So you want to live a long life perhaps past a hundred years old.

Japan may have some of the answers

Welcome to Sugamo in central Tokyo.

This place is nicknamed the grandma Harajuku.

It's a place where

seniors come for high-fashion.

Sugamo may be in Tokyo, but it's certainly not like neighboring Shibuya or Harajuku.

It retains a lot of the charms of the Showa era

The area may have stayed the same, but most of the residents have gotten older

and that's reflected in what they sell along the main shopping street.

And, this Sugamo neighborhood is a great jumping-off point to ask the question:

Why do Japanese live so long?

Japan is famous for having the longest life expectancy in the world, in fact.

right now, there are two million people over the age of 90 living here in Japan.

That's about 2% of the population - which is crazy!

So, there's got to be a secret to why people live so long.

Some say, it's because everyone drinks green tea daily.

It's served everywhere

and the most popular item in drink vending machines...

is green tea.

Japanese eat smaller portions of food

More seafood and lean meats

It could be the fermented foods they eat, which are healthy for both the heart and the stomach

Japan is also a bath culture.

Showers are nice, but soaking in a bath relieves stress and improves the body's circulation

Natural Hot Springs are everywhere, loaded with minerals good for the skin

Access to affordable and top-notch health care?

That could be a reason, too

Kids learn personal responsibility in school.

Most walk or bicycle there.

Could that be the setup for a long life?

Violence and gun-related deaths are almost non-existent in Japan

Japan has a holiday called "Respect for the Aged Day.

And, in Japan, senior citizens are "Living Treasure"

The government sends them silver "Sake Cups" when they reach 100 years old

Six of the top 10 and twelve of the top 20 oldest people alive....

live in Japan

The oldest,

Supercentenarian "Nabi Tajima" of Kagoshima is the last person alive verified to be born in the 19th century

She's 117 and her secret...

good sleep and three meals a day

But it's got to be more than that, right.

DNA could also play a role

But, it's still a lottery.

Although, Japanese have slightly better odds for those disease-resistant genes

Now one or all of these things might be the secret to living a really long life

But, I'm not really sure.

So, I went to Tottori prefecture to ask the one person who I think knows.

She's a hundred and six years old...

and she was born in the Meiji era.

Certainly,

she has the answers

Tottori Prefecture is on the Sea of Japan side and I visited Mount Daisen.

A place with a great environment for living a long life

Mt. Daisen protects the area from typhoons, provides people with lots of pure drinking water, and its location by the sea means excellent fish

Daisen Temple on the mountain is celebrating

it's 1300th anniversary in summer 2018.

A symbol of longevity, for sure

And, a place where one of the area's oldest residents lives...

Tomiko-San.

So, what's her secret?

Because I've been working in agriculture

I've used my body a lot in the field

That trains my body to make it stronger

Since I'm working in the field every day

It trains my body well

So basically if you work hard,

you'll be energetic for a long time

I've actually never ever been sick

You've never caught a cold in your life! Am I right?

Never caught a cold, Wow!

Oh, great!!

Well, I caught cold when I was young

But after becoming old, I haven't caught anything at all.

I wonder why? Do you think it's because of your diet?

We're careful about what we eat

Raised on a farm she's worked hard and eaten well

Way back in the beginning, there was an annual health checkup in town

and a lot of people had a high blood pressure

The Health Inspection Office told us

we need to eat soybeans

but for kids and old people, it was difficult, so we made Tofu

We started to make Tofu ourselves in 1954

and we've been making Tofu ever since

Tofu is an amazingly healthy food best made fresh and the family tradition started 65 years ago

Continues with Ryo-San who still makes Tofu in the traditional way

Tofu was probably made because of its nutritional value, a long time ago

now it's made to pursue deliciousness

In the past, it was just for nutrition

He basically continues to preserve this tradition and also because it's just more delicious to make it yourself a

A lot of the family's success is due to the environment and good habits

Tomiko-San still walks herself with the help of a chair on wheels

And she's surprisingly fast

I wanted to see what it was about Tofu. How it is made here

So Ryo-San invited me to make it with him starting at 4:30 in the morning

It all starts with the soybeans grown on a farm and the pure waters of Mt. Daisen

The beans are soaked to absorb the water washed drain

And put through a stone grinder that crushes them producing a white milk

This is the raw product that will soon become Tofu

But before doing that Ryo-San started a wood fire under the cauldron the way Tomiko-San did in the past

During the cold months, it keeps the room warm.

Although, a little smoky

The buckets of unprocessed soy milk gets poured in with "Nigari" sprinkled in to help it coagulate

It's stirred in and covered to raise the temperature to 90 degrees Celsius.

