I grew up in Okinawa. Here's what I think the 'Blue Zones' trend has right and wrong about my home island.
Yumi Matsumoto lived in Okinawa for 30 years before moving to America last year.
She said while Okinawans do emphasize health and community, things are changing with the younger generation.
Matsumoto shares what the Blue Zone buzz gets right and wrong about her home island, as told to Insider reporter Yoonji Han.
I lived in Okinawa, Japan for 30 years since I was 5 years old. Last year, I moved to the US, where I now live with my husband and two kids.
I met my husband, who was in the US Air Force, when he was stationed in Okinawa along with other military members.
While it's cool to see the island I grew up in get so much attention now because of Blue Zones, I don't think a lot of people are still living like that. There's a darker side to Okinawa that a lot of people don't know about.
The younger generation is different — it's changing, and not changing in a good way. There is a sad truth about the Okinawan poverty, which is among the worst in Japan. Although we do have a healthy longevity and all of that, there are also younger kids that are struggling.
The neighborhood I grew up in, Koza, was right next to the American base and was a little bit rough around the edges.
I grew up in an area where there's a little more poverty. A lot of my friends grew up in bad conditions. A lot of my girlfriends were working at a young age as hostesses and things like that.
But there's still a peaceful, community feel to Okinawa, where everyone looks out for you.
Especially when you're a kid, it's not just your parents that are raising you, it's everybody in the community. You know everyone in the neighborhood, and they all talk and keep an eye out for you.
Okinawans abide by "senzo suuhai," which means "ancestor worship." There are always elderly people around the island, and instead of a religion, we make it our mission to take care of our elders.
There were always elderly people around the island when I was growing up. Everyone lives in the same house — it's not unusual for three generations to live together.
Every year, we celebrate our ancestors in the annual Japanese Obon festival. We spend three days partying and drinking with our ancestors by their graves, inviting them into our homes before sending them back to the spirit world on the last day.
Our respect for elders is connected with the idea of Blue Zone longevity. Part of growing old is having your family and community care for you throughout your life, and even afterwards.
Usually, the eldest son has the responsibility to take care of the grandparents, but pretty much everyone in the family is always taking care of the elderly in their family.
When I moved to the US last year, one of the differences I immediately noticed was in the food quality: In Okinawa, I ate a lot more fresh vegetables, and the meats look and smell better, too.
The vegetables and meat here in the US don't taste the same — I don't know if it's the way they make it or grow it. I also feel like things last longer in Japan. For example, if you were to buy cucumbers in Japan, they wouldn't rot for a while, but here, a couple of days later, they get moldy.
My daily meals would typically be rice, a choice of protein, lots of vegetables, and a soup. A lot of Japanese people have okazu, which are small side dishes of different vegetables. Here in the US, it's more like, you have your carbs and protein and salad or something like that, but over there it's a lot more varied.
Food prices are also a lot higher in America. In the US, the more organic it is, the more expensive it is. But in Japan, if you buy groceries at the store, they're more expensive than at the farmers markets.
Good and healthy food should be totally accessible. Another example are the lunches at schools. In Japan, school lunches are very nutritious, versus in America, it's pizza, burgers, or nuggets.
But in Okinawa, too, people eat a bunch of fast food. Okinawa has the highest obesity rate in Japan for young people, and it's because it has become Americanized.
I feel like people don't grow up eating the same things that the older generation used to eat. I wouldn't have eaten that kind of food unless I wasn't living with my grandma for a period of time.
When the Blue Zone documentary talked about beni imo, or purple sweet potatoes — sure, it's really popular, but it's not like you eat it every single day. It's not a huge part of your diet, unless you live in a certain area. When I was watching the documentary, I was thinking, "That's not like that all the time."
When it comes to physical activity, people don't realize some Okinawans are very lazy. We do a little more daily exercise than Americans do, but we also drive around everywhere.
When we were younger, we'd always walk 15 to 20 minutes to school. We don't have buses for public schools.
There are also a lot of places you can walk to because it's a small island: There would always be a corner izakaya or corner store. You're usually a ten-minute walking distance to anywhere you need to go.
But if they had to walk more than 15 minutes or so nowadays, Okinawans would probably drive their car. In Tokyo or other cities, people walk more because they have public transportation, and would have to walk from station to station.
The Blue Zone documentary really got the stress-free aspect of living in Okinawa right. That's what I miss the most. I'd move back to Okinawa in a heartbeat.
If I was having a bad day, I would go to the ocean and jump in the water and go snorkeling. But here in Massachusetts, the beaches are far away, crowded, or cold. I do want to retire back in Okinawa.
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