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[birds chirping]
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[suspenseful music playing]
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[man] Most of us
don't even wanna think about dying,
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getting frail, losing vitality,
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closing our eyes for the last time.
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Wow, my friend.
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[man] But one thing's for sure.
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It's coming.
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{\an8}The question is, when?
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{\an8}How many years
will you get out of your body?
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And do we even have any say in the matter?
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{\an8}I have found that most of what
people think leads to a long, healthy life
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{\an8}is misguided or just plain wrong.
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[machine whirring]
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[Dan] It's not like
we don't care about this stuff.
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Every year, Americans spend
billions of dollars
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on diet plans,
gym memberships, and supplements.
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But it's clearly not working for us.
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The fact of the matter is that most of us
are leaving good years on the table.
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Worldwide, about two-thirds
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of the eight billion people on this planet
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will die prematurely
from an avoidable disease.
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And in America,
for the first time in a century,
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life expectancy is dropping.
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So, how do we fix this?
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I believe
it's not by trying to prevent death.
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It's by learning how to live.
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[mysterious music playing]
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[Dan] What if we could
reverse engineer longevity?
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Well, I spent the last 20 years
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trying to do just that.
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But instead of looking for answers
in petri dishes or test tubes,
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I found five places around the world
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where people are getting
the outcomes we want.
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Some of these places are islands.
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Other places are mountains.
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Some are impossibly remote,
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but some are surprisingly urban.
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And though they're vastly different
on the surface,
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remarkably, they all share
the same common denominators.
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They all follow roughly
the exact same formula
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that produces the longest-lived people
on the planet.
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These people live to 100
at the highest rates in the world.
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They're living vibrant,
active, happy lives,
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and perhaps the biggest takeaway
is they live longer without trying.
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And their secrets
could help every one of us
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to get every good year
we can get out of this body of ours.
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[uplifting music playing]
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[Dan] That is the promise of Blue Zones.
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[applause in background]
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[man over PA] Tonight's speaker
has spent the last 20 years
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finding the longest-living people
in the world and learning their wisdom.
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Dan Buettner is
a National Geographic Explorer
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and best-selling author.
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He's put that wisdom to work
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to raise the life expectancy
of dozens of communities across the US.
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Dan, welcome.
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[applause]
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[Dan speaks Spanish, laughs]
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[Dan] I never set out
to be a longevity guru
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or fix America's health care system.
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I got here in a very unexpected way.
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It began with my dad and his dad.
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My dad was a great father for instilling
this sense of adventure in me.
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His idea of fun, when we were kids,
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was to go into the wilderness
for weeks at a time,
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taking me and my brothers along.
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[playful music playing]
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[Dan] And my grandpa,
he always wanted me to be a great athlete,
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and I was always on the bench.
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But he gave me my first bike,
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and that became
my ticket to see the world.
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By the time I graduated from college
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in an age when most people
were doing useful
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and productive things with their lives,
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I struck off to set three world records
by bicycling across five continents.
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{\an8}You know, we went through hurricanes
and earthquakes and floods,
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and we didn't think we were gonna make it.
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All right, now,
here we have a map of the entire world.
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Show us where you ended up.
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[Dan] The Soviet leg, um,
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got the Guinness World Record.
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- Congratulations.
- Thank you.
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Good to meet you, Dan.
Thank you for being here.
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{\an8}[Dan] When you've biked around the globe
and broken all these records,
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{\an8}where do you go from there?
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I needed to find adventure with purpose.
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And for me, that meant I needed to find
an expedition that solved a great mystery.
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And I remember one day,
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I came across
a World Health Organization study
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that found that Okinawa, Japan,
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produced the longest-lived people
in the history of the world,
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and I said, "That's a good mystery."
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At about 900 miles south of Tokyo,
you find a cluster of islands,
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which is sort of like the Hawaii to Japan.
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Sugar sand beaches,
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tropical jungles,
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turquoise waters.
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But more importantly,
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for hundreds of years,
this has been the Land of the Immortals.
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Okinawa, Japan, has produced
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the longest-lived population
in human history.
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They have a fraction the rate of diabetes.
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They have one-fifth
the rate of heart disease,
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very little dementia,
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and they are making it to 100
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at a rate far surpassing
the United States.
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And the numbers are
particularly extraordinary among women.
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[people chatting and laughing]
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{\an8}[all exclaim]
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[all cheer and laugh]
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[woman in Japanese]
If only I'd got number one!
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- Fourteen points.
- That was so close.
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- [woman] Did you go?
- He did, yes.
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- [woman 2] Everyone's done?
- Yes.
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- Next up is Granny.
- Good luck!
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[chanting] You can do it!
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{\an8}[all cheer]
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{\an8}[woman 1] Oh, so close.
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[cheering]
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[woman 2] Amazing.
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[in English] So I'm wondering
how you are all related to Umeto-san.
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[speaking Japanese]
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[translator in English] Three of them
are my granddaughters.
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And this is my second son.
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[speaking Japanese]
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[translator] That is the first daughter
and the second daughter.
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[Dan] Okay, so we have
three generations here.
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I'm a young child of 61.
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[laughter]
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[Dan] If I want to live to be 101,
what's her recommendation?
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[Umeto in Japanese] You're still a kid!
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[all laugh]
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[in English] I'll take it.
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[Umeto in Japanese] Always have fun.
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Don't get angry.
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Have fun with everyone.
Make everyone happy.
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I don't get angry.
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[Dan in English]
So, the key is to be easygoing,
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to not let things upset you,
and to forgive quickly?
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[Umeto speaking Japanese]
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{\an8}- [translating] So this...
- [speaking Japanese]
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{\an8}[in English] This laughter
brings us longevity.
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{\an8}[Dan] Oh, I love that. I feel it.
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- [shamisen music playing]
- [people clapping along]
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[in Japanese] ♪ Don't catch a cold ♪
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♪ Don't fall down ♪
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♪ Don't forget to laugh ♪
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♪ And talk often... ♪
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[singing continues]
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[Dan in English] 101 years old Umeto-san.
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She's vital, vigorous, funny, positive.
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And then she plays
this Okinawan sort of banjo instrument,
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with the plucking, with precision.
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Not missing a note.
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Singing this song.
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And to have that cognitive ability,
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that vitality,
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that positiveness all in one package.
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I look at her, and I say, "I want that."
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{\an8}[mysterious music playing]
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{\an8}[Dan] The first time I came to Okinawa
20 years ago,
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I didn't really know
how to research longevity.
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What could it be?
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What are these people doing
to produce so many hundred-year-olds
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and to produce a life
where they're living long
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and staying sharp to the very end?
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My mission was to find out.
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I pulled all the academic research
I could in Okinawa
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and buried myself in it.
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I found this map that showed
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the centenarian concentration of Japan.
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{\an8}It was so clear there were
very few centenarians in the North,
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{\an8}and the farther south you got,
the concentration of centenarians grew,
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{\an8}with the highest concentration
being in Okinawa.
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You realize that the farther south you get
towards the equator here,
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it's gonna be warmer.
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So, what does warmer climate mean?
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They have more growing seasons.
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There must be something here
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that these people are taking,
consciously or unconsciously.
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Maybe an extract from a vegetable.
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Maybe it's an herb or a spice
that would be the secret of longevity.
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So I started
looking into these dietary surveys,
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and I found one
that compares the diet of Okinawa
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with the rest of Japan circa 1950.
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And you go down the chart
of what Okinawans are eating,
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things like meat, eggs, and fish,
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and it's only 1 to 2%
of their caloric intake.
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And then there's one food
where it's about 70%,
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and that one food is beni imo,
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purple sweet potatoes.
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In the rest of Japan,
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they were only eating 3%
of their calories from sweet potatoes.
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And perhaps the main reasons
Okinawans ate so much beni imo
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was because sweet potatoes
were typhoon-proof.
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The beni imo was safe underground.
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These sweet potatoes are
full of complex carbohydrates and fiber,
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and they even have about 150% more
of the active antioxidants
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than blueberries do.
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So then, of course, you start going,
"This has gotta be it!"
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So I've been traveling around the world
for 20 years,
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trying to understand
how people live a long time.
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What is the one Okinawan food
people should try
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if they want to live longer?
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[in Japanese] Well... Just one thing?
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[Dan in English] One.
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[Yukie in Japanese]
There is no one ingredient that is best.
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[in English] How about beni imo?
This purple sweet potato.
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[Yukie in Japanese] Well, Okinawa had
a period of food shortage,
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and we were saved by these potatoes.
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But all foods have
potent medicinal powers.
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Mulberry leaves are good for sore throats.
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Squid ink soup is for detox.
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Okinawa is very hot,
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and asa seaweed
releases heat from the body.
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[Dan in English] There's mugwort,
a well-known anti-inflammatory.
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And goya. It has some compounds
that actually lower blood sugar,
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which might explain
lower rates of diabetes here as well.
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And then there's tofu.
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Tofu is made from soybean curds
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and can offer several health benefits.
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It's been shown to lower cholesterol
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and therefore lower
the risk of heart disease.
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And, in some cases, it may even
slow the progression of some cancers.
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Okinawans eat an average of three ounces
of soy products per day, including tofu.
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And Okinawan tofu is special.
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It actually has a greater concentration
of protein and good fat
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compared to tofus produced elsewhere.
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So when it comes to diet,
there's no single ingredient
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or compound
responsible for Okinawan longevity.
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{\an8}They're consuming an array of foods
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{\an8}which all have
medicinal properties or health benefits.
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{\an8}So it's actually the range of foods
that is likely fueling long lives here.
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And what Okinawans are eating is actually
just part of the longevity equation here.
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The other question is,
how much are they eating?
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In the United States, the FDA recommends
about 2,000 calories per person per day,
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but Americans are actually consuming
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3,600 calories per person per day
on average.
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In order to get to the bottom of this,
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the person I need to talk to
is Marion Nestle.
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{\an8}You probably know
better than anybody else in America
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{\an8}how we got to 73%
of America obese or overweight.
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Yeah, it's astonishing.
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In the early 1970s,
the secretary of agriculture said
246
00:14:30,744 --> 00:14:33,122
we need to produce more food
to feed the world.
247
00:14:33,205 --> 00:14:35,207
He got farmers growing more food.
248
00:14:35,291 --> 00:14:37,001
So, all of a sudden,
249
00:14:37,084 --> 00:14:42,214
from 1980 to the year 2000,
the number of calories in the food supply
250
00:14:42,298 --> 00:14:48,053
{\an8}went up from 3,200
per person per day to 4,000.
251
00:14:48,137 --> 00:14:50,222
{\an8}The food industry had to sell that.
252
00:14:50,723 --> 00:14:53,642
In an environment
in which there's 4,000 calories a day
253
00:14:53,726 --> 00:14:55,603
available for everybody
254
00:14:55,686 --> 00:14:58,731
means that you have to get people
to eat more in general.
255
00:15:01,525 --> 00:15:06,030
So what you saw was
portion sizes got bigger.
256
00:15:07,948 --> 00:15:12,202
And more than that, it's formulated
to make you wanna eat more.
257
00:15:13,996 --> 00:15:18,459
Part of it is texture, so they're crunchy
or have this wonderful mouthfeel.
258
00:15:20,252 --> 00:15:24,089
They're colored
to make them really attractive.
259
00:15:24,173 --> 00:15:27,760
They have lots and lots of additives
to make them taste good.
260
00:15:28,510 --> 00:15:32,264
You're going to take in more calories
than you ordinarily would,
261
00:15:32,348 --> 00:15:33,515
and you won't realize it.
262
00:15:37,811 --> 00:15:42,775
[Dan] But in Okinawa, we saw people
that were eating much less food every day,
263
00:15:42,858 --> 00:15:44,568
about 2,000 calories.
264
00:15:44,652 --> 00:15:45,819
Part of the reason is
265
00:15:45,903 --> 00:15:50,324
they had this nutritionally dense food
that didn't have a lot of calories.
266
00:15:50,407 --> 00:15:53,702
So, in America, for lunch,
we might eat a little hamburger,
267
00:15:53,786 --> 00:15:56,664
and we can wolf that down
in a minute or two.
268
00:15:59,625 --> 00:16:02,169
But in Okinawa, lunch might be
269
00:16:02,252 --> 00:16:05,005
this chanpuru, this stir-fry,
270
00:16:05,089 --> 00:16:06,757
nice herbs and tofu.