That takes a while

The sides are skimmed to prevent any burn taste to the final product

This is when Tomiko-San's great-grandson Bunkichi wakes up to help Ryosan make the Tofu

He's the heir apparent to take over the tradition

and it helps that he's curious about everything,

including making Tofu with Grandpa

When it reaches close to 90 degrees Celsius,

it's strained

all the liquids separated from the curd

And, the collected curd,

it's used later since it has a nutritional value

At this point,

we have some very delicious soy milk

It's naturally sweet and only slightly creamy a very delicate taste

It takes about 30 minutes to coagulate at which point Ryo-San transfers it to a cheese cloth in a handmade wooden press

It takes time to naturally let the water string through the holes

Tofu should be delicate

So you don't want to push it if you push hard the Tofu will become hard and rubbery the weights give balance and even pressure

When enough water is out Ryo-San extracts the Tofu inside a tub of water where it floats staying protected and in shape

He cuts them in large blocks for the customers

and his own family

to eat for today

Customers come from all around the neighborhood with their own bucket to bring some home

It's first-come, first-serve

I was here first,

so I got a cup of the freshly-made Tofu

The same recipe Tomiko-San has been making since the 1950s

When Tofu is made right,

it's very tasty,

even on its own.

It has a slight sweetness to it

And, that diet is one reason for Tomiko-San's happy and healthy life,

as she gets closer to a hundred and ten years old

Not far away is a market that sells local farmers produce

prices are cheaper than at the supermarket

And, the farmers bringing it in

are all seniors and very strong,

doing everything themselves

Your hands look super strong!

Oh, they are! Amazing!!

Also, because I'm a table tennis player at Japan National Competition

She's full of energy, just like Tomiko-San,

so the environment certainly plays a role

I wanted to get another point of view so a friend recommended I talked with Nakajima-San,

who is a Shinto priest near Mt. Daisen

He lives next to the shrine in the middle of a farm

Visitors to the shrine pray for safe pregnancies and deliveries

and a happy and healthy life.

What's Nakajima-san's secret to life?

Maybe, the simple life makes me like this

Not eating luxurious stuff but eating

such as brown rice, and farm nearby to cultivate eggplant and pumpkin which I eat daily

The area around the shrine really is a farm

and exercising.

Well, I don't do it anymore because I'm older, but I love moutains so I climbed Mr.Daisen couple of hundred times

Also, Japanese Alps, and Mont Blanc in Europe, and some mountains in Nepal

So, I believe living with nature being surrounded by it, is what makes a life good

Living peacefully and in harmony with nature is a recipe for success in Japan

But, that's certainly not the only thing.

You got to know how to stay young

and have fun, no matter how old you get

That's right.

He drives a Porsche.

He shares the car with others who have a passion for driving like he does

On a nice evening like this,

why not go for a short drive?

And, going around town in a Porsche

is just a little more fun

We could definitely feel the energy of driving a sports car

And, couldn't help, but smile

So, I guess the secret to a long life is also about having fun

Ask my Japanese neighbors

And, what's Mr. Seiichi's secret?

He just celebrated his 97th birthday,

and only recently retired from his job selling peanuts to customers

The secret?

It's his passion for life...

Karaoke.

He even has a favorite go-to song

It's "Enka" a traditional kind of Japanese ballad

He goes to a community center for the elderly three times a week and sings

There's a lot of energy to being on stage and singing to others

Karaoke is a way to release your mind and stay young

He sings at home with his family, too

Another secret is to be surrounded by loved ones and seniors often live with their families at home

With Karaoke, you can remember those good times and make new memories with neighbors from faraway lands

The seniors from today come from a different era, they grew up in the 1930s 40s 50s and 60s

They didn't have a lot of stuff, and they lived more humbly

It was my generation from the 1970s, 80s, 90s, until today

We have so many things like fast food, our diets have changed our lifestyles have changed, and this has made things

Well,

Let's just put it this way

I'm a little bit skeptical that...

Japan is gonna be able to hold on the crown for having the longest life expectancy in the world

But, if we take some of the lessons from our grandparents and incorporate it into our life today

Yeah, there's a pretty good chance that we're gonna live a lot longer and a lot happier, too

Next time,

Japan has been a leader in video gaming for decades

and those old games.

Well, they find a home somewhere

We'll check out a retro Game Center in Tokyo

and take a trip back...

to our childhood

If you liked it hit that subscribe button and check out another one of our shows

Don't miss my second live streaming channel, ONLY in JAPAN GO

And, check location photos on http://instagram.com/onlyinjapantv

Matane