株式会社シニアコミュニケーション代表取締役山崎伸治氏 インタビュー
Breathing new life into society
Consultancy learns it pays to listen to Japan's seniors
By SHINICHI TERADA
Staff writer
Shinji Yamasaki, founder and CEO of Senior Communication Co., is happy to see elderly Japanese making more noise as consumers and proud that this seniors-oriented business is repaying his grandparents for raising him, as well as becoming a business model for the rest of the world.
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| Shinji Yamasaki, chairman and CEO of Senior Communication Co., is pictured in his recently relocated office in Tokyo's Minato Ward. |
Yamasaki explains that they are characterized by a tendency to prioritize quality over price, try to live life over again after they retire and move from the vertical hierarchy of a company to expanding their circle of friends through hobbies, as well as give top priority to their financial and physical health.
In short, "Japanese seniors tend to be more independent of their children, when they pass away they do so quietly or without bothering others," he says.
Japan has one of the fastest aging populations in the world. In 2025, the number of Japanese aged 50 or over is estimated to account for about 50 percent of the population, according to Tokyo's National Institute of Population and Social Security Research. What's more, from next year, about 7 million baby boomers, born between 1947 and 1949, will begin making their way toward retirement. The generation aged 50 and over holds about 75 percent of Japan's 1.4 quadrillion yen financial assets.
With time and money on their hands, many sectors of the Japanese food, entertainment and travel industries are scrambling to benefit from these wealthy seniors.
But they are not an easy catch.
The consultancy head observes that many companies fail to win over those affluent customers, adding that seniors tend to avoid products labeled for "seniors." "Recent seniors do not think of themselves as seniors at all," Yamasaki explains.
Senior citizens have always been regarded as generations who need nursing care. Thus, "our senior business model was not initially understood by others," Yamasaki recalls of the time when he set up the company in 2000. "But my startup company pioneered this senior market and the market is expanding," he says.
Senior Communication, which is listed on the Mothers Market for startup firms, has conducted more than 1,800 surveys on senior citizens since it was established six years ago. More than 1,300 companies in different industries and municipalities use the data to develop products and services. The Tokyo-based consultancy is developing its brand products such as vodkalike distilled alcohol, or "shochu." Furthermore, the company is operating "Anti- Aging Restaurant Azabu 10 Ban," an "antiaging restaurant" that it claims about 2,000 people visit each month.
Yamasaki talks enthusiastically about an organization called "MASTER" with some 10,000 members, as well as senior community Web sites, including "STAGE," that people under 50 years old cannot join. In "MASTER," some seniors join group interviews for product and services development, some work as models for advertisements and join various circles. Members get points that can be exchanged for gift tokens when they answer questions in surveys, but "those seniors are happy to join just because they can use their abilities and experiences, which provide vital information when developing goods and services. As a result, they feel they play more active roles in their market. They also feel they are contributing to society gaining some self-achievement," Yamasaki observes.
"They are intellectual producers who help companies produce goods that may catch on in the market, using their rich life experiences and knowledge, and they are refined consumers who are seeking genuine products. Now they are leading society," he adds.
Consider Kiyoshi Yada who is 65.
The former engineer makes it a habit to exercise every day at a gym, including push-ups and sit-ups, for 30 minutes to keep fit. He recently started going to cooking classes so that he can prepare meals for his wife. Yada says that he wants to pay her back for making meals every single day when he devoted his time and energy to his company. On weekends, he travels by bus to take part in a haiku hobby circle with other seniors.
"I feel I still have many things to achieve," says Yada, wiping perspiration from his forehead at a Tokyo gym. "There are so many young people with lifeless expressions, but seniors look as though they are full of life. It may be that seniors are the driving force behind Japanese society."
For Yada, age is not a consideration if he wants to start something new; what matters is that he has the spirit.
About half of the respondents to a July 2001 Senior Communication survey said that they felt six to 15 years younger than their age.
Like Yada, seniors take a more positive attitude toward time after they retire. Japanese life expectancy is on average 82 years and so after retirement they still have 20 or more fruitful years. Yamasaki points out that more and more seniors tend to start something new such as enrolling at a culture school.
Seniors are refined consumers. Yamasaki explains that they don't usually believe advertisements; instead, they tend to listen to what a celebrity or friend says. Namely, word-of-mouth is the key to marketing for seniors, he says.
Furthermore, they have a desire to belong to a community or be connected with others after they reach retirement age. This is especially true of men because they belonged to their company as if it was a family, Yamasaki says. Obviously, the Internet helps them to be connected. In fact, Japanese seniors have become more Internet-literate and enthusiastic technology adopters, catching up with their juniors, Yamasaki explains.
The 36-year-old entrepreneur's sincere support and admiration for the elderly is probably rooted in his childhood. Yamasaki says that he was raised by his grandparents, adding that he wants to repay them for bringing him up by working in this field.
"The key to becoming an entrepreneur is to do what you really want to do. Otherwise, you may lose sight of your goal as business progresses. I have seen many young businesspeople like that," Yamasaki says.
The former consultant at Bain & Company, a global management consulting firm, says that he has been thinking about Japanese uniqueness and in what ways other countries respect Japan as he had been working with non-Japanese.
Developing a project at the consulting firm, he found few experts in this senior business despite Japan's aging society, and he thought he could become a pioneer in the field. When deciding to set up his company, he had three criteria: First, his business should contribute to making society better, namely, his business should make someone happy; second, no one else should be involved in this type of business; and third, the business must be profitable. His business model is based on what he has learned from seniors. Yamasaki says that listening is the most important factor if you want a true understanding of needs, wants and trends. "Go around town. Watch seniors. Rather than sitting and thinking at a desk, go out and do something. Then, listen attentively to what they say," he advises.
Japanese government and business leaders have stressed that Japan needs to cultivate more entrepreneurs as a way to boost the economic recovery. Young businesspeople are responding and dreaming of making their fortunes, but many of them lack a clear goal, he observes.
"Being an entrepreneur is not as cool as people think," he says. "Every day is full of failures, but I don