271
00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:10,344
They could just indulge
in this huge pile of food.
272
00:16:10,427 --> 00:16:14,431
And you guys eat,
you think you're being a total glutton,
273
00:16:14,515 --> 00:16:17,643
but that has fewer calories
than a hamburger does.
274
00:16:18,310 --> 00:16:20,354
[people chatting in Japanese]
275
00:16:21,522 --> 00:16:24,733
[Dan in English] And the second piece
to this is shockingly simple.
276
00:16:25,401 --> 00:16:27,820
So they have this ingenious little trick.
277
00:16:28,737 --> 00:16:31,115
Before a meal, they intone three words,
278
00:16:31,198 --> 00:16:32,992
"hara hachi bu,"
279
00:16:33,575 --> 00:16:36,328
which literally means "eight out of ten."
280
00:16:36,412 --> 00:16:41,250
But to them, it means "Stop eating
when your stomach is 80% full,"
281
00:16:41,333 --> 00:16:45,838
and it's resulting in being satiated
without being stuffed.
282
00:16:46,880 --> 00:16:50,175
{\an8}So, when you're eating
these low-caloric density foods
283
00:16:50,259 --> 00:16:54,805
{\an8}and you're reminding yourself
to stop eating when you're 80% full,
284
00:16:54,888 --> 00:16:56,974
you're naturally eating less.
285
00:16:57,516 --> 00:17:00,936
And over time,
this has produced a population
286
00:17:01,020 --> 00:17:03,814
that's suffered less obesity.
287
00:17:10,696 --> 00:17:12,406
Today, in Okinawa's big city,
288
00:17:12,489 --> 00:17:15,784
you see all the trappings
you'd see in any major city.
289
00:17:15,868 --> 00:17:19,455
Freeways, a crush of traffic,
and fast food restaurants.
290
00:17:22,124 --> 00:17:26,128
But if you wanna find
Okinawans' real culture of longevity,
291
00:17:26,211 --> 00:17:29,715
you have to get out of the city
into the rural areas,
292
00:17:29,798 --> 00:17:32,092
where you can still see a lifestyle
293
00:17:32,176 --> 00:17:35,804
that has produced centenarians
for centuries.
294
00:17:35,888 --> 00:17:38,098
[placid music plays]
295
00:17:53,781 --> 00:17:55,157
[Dan] Look at, look at, look at.
296
00:17:55,908 --> 00:17:58,202
Already, I see signs of longevity.
297
00:17:59,036 --> 00:18:01,705
That, if I'm not mistaken, is lettuce.
298
00:18:03,332 --> 00:18:04,541
Hope they're not watching.
299
00:18:05,042 --> 00:18:06,585
[Naomi] Sorry. Uh-oh.
300
00:18:07,795 --> 00:18:08,795
[Dan] Let's go this way.
301
00:18:08,837 --> 00:18:12,591
Do you know what this dragon means here?
I see them all the time.
302
00:18:12,674 --> 00:18:15,177
[Naomi] This is not a dragon.
This is called Shisa.
303
00:18:15,260 --> 00:18:19,389
Shisa, you've gotta remember
because this represents Okinawa.
304
00:18:22,059 --> 00:18:23,059
Okay.
305
00:18:23,727 --> 00:18:25,604
Wow, check this place out.
306
00:18:27,898 --> 00:18:31,235
- Wow.
- [Dan] I love that garden.
307
00:18:31,318 --> 00:18:32,861
[Naomi in Japanese] Hello.
308
00:18:32,945 --> 00:18:35,823
[Dan in English] She's got a nice bike.
I mean, I already like her.
309
00:18:35,906 --> 00:18:37,533
[Naomi in Japanese] How old are you now?
310
00:18:37,616 --> 00:18:38,826
[speaking Japanese]
311
00:18:38,909 --> 00:18:40,828
- [in English] Ninety-four.
- [Dan] Oh my gosh.
312
00:18:40,911 --> 00:18:42,788
[woman laughs]
313
00:18:42,871 --> 00:18:45,499
{\an8}[Dan] She's sewing.
