How should the elderly live in their later years? People’s imagination of elderly life often tends to be conservative. We tolerate young people’s experiences, trials and errors, and idealism… As for the elderly, it’s a common perception that they should have a full house with family, children, grandchildren, social security, retirement benefits, and regular gatherings with old friends.
Therefore, when Kawasaki Hirotto, a Japanese man, left behind almost everything we consider important and went alone to live and work in a Chinese countryside for nearly 10 years, we were always amazed by his choice.
Due to the pandemic, Kawasaki Hirotto hasn’t returned to Japan for three years. The last time he went back was in 2019. That year, he visited Japan for a business trip and took the opportunity to visit his relatives. After a month, he said he wanted to come back as soon as possible. His close friends in Japan had passed away, several friendly neighbors had also died, and a few colleagues with whom he used to be close had passed away too. It felt like waiting for death in Japan.
From the age of 66 to 76, Kawasaki Hirotto, a native of Kagoshima, Kyushu, Japan, spent nearly 10 years in rural Henan, China, from a lively old age to the age of seventy. Since obtaining permanent residency status in 2019, Kawasaki Hirotto has decided to die in China. He wrote on the wall with a brush, “To die decisively in the land of China,” planning to spend the remaining years of his life in a foreign land completely unrelated to his previous life. For him, it seems that this way is not about “waiting for death” in old age, but rather a final confrontation with death and emptiness.
