At 82, she coded an app. She just wanted a game she could win.
| FUJISAWA, JAPAN
Even in this age of smartphones, octogenarian Wakamiya Masako feels older people in rapidly aging Japan are kept out of the tech loop.聽
Retired from bank management for about 25 years, she has spent a lot of her time helping older friends and neighbors learn to use smartphones, and she鈥檚 developed the theory that they have a hard time because there aren鈥檛 games and apps aimed at their age group. 聽
One possible solution, she thought, was to create a gaming app to encourage and enchant older people into more comfort with their smartphones.聽
Why We Wrote This
In our increasingly digital world, technology serves as a gateway to new skills and social opportunities. This octogenarian app developer is making sure fellow seniors aren鈥檛 left behind.
鈥淢y friends were very much looking forward to such an app and encouraged me,鈥� says Ms. Wakamiya.聽
So she got some help from an expert, and her idea has made her famous at home and abroad for being one of the oldest app developers in the world, lauded by Japanese leaders and global technology executives for transcending age barriers. 聽
鈥淢s. Wakamiya asked me to develop a gaming app in which seniors can beat young people,鈥� recalls Koizumi Katsushiro, president of Tesseract, a company that teaches computer programming and app development in the northeastern city of Shiogama.聽
But he suggested she create the app herself, and that he would help her. The energetic Ms. Wakamiya took on the challenge, struggling for six months to create the game.聽
鈥淚t was especially very difficult to聽organize the whole structure of the app,鈥� she says of the challenge of learning to code.聽
In 2017, at the age of 82, she launched Hinadan. The game features Japan鈥檚 traditional Hinamatsuri festival, a celebration of Girls鈥� Day. On the , which takes its name from a tiered stand for displaying traditional Japanese dolls, users must move dolls 鈥� puzzle-like 鈥� into appropriate positions according to roles: the emperor and the empress, court ladies, and court musicians with instruments. It has now been released in five languages.聽
鈥淚 was pleased with the launch. But I did not think it was such a major achievement,鈥� says Ms. Wakamiya, surprised at the global interest in her work.聽
Hailing her as the world鈥檚 oldest app developer, Apple chief executive Tim Cook invited her to the company鈥檚 Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose, California, in 2017. 鈥淭he CEO hugged me!鈥� recalls Ms. Wakamiya, blushing because Mr. Cook鈥檚 enthusiasm for her achievement broke Japanese custom. (Japanese people traditionally do not hug.)
Ms. Wakamiya, who serves as vice chair of the Mellow Club, a Japanese online group for older people, soon found herself on the global speaking circuit encouraging older people to overcome discomfort with technology.聽
Excel art
In 2018, she delivered a keynote address at a United Nations conference in New York on 鈥淲hy are digital skills critical for older persons?鈥� And she has published several books on aging and technology in Japan, including one titled 鈥淟ife Becomes More and More Interesting After 60.鈥澛�
鈥淢asako is an inspiration to all people, but especially to those individuals who want to live a long, rewarding, and purposeful life,鈥� says Bradley Schurman, a former AARP official, author of the book 鈥淭he Super Age,鈥� and the moderator of the 2018 U.N. event at which Ms. Wakamiya spoke. 鈥淪he has shown the world that curiosity does not need to wane in later life.鈥澛�
In Japan, her advocacy for the use of technology at older ages is particularly notable. Japan has struggled with difficult problems associated with its declining birthrate and aging population, including labor shortages and slow economic growth.
Those age 65 or older account for 29% of Japan鈥檚 population. That鈥檚 projected to rise to 38% by 2065, estimates the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research in Tokyo.聽
Ms. Wakamiya began using computers a few years before she retired in 1997 in hopes of socializing online while looking after her aging mother at home. She says she found that, more than just a new way to expand her circle of friends, computer literacy enriched her life with opportunities to broaden her perspective and satisfy her intellectual curiosity.聽
The deficit of online material for older people made her get creative: Using Excel spreadsheets, she saw patterns that she translated into art 鈥� designs for fabric and paper fans. She calls it 鈥淓xcel art.鈥澛�
鈥淓xcel looks difficult for seniors. But I came up with an idea of drawing designs using its functions. Then, I got so excited as I was able to produce one new pattern after another,鈥� says Ms. Wakamiya, who wore an orange-and-green checkered shirt she designed with Excel to her Monitor interview.聽
She acknowledges computers made her become artistic where she was not before.聽
Ms. Wakamiya has taught other seniors how to produce artworks online, using the Excel software as a design tool. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very important for seniors to be creative and produce something original,鈥� she says.聽
Tech evangelism
Ms. Wakamiya, who sits on Prime Minister Kishida Fumio鈥檚 digital policy committee, is known as an information technology evangelist with a mission to get seniors to acquire digital skills. The message carries weight, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, as more people place importance on older people connecting online to avoid social isolation.聽
On her own initiative, Ms. Wakamiya flew to Estonia, which is pioneering the e-Residency concept of digital nations, in 2019 to see how seniors are able to fit in its e-government systems. She also made a speech and held workshops on Excel art during her stay.聽
Many older women note Ms. Wakamiya鈥檚 uplifting effect.
鈥淲e all feel uncertain about the future,鈥� says Notake Yumiko, an architect and Mellow Club member. 鈥淏ut the way she lives sheds light on it. Ma-chan [an affectionate honorific for Ms. Wakamiya] is very smart. But she is still a humble person, which is so attractive.鈥澛�
Hashimoto Kayoko, retired from her career at a major trading house, stumbled upon Ms. Wakamiya at an Apple store in Tokyo, where she was giving an inspirational speech.聽
鈥淚t was as though rain in the dark sky suddenly turned to a brilliantly sunny day. Ma-chan lights up my heart,鈥� she says.聽
鈥淢a-chan shows me a can-do attitude.鈥�
Ms. Wakamiya, who lectures across Japan, encourages older people to be involved in volunteer work especially because many, particularly men, do not know what they are going to do in their post-retirement life.聽
鈥淲hile you contribute to society, volunteering can help broaden your perspective by meeting and working with those in different age groups. Some of them have high aspirations,鈥� she says.聽
Breaking age stereotypes 聽
鈥淥lder populations have many contributions to make to society, and they can play a big role as innovators, investors, and consumers in the economy too,鈥� says Mr. Schurman. 鈥淢asako is helping to break age stereotypes. She鈥檚 showing that there is a life post traditional retirement that can last five, 10, or 20 years or more.鈥澛�
Ms. Wakamiya鈥檚 life after retirement made her see things differently because, throughout her four-decade career at a bank, most of her acquaintances were in the same business, she says. She recently realized that often, in Japan鈥檚 culture of perfectionism, many people are simply so afraid of failure they won鈥檛 try something new.
鈥淵ou should not worry about failures. There are no such things as failures,鈥� she says. 鈥淭o just start something new is deemed a success because you still learn in the聽process.鈥澛�
