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INTRODUCTION
The longevity of the Japanese is commonly knownaround the world. But aside from the length of their lifespan, the quality of it is also something to admire.Japan is the country with the longest life expectancy inthe world. Within Japan itself, the longest lifeexpectancy can be found in the Amami Islands, whichlie between Kyushu and Okinawa and are part of Kagoshima Prefecture. When Kagoshima Prefecturelooked into the reasons why its citizens live so long, ituncovered several factors,including an abundance of minerals in the air people breatheand the water they drink; a diet richin seafood, seaweed, and brownsugar; and a sense of purposeamong the elderly. Apart frommoving to the Amami Islands -which is probably impractical - thebest advice to people wishing toextend their life spans may be toresearch what makes the islanderslive so long and adopt some of their good habits.According to the World HealthOrganization, only the Japanesecan look forward to living to atleast 74.5 years in full healthcompared to other people in 191countries. This means they have the most number of years living free of diseases or problems normallyassociated with aging (World Health Organization June4, 2000).This, in spite of the fact that many Japanese indulge indrinking alcoholic beverages such as beer and sake,and smoking. What’s their secret? It’s in their diet.Their food is fresh. Similar to the Philippines, Japan isan island-nation that gro ws rice and vegetables. Theplant food that a Japanese community eats is usuallyfrom sources just within the community. Since the foodthey buy from the market is picked on the same day,only a minimum amount of nutrients is lost – asopposed to fruits and vegetables that are transportedgreat distances before they are eaten.Variety in their daily diet is another factor thatcontributes to the Japanese’s good health. If you’veever eaten at a Japanese restaurant, you’ll know that ameal consists of numerous viands served in sepsaratedishes, often in small amounts.In fact, an average Japanese person usually eats up to25 to 35 different types of food in a day. This variety is ahuge help in satisfying one’s daily nutritionalrequirements.An individual’s (Japanese or otherwise) daily nutritionalrequirement can be broken down into two groups:micronutrients and macronutrients. Micronutrients,more commonly kno wn as vitamins and minerals, canbe found in fresh plant foods.On the other hand, carbohydrates (which is the mostimportant because it is thebody’s fuel), proteins (whichbuild up, keep up andreplace tissues in the body,and also used to formantibodies to fight off infection and disease), andfats (the body’s main form of energy storage) arecollectively known asmacronutrients. They can befound in seafood, rice andnoodles, which are staples of the Japanese diet.The Japanese who live fast-paced lives manage tosatisfy their carbohydraterequirements by eatinginstant noodles.In busy cities like Tokyo,instant noodles areincreasingly popular because they are quick and easyto prepare, and are filling. In fact, the Japanese can eatup to four large servings of instant noodles a day.Instant noodles satisfy the most essential macronutrientrequirement – carbohydrates – without which, the bodywill look for other sources of nourishment, usually fromthe body’s protein or stored fat. This leads to fatigue,depression, loss of weight and muscle mass.Since carbohydrates also act as natural tranquilizers,noodles also make good evening snacks.
LONG LIVE! THE LONGEST LIVES OF THE JAPANESE
Researched and Lay-out by: ALLAN JAY T.
 
Life expectancy is the average number of years of life remaining at a given age. The term is most oftenused in the human context, but used also in other living things such as plant or animalecologyand thecalculation is based on the analysis of life tables(also known asactuarial tables). The term may also be used in the context of manufactured objects although the related termshelf lifeis used for consumer products. On the other hand, the word longevity is sometimes used as a synonym for "life expectancy" indemography. For the general public as well as writers, the word generally connotes "long life", especiallywhen it concerns someone or something lasting longer than expected.Reflections on longevity have usually gone beyond acknowledging the brevity of human life and haveincluded thinking about methods to extend life. Longevity has been a topic not only for the scientificcommunity but also for writers of travel,science fiction,andutopiannovels. There are many difficulties in authenticating the longest human lifespan ever by modern verificationstandards, due to inaccurate or incomplete birth statistics. Fiction, legend, and folklore have proposed or claimed lifespans in the past or future vastly longer than those verified by modern standards, andlongevity narrativesand unverifiedlongevity claimsfrequently speak of their existence in the present. Humans live on average 39.5 years inSwazilandand on average 81 years inJapan(2008 est.). The oldest confirmed recorded age for any human is 122 years (seeJeanne Calment), though some peopleare reported to have lived longer. This is referred to as the "life span", which is the upper boundary of life,the maximum number of years an individual can live.Various factors contribute to an individual's longevity. Significant factors in life expectancy includegender, genetics,access tohealth care, hygiene, diet andnutrition, exercise,lifestyle, andcrime rates. There are great variations in life expectancy worldwide, mostly caused by differences inpublic health, medical care and diet from country to country. Much of the early death in poorer nations is due to war,starvation, or diseases (Aids, Malaria). Over the past 200 years, countries with Black or African citizenshave not had improvements in the mortality rates that persons in colonials countries have. And even incolonial countries (America, England, France), Black citizens have shorter life expectancies than their white counterparts. Climate may also have an effect, and the way data is collected may also be animportant influence.There are also variations between groups within single countries. For example, in the U.S. non-LatinoWhites are expected to live until age 78, but African Americans only until age 71. Significant differencesstill remain in life expectancy between men and women in France and other developed countries,withwomen outliving men by five years or more. On average women tend to live until 80 years old whereasmen are only expected to live until 74. These gender differences have been increasing in recent years.Poverty, in particular, has a very substantial effect on life expectancy. In the United Kingdom lifeexpectancy in the wealthiest areas is on average ten years longer than the poorest areas and the gapappears to be increasing as life expectancy for the prosperous continues to increase while in moredeprived communities there is little increase. However, inGlasgowthe disparity is among the highest inthe world with life expectancy for males in the heavily deprivedCaltonstanding at 54 – 28 years less thanin the affluent area of Lenzie, which is only eight kilometres away.Life expectancy may also be reduced for people exposed to high levels of highway air pollution
 
or industrialair pollution.Occupation may also have a major effect on life expectancy. Well-educatedprofessionals working in offices have a high life expectancy, while coal miners (and in prior generations,asbestos cutters) do not. Other factors affecting an individual's life expectancy are genetic disorders,obesity, access to health care, diet, exercise,tobacco smoking, and excessive drug and alcohol use. Aspointed out above,AIDShas recently had a negative effect on life expectancy, especially in Sub-SaharanAfrica.
LIFE EXPECTANCY ANG LONGEVITY
 
Japanese Shown to HaveLongest Healthy Life Expectancy
Japanese Women Lead the World Again. According to the most recent data from the Ministry of Health, Labor,and Welfare, the average life expectancy in Japan was 78.32 years for men and 85.23 for women in 2002. Thiswas an increase of 0.25 years for men and 0.30 years for women over the previous year and was also the firsttime that the figure for either gender had exceeded 85 years. Looking at countries around the world, HongKong has the longest life expectancy for men at 78.4 years (2001 figure), followed by Japan, and Iceland at78.1 years (2001 figure). Japan had the highest life expectancy for women, followed by Hong Kong at 84.6years and Switzerland at 82.6 years (2000 figure).Even if people do not fall ill, the DNA contained in their cells seems to contain a kind of "program" for an upper limit, and the maximum life expectancy is thought to be unlikely to change without this program being rewritten.Average life expectancy, however, can be extended through such means as the prevention of illnesses,advances in medicine, reducing the number of accidents, and eliminating war. Advanced countries have seenlife expectancies roughly double from the end of the eighteenth century, when people lived to between 35 and40 on average. Average life expectancies exceeding 50 are, in fact, a relatively new phenomenon, and Japandid not reach this level until after World War II. Life expectancy in Japan grew rapidly after that; in the 1980sJapan continually vied with Iceland for the longest life expectancy for men, while Japanese women have heldthe top spot in the world for eighteen years running.Life expectancy rose for both men and women in all of Japan's 47 prefectures between 1975 and 2000. Duringthat period, Nagano, Fukui, Kanagawa, Shizuoka, and Gifu Prefectures were in the top 10 for men's lifeexpectancy every year. Okinawa Prefecture ranked at the top for women's life expectancy every year, and theonly other prefecture to consistently make the top 10 for women was Okayama. Okinawa ranked in the top 10for men's life expectancy until 1995 but then suffered something of a slump, including a fall of 0.42 years inmen's life expectancy in 2000, and has dropped down the rankings.
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