And what is she sewing?
314
00:18:45,582 --> 00:18:48,919
{\an8}[in Japanese] We noticed
that you sew things.
315
00:18:49,002 --> 00:18:50,546
I use a sewing machine!
316
00:18:50,629 --> 00:18:51,880
[Dan] Did she make her dress?
317
00:18:51,964 --> 00:18:53,858
- [in Japanese] Yeah, I made it.
- [Naomi] I see.
318
00:18:53,882 --> 00:18:55,008
[Dan in English] Beautiful.
319
00:18:58,804 --> 00:18:59,805
[speaks Japanese]
320
00:19:01,807 --> 00:19:02,807
[clapping]
321
00:19:02,850 --> 00:19:05,310
[all laughing]
322
00:19:05,394 --> 00:19:06,770
[in Japanese] It went through!
323
00:19:07,354 --> 00:19:08,634
[Dan in English] That's amazing.
324
00:19:10,107 --> 00:19:11,107
Hi!
325
00:19:11,608 --> 00:19:16,155
[in Japanese] I'm about 97.
Pretty old now.
326
00:19:16,238 --> 00:19:17,906
[speaking Japanese]
327
00:19:17,990 --> 00:19:22,077
[Naomi translating] Now... she said
she still has muscles!
328
00:19:22,161 --> 00:19:23,287
[Dan] I can see them!
329
00:19:23,370 --> 00:19:24,496
[Naomi] Yeah!
330
00:19:24,580 --> 00:19:26,248
[in Japanese] Impressive muscles.
331
00:19:28,375 --> 00:19:30,711
[Dan in English] What is the secret
to living a long time
332
00:19:30,794 --> 00:19:32,504
and staying so vital?
333
00:19:32,588 --> 00:19:35,799
[man in Japanese]
It's not enough for humans to only walk.
334
00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:39,511
You must have speed.
335
00:19:39,595 --> 00:19:40,596
Speed, like this.
336
00:19:41,513 --> 00:19:42,347
Whoa! [laughing]
337
00:19:42,431 --> 00:19:43,932
[Harumasa] You need to do this.
338
00:19:45,475 --> 00:19:47,561
[laughing] Oh my God!
339
00:19:47,644 --> 00:19:51,940
[Dan] So, after spending a lot of time
with older people in Okinawa,
340
00:19:52,024 --> 00:19:55,152
I noticed in their houses,
there was no real furniture
341
00:19:55,235 --> 00:19:58,322
except a low table and a tatami mat.
342
00:19:58,405 --> 00:20:00,991
These people were sitting on the floor.
343
00:20:02,284 --> 00:20:04,286
We found 103-year-olds
344
00:20:04,369 --> 00:20:08,707
who would get up and down 30 times a day!
That's like doing 30 squats.
345
00:20:10,125 --> 00:20:13,712
They're strengthening their core.
They're strengthening their lower body.
346
00:20:13,795 --> 00:20:18,091
They're improving their balance.
Well, how would that map to longevity?
347
00:20:18,175 --> 00:20:20,010
Well, it turns out, in America,
348
00:20:20,093 --> 00:20:23,639
one of the top ten reasons
older people die
349
00:20:23,722 --> 00:20:25,265
is 'cause they'd fall down.
350
00:20:25,349 --> 00:20:27,976
They have weak lower bodies
and bad balance
351
00:20:28,060 --> 00:20:31,188
because they're sitting on chairs
and La-Z-Boys all the time.
352
00:20:32,981 --> 00:20:35,609
So the other thing I noticed
is that everybody,
353
00:20:35,692 --> 00:20:38,862
even people into their hundreds,
have a garden.
354
00:20:38,946 --> 00:20:42,157
So every day, they're out weeding
355
00:20:42,241 --> 00:20:46,995
or watering or seeding
or harvesting fresh fruits and vegetables.
356
00:20:47,079 --> 00:20:49,957
And this could be one or two hours a day
357
00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:53,585
of gentle,
low-intensity physical activity,
358
00:20:53,669 --> 00:20:55,212
range of motion.
359
00:20:55,921 --> 00:20:59,800
And when you think about it,
these people weren't exercising.
