our aging society.

--The Asahi Shimbun, July 11(IHT/Asahi: July 20,2009)