MESSAGE FROM THE INTERIM DIRECTOR OF ORCLS

Over 50 years ago, my family moved to the tropical paradise of Okinawa, which was

quite a different place from the modernized Japanese prefecture that it is today.

While working as the head of the Community Health Department at the University of

Ryukyus, my father, Dr. Makoto Suzuki, encountered a higher-than-expected density of

elderly people who were over 100 years old, and who were not debilitated, but happy,

and still quite active. My father spent the next few decades interviewing them, befriending them, and collecting data (including blood and DNA samples). They had a liveliness that was infectious - just happy living their lives, eating foods that were around them, and not paying that much attention to small things and cares like the concept of time.

Today, the number of centenarians on Okinawa has risen, but sadly, the majority are

not the happy, healthy people that my father previously encountered. Modern medicine

has extended their lifespan, but the modern habits – processed foods, widespread use

of cars, etc., have reduced their quality of life. This is part of the reason why there is

no active field study of Okinawan centenarians today.

The original Okinawa Centenarian Studies continue through the original data

samples that were collected from the happy, healthy centenarians. We are still trying to

determine what made that original group of people so special, with a renewed focus on

the Okinawan lifestyle that supported them.

-Ivy Suzuki, Ph.D.
Director 
Okinawa Research Center for Longevity Studies