360
00:20:59,883 --> 00:21:03,512
They have much better lower body strength,
much better balance,
361
00:21:03,595 --> 00:21:06,056
and they're not dying from these diseases.
362
00:21:06,139 --> 00:21:09,768
{\an8}So hence emerges yet another insight
363
00:21:09,851 --> 00:21:12,854
{\an8}that we might think about
if we want to live longer.
364
00:21:12,938 --> 00:21:15,691
- [speaking Japanese]
- [in English] Look at that!
365
00:21:15,774 --> 00:21:19,611
[Dan laughing]
366
00:21:23,282 --> 00:21:25,867
[women speaking Japanese]
367
00:21:27,536 --> 00:21:29,246
[woman 1 in Japanese] I'll pour some tea.
368
00:21:30,497 --> 00:21:31,832
[woman 2] Thank you.
369
00:21:34,167 --> 00:21:36,044
[woman 1] Let's have some.
370
00:21:39,047 --> 00:21:41,049
After I retired in 1983,
371
00:21:41,133 --> 00:21:45,887
all I did was go back and forth
from the garden to my home.
372
00:21:45,971 --> 00:21:47,514
It was boring.
373
00:21:48,015 --> 00:21:52,185
So I went around to all the houses
374
00:21:53,270 --> 00:21:55,397
and said, "Let's do a moai for 1,000 yen."
375
00:21:55,480 --> 00:21:59,067
[Dan in English] I started to learn about
groups of people called moais.
376
00:21:59,776 --> 00:22:03,238
Moais, essentially,
a committed social circle
377
00:22:03,322 --> 00:22:06,658
of people who originally got together
by pooling their money
378
00:22:06,742 --> 00:22:10,037
and helping each other
in times of hardship.
379
00:22:10,120 --> 00:22:13,874
[in Japanese] One of our friends fell
when they went to the bathroom at night
380
00:22:13,957 --> 00:22:16,043
and is in the hospital now.
381
00:22:16,543 --> 00:22:19,546
Our moai is continuing to help
382
00:22:19,629 --> 00:22:24,926
by pooling money and giving it to them.
383
00:22:25,010 --> 00:22:29,097
[Dan in English] So, on the surface,
a moai is simply a financial arrangement.
384
00:22:29,181 --> 00:22:32,976
But I believe
the benefits transcend money.
385
00:22:33,060 --> 00:22:35,812
I'm wondering if belonging to a moai
386
00:22:35,896 --> 00:22:40,275
has helped you reach your 90s
with such vitality.
387
00:22:40,359 --> 00:22:45,447
[in Japanese] We're all friendly and learn
how to sing and dance together.
388
00:22:45,530 --> 00:22:48,075
We get together and chat.
389
00:22:48,617 --> 00:22:50,869
That is the secret to long living.
390
00:22:58,460 --> 00:23:00,170
[singing in Japanese]
391
00:23:00,253 --> 00:23:02,813
[Dan in English] And you might think,
"Well, big deal!" You know?
392
00:23:02,839 --> 00:23:05,425
What is it about hanging out
with other people that helps?
393
00:23:05,509 --> 00:23:10,389
Well, in the United States,
we have a loneliness epidemic.
394
00:23:11,139 --> 00:23:14,101
A population that's increasingly lonely,
395
00:23:14,184 --> 00:23:15,602
increasingly isolated,
396
00:23:15,685 --> 00:23:19,314
and increasingly needs human connection
more than ever.
397
00:23:19,398 --> 00:23:21,858
[singing in Japanese]
398
00:23:23,318 --> 00:23:25,737
[Dan in English]
Now we're discovering in America
399
00:23:25,821 --> 00:23:31,034
that loneliness can cost
15 years of life expectancy.
400
00:23:31,118 --> 00:23:33,453
Think about that. Fifteen years!
401
00:23:33,537 --> 00:23:38,291
There is no pill,
no supplement, no blockbuster drug
402
00:23:38,375 --> 00:23:41,002
that could give us anywhere near 15 years.
403
00:23:41,086 --> 00:23:43,171
But here in Okinawa,
404
00:23:43,255 --> 00:23:47,592
they're getting those years
by simply finding friends,
405
00:23:47,676 --> 00:23:49,636
committing to those friends,
406
00:23:49,719 --> 00:23:52,222
{\an8}and spending time
with those friends every day.
