Masako Wakamiya, who developed the iPhone app "hinadan" at the age of 82 and became the world's oldest app developer, held a talk event to celebrate the publication of her book "Self-study Recommendations" at DAIKANYAMA TSUTAYA BOOKS on May 19, 2019.
Wakamiya, who is now 84 years old, started learning programming after he retired. And he taught himself.
Wakamiya says that the secret to enjoying life every day is self-study without trying too hard. How can you find what you want to do after retirement to make your life more enjoyable?
  "Self-study Recommendations" (Chuko Shinsho Lacre), published on May 8th
 

 

The computer gave me wings

Masako Wakamiya (hereinafter, Wakamiya)：I was born in 1935, and by the time I was old enough to understand things, Japan was at war. After the war, I graduated from high school and got a job at a bank.
At that time, machines were beginning to be used in manufacturing, but clerical work hadn't changed much since the Edo period. Calculations were done with an abacus, bills were counted with fingers, and bankbooks were written with a pen dipped in an inkwell. The only thing that had changed was that ink and inkstones ran out. I was clumsy, and my seniors would ask me, "Aren't you done your work yet?"

I was 58 years old when personal computers first came out. At the time they were hard to use, and only a few people who liked new things owned them. I liked new things, so I bought one (laughs).
The Internet was not widespread at the time, so I used "PC communication" to transmit data over communication lines. That's where I came across the senior citizens' club "F-Mellow." In the welcome message for new members, it said, "Life gets fun after 60." Even though we are now in the "100-year life era," many young people say that there's nothing interesting about living that long, but after seeing that line, I felt positive.

In 1999, when the Internet first became widespread, I opened a website for seniors called "Mellow Club." However, around that time, my mother began to require nursing care. Although I am a talkative person who likes to go out, I needed to be by her side.

That's why I was so happy to be able to communicate with the world through the Internet. It was like I had wings. Even though I was in the small room caring for my mother, IT devices took me out into the wider world.
 

 

 

At age 82, he became famous for developing the iPhone app "hinadan"

What made me suddenly famous was the iPhone app "hinadan" released by Apple in 2017.

The reason I made it was because there were no interesting smartphone games for the elderly. Smartphones have started to become popular, but I've heard people say that "elderly people find it easier to use flip phones." But I thought that if there was an interesting game, it would be an opportunity for them to pick it up.

When I asked young people to make it, they said, "I don't know what the elderly find interesting. I'll teach you, so why don't you try making it yourself?" I'm over 80 years old and I was self-taught. I asked a lot of questions and somehow I made something similar.


After that, I started getting offers from all over the place, including TV and women's magazines like "Croissant" and "Weekly Josei" that had never carried IT articles before.

He also wanted to meet the CEO of Apple, and invited me to Silicon Valley to attend the World Wide Developers Conference "WWDC 2017." He listened intently to my story about how elderly people have difficulty using smartphones because they have difficulty tracing with their fingers, and about the app I created. He gave me a hug and said, "You've really encouraged me."

 

 

IT knowledge is essential for elderly people to play an active role in society

He was also selected as the oldest expert member of the 100-Year Life Vision Council, which is considering specific measures for the Abe administration's flagship policy, the "Human Resources Revolution." On June 7, 2019, he will be a keynote speaker at the G20 High-Level Symposium on Ageing and Financial Inclusion, hosted by the Financial Services Agency.

What I would like to talk about is that IT knowledge is essential for us older people to participate in society at a higher level and on a higher level.

Traditional activities such as weeding at schools are of course important, but a higher level of social participation means becoming a central player in local activities such as neighborhood associations or shopping districts, selling handicrafts that you have made on online shopping sites, getting involved in financial activities such as purchasing stocks, or being involved in cutting-edge agricultural work that requires scientific knowledge.

As a first step to gaining knowledge about IT, I thought it was important for me, an 84-year-old, to try out cutting-edge equipment that I find convenient and easy to use, and then share and popularize it. By doing so, I think elderly people will also be able to become familiar with cutting-edge technology such as computers and smartphones.



For example, the AI speaker that we make full use of at home helps us avoid forgetting things. If you manage your schedule on your computer and sync it, you can check it at any time by saying "OK, Google."
If you forget a word, I recommend entering related terms into search software. If you think, "Oh, what was that dessert called?", just enter the words you remember, such as "French, fluffy, sweet," and you will be able to find the word "souffle."
If you can't remember people's faces or names, you can use the app "Who is it?", which uses facial recognition to display personal information.

There are many other cutting-edge devices that can be useful to the elderly, such as devices to replace the hearing and eyes that deteriorate with age, and wheelchairs that can be easily adjusted in height to provide a means of transportation for those with poor mobility.
 

 

 

Programming can solve everyday problems

I also want people to know that with IT knowledge, you can improve problems in the world.

Mr. Tanigawa, a hunter living in Katsuyama City, Fukui Prefecture, learned programming to combat the damage caused by wild boars, and made traps using the inexpensive children's computer "Ichigo Jam." He caught 92 boars in one year, and was awarded by the prefecture.
A high school boy whose great-grandfather has dementia developed an IoT app to support people with dementia in order to reduce the burden of caregiving.
Students at a certain technical high school developed an app for students at a school for the blind, tailored to each student's individual vision. One of the students at the technical high school realized that it would be easier to read for one of the students at the school for the blind if the background was yellow and the text was black. When the student wrote a program, the arithmetic problems became easier to read and the student was able to find the answer, much to the delight of the student and his mother. I was deeply moved by the experience of being thanked for something he had discovered, which I imagine will have a major impact on the child's life.

 

 

I'm at my most mature stage in the 84 years since I was born.

In the coming age, we will have to live hand in hand with artificial intelligence. What artificial intelligence cannot do is to "create". You can understand what Beethoven wanted to say by listening to his music, and you can understand what Picasso was feeling when he painted Guernica by looking at the painting. "Creating" is the most human activity. And I always want to be a creative person.

Mr. Sakaki, an ALS patient, has lost all his muscle power and can no longer move anything except his eyes, but he uses a technology called eye gaze input to draw beautiful colorful pictures using only his eye movements. He also has a sense of humor, and is surrounded by many people throughout the day, not just doctors and nurses.
I thought that this is what it means to be creative and have human strength. Robot developer Ory Yoshifuji, who provides technical support for Sakaki's creative activities, says, "Giving up kills people." What people regret at the end of their lives is not what they regret having tried, but what they wanted to do but didn't.

When I go to senior citizens' meetings, many people say, "I'm 70 years old, so I've graduated from everything." But there is no such thing as "too late" in life. I also bought a computer when I was 60, and I think that these past two years have been the most productive years of my 84 years since I was born.

Everyone, let's make full use of the skills we've been given and live our lives by upgrading ourselves. As we get older, we lose our hair, our teeth, our friends pass away, our savings disappear...we lose a lot of things. But then we can just acquire new knowledge and skills that make up for what we've lost. Let's enjoy the progress of society, rather than lamenting that society has changed.
 

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