If there is one person who has proven that technology transcends age, it is Masako Wakamiya.
In this first of the series of articles around our WIT Singapore 2018 Conference theme of “Through The Looking Glass”, where we look outside travel in search of different stories and lessons, we meet the 83-year-old that inspired the audience with her passion for life, learning and travel and find out why she believes technology can help redefine ageing in modern society.
Born in 1935, Wakamiya spent her life after university working as a bank clerk for MUFG Bank (formerly Mitsubishi Bank) right up until her retirement. Having always had a fierce curiosity for technology, Wakamiya recounted how she always felt the need to get her hands on the latest gadgets.
“When I first heard of personal computers you could have at home, I instantly bought it… personal computers gave me wings to be free.”
Teaching herself how to use a computer, Wakamiya began tinkering with Excel, using it to create things far more beautiful than a colourful spreadsheet. She began to create artworks of vibrant patterns reflective of traditional Japanese culture.
As her technological knowledge grew, she began to notice the scarcity of apps catering to older users. Frustrated that modern-day mobile and computer applications did little to serve people of her generation, she set about to create her own.
“When I asked young people to create something for old people, they said why not create something for yourself, so I did,” said Wakamiya.
Wakamiya experimented until she built her very own Apple mobile app called hinadan – a ‘dolls’ game inspired by Japanese traditional culture and Hinamatsuri or ‘Girl’s Day’ that is celebrated annually on March 3.
Spurred by media coverage and international curiosity, the hinadan app was downloaded over 425,000 times and left over 850,000 impressions.
Her app resulted in her being invited to the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose, California, where she met Apple CEO Tim Cook who was charmed by Wakamiya. Since then, she’s been invited to speak at numerous events around the world. “Technology has given me wings,” she said.
In travel, Wakamiya also shared insights that dug into a deeper emotional reason behind why elderly Japanese aren’t travelling internationally.
One of the quandaries addressed during the conference by a presentation by Ming Foong, Managing Director, Greater China Region and Online Business Group APAC, Travelport, was the stagnating Japanese outbound market and the lack of interest in overseas travel.
Only 27% of the Japanese people interviewed had plans to travel overseas versus 79% who planned to travel domestically.
On top of that, women over 55 years of age predominantly favoured short-haul trips for a maximum of 1-3 days (52%), with affordability and cost acting as major influencing factors in travel-related decisions.
“People in my generation are really humble and they don’t much enjoy leisure or having fun and even though you don’t have someone to care for, if your siblings are caring for mother or father, they hesitate to travel.”
Wakamiya herself is an avid solo traveller. “Travelling on a package tour is like isolating yourself. It’s like you’re a king or queen on a carriage and you don’t interact with people. Or you’re on a double decker bus and you’re looking down on a city from inside the bus.
“If you can walk freely, that is happiest.”
Her confidence in solo travel partly comes down to the increasing sophistication of smartphone language apps that help break down barriers between her and locals within a destination.
The next destinations on her radar: “I want to visit Estonia and Latvia because Estonia is a tech giant and Latvia is a very quiet country.”
Despite her gung-ho attitude to travel, even Wakamiya is not immune to the friction points that burden every traveller.
“Spending my time in airports and airplanes, I am wondering why there are not so many people talking about airports… I always try to find the boarding gate and I walk around the airport and sometimes I get lost like I get my lost in my life, but still it’s an exciting part of travel.”
