Japan Solo

Exploring Japan to understand how people live long, independent lives, and what we can learn before that knowledge disappears.

Hi, I’m Lowell, a 71-year-old author, sailor, and Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. For more than 25 years, I’ve slow-travelled across Japan by bicycle, sailboat, rail, and on foot, visiting all 47 prefectures and sailing to more than 80 ports while living aboard my boat Wahine.

Along the way, I repeatedly encountered remarkable “super-agers”,   people in their eighties and nineties still living active, purposeful lives. What began as travel gradually became a deeper inquiry into longevity, community, and independent living.

This channel shares Field Notes on Longevity, Community & Place — conversations with super-agers, community leaders, and researchers exploring how people age well and avoid the “Red Zone” of prolonged decline.

Part of the Never Too Late Academy Longevity Project.
Field Notes from Japan posted regularly. Aging well matters