407
00:23:55,308 --> 00:23:58,395
{\an8}So I started
looking at the obvious longevity factors,
408
00:23:58,478 --> 00:24:00,188
{\an8}like diet and exercise,
409
00:24:00,856 --> 00:24:03,817
but then I stumbled onto this moai idea,
410
00:24:03,900 --> 00:24:06,528
and it completely takes off my blinders.
411
00:24:06,611 --> 00:24:10,157
It opens my mind to the possibility
of other surprising insights
412
00:24:10,240 --> 00:24:14,661
that might turn out to be
incredibly powerful factors
413
00:24:14,744 --> 00:24:16,329
at producing longevity.
414
00:24:17,247 --> 00:24:19,541
[gunfire]
415
00:24:22,377 --> 00:24:26,756
[Dan] For the people of Okinawa,
World War II is very present.
416
00:24:26,840 --> 00:24:29,176
They suffered incredible hardship.
417
00:24:29,259 --> 00:24:32,846
They suffered many more deaths
than the Americans did.
418
00:24:33,430 --> 00:24:34,556
[man] In the wartime,
419
00:24:35,390 --> 00:24:39,311
{\an8}200,000 people are killed in Okinawa.
420
00:24:39,895 --> 00:24:45,025
I think they have very strong PTSD maybe.
421
00:24:45,108 --> 00:24:48,111
[speaking Japanese]
422
00:24:48,195 --> 00:24:50,405
[Naomi in English]
She worked for the government...
423
00:24:50,489 --> 00:24:51,490
[speaking Japanese]
424
00:24:51,573 --> 00:24:53,742
[Naomi in English]
...and they gave them a grenade.
425
00:24:53,825 --> 00:24:59,748
[woman in Japanese] "If the enemy gets you
and tries to harm you,
426
00:24:59,831 --> 00:25:02,209
use this grenade."
427
00:25:02,292 --> 00:25:06,379
And we were this close
to giving up and committing suicide
428
00:25:06,463 --> 00:25:08,590
when we were saved by soldiers.
429
00:25:08,673 --> 00:25:13,053
They told me,
"The war is over. Life is a treasure."
430
00:25:14,721 --> 00:25:18,600
{\an8}When my mother and my brother died,
431
00:25:20,393 --> 00:25:23,188
{\an8}I wasn't able to be there
for their last moment.
432
00:25:24,523 --> 00:25:26,363
[Dan in English]
They remember the war so well.
433
00:25:26,399 --> 00:25:29,152
It's what they talk about first or second,
434
00:25:29,236 --> 00:25:34,032
and I'm sure it was a tragedy
but somehow a legacy as well.
435
00:25:35,825 --> 00:25:40,956
[woman in Japanese] I am so glad I crawled
out of that hellhole and survived.
436
00:25:41,039 --> 00:25:43,542
I tell my children,
437
00:25:43,625 --> 00:25:44,960
"No matter what,
438
00:25:45,043 --> 00:25:48,964
no matter how poor you are,
you can survive."
439
00:25:49,047 --> 00:25:50,966
"Endure everything."
440
00:25:54,344 --> 00:25:58,348
[in English] And I like to say
that the past experience
441
00:25:58,431 --> 00:26:01,893
was a terrible experience in Okinawa.
442
00:26:01,977 --> 00:26:04,604
But in spite of that,
443
00:26:04,688 --> 00:26:10,402
they established
healthy, happy conditions.
444
00:26:10,485 --> 00:26:13,822
Enjoy the present. That's important.
445
00:26:15,657 --> 00:26:17,158
[Dan] You'd think, on the surface,
446
00:26:17,242 --> 00:26:22,080
that this would destroy longevity
among a population.
447
00:26:22,163 --> 00:26:24,207
But I actually got to thinking
448
00:26:24,291 --> 00:26:28,128
maybe this is contributing
to their long life
449
00:26:28,211 --> 00:26:30,714
in counterintuitive ways.
450
00:26:30,797 --> 00:26:32,882
[machine whirring]
451
00:26:36,303 --> 00:26:39,180
[Dan] There's this concept in Okinawa
called ikigai,
452
00:26:39,264 --> 00:26:42,475
and I believe
it's one of the most powerful factors
453
00:26:42,559 --> 00:26:44,603
contributing to their longevity.
454
00:26:44,686 --> 00:26:46,980
[man in Japanese]
I contribute to the world.
455
00:26:47,063 --> 00:26:49,774
The art I've created
will remain for hundreds of years
456
00:26:49,858 --> 00:26:51,359
after I pass away.
457
00:26:52,527 --> 00:26:53,862
This is my ikigai.
458
00:26:53,945 --> 00:26:55,447
I'm blessed.
459
00:27:17,969 --> 00:27:21,181
[in English] We would visit
the centenarian house.
460
00:27:21,264 --> 00:27:25,935
And we would check
the physical and medical condition,
461
00:27:26,019 --> 00:27:27,687
and after that, I would ask,
462
00:27:27,771 --> 00:27:29,064
"What's your ikigai?"
463
00:27:30,732 --> 00:27:32,692
Ikigai is a kind of mission.
464
00:27:32,776 --> 00:27:34,361
A sense of purpose.
465
00:27:34,861 --> 00:27:38,823
I think ikigai is the main factor
466
00:27:38,907 --> 00:27:42,994
of spiritual health of the centenarians.
467
00:27:43,578 --> 00:27:46,456
If we lose the ikigai, we will die.
468
00:27:47,374 --> 00:27:49,959
Okinawans have no word for retirement.
469
00:27:50,043 --> 00:27:53,254
When they get to be 60, 70, 80, 90,
they're still working.
470
00:27:53,338 --> 00:27:55,465
They might only be working in their garden
471
00:27:55,548 --> 00:27:58,218
to bring some vegetables home.
472
00:27:58,301 --> 00:28:02,180
They may have a stall in the market
where they're only working in the morning.
473
00:28:02,263 --> 00:28:05,600
They're keeping their minds engaged.
They're keeping their bodies moving.
474
00:28:06,101 --> 00:28:09,020
They could sum up their life meaning,
475
00:28:09,104 --> 00:28:12,107
the reason for which
they wake up in the morning.
476
00:28:12,190 --> 00:28:14,734
They're told constantly that,
477
00:28:14,818 --> 00:28:16,778
"You count. We need you."
478
00:28:16,861 --> 00:28:17,904
[speaking Japanese]
479
00:28:17,987 --> 00:28:21,783
[in English] People imbued with
this constant sense of purpose,
480
00:28:21,866 --> 00:28:23,243
they know their values,
481
00:28:23,326 --> 00:28:26,538
{\an8}and it makes
those day-to-day decisions very easy
482
00:28:26,621 --> 00:28:28,456
{\an8}because you know your core.
483
00:28:34,671 --> 00:28:37,382
So my experience at Okinawa
was teaching me
484
00:28:37,465 --> 00:28:40,510
that counterintuitive,
little-explored things
485
00:28:40,593 --> 00:28:43,304
are driving longevity
more than anything else.
486
00:28:44,472 --> 00:28:46,015
I didn't realize it then,
487
00:28:46,099 --> 00:28:50,270
but I was only beginning
to piece together a much bigger puzzle.
488
00:28:50,353 --> 00:28:51,771
You see, around this time,
489
00:28:51,855 --> 00:28:55,567
I started reading reports
of another longevity hotspot,
490
00:28:55,650 --> 00:28:58,278
completely different environment
491
00:28:58,361 --> 00:29:01,281
on another island
on the other side of the planet.
492
00:29:02,073 --> 00:29:06,953
A cluster of whitewashed villages
high in the mountains of Sardinia,
493
00:29:07,454 --> 00:29:11,374
and almost vertical streets,
surrounded by rugged terrain.
494
00:29:13,084 --> 00:29:15,879
Were they doing the same thing
as the people in Okinawa?
495
00:29:18,214 --> 00:29:21,843
Or was there
another set of secrets to discover?
496
00:29:22,761 --> 00:29:24,929
My mission was to find out.
497
00:29:30,643 --> 00:29:33,688
[light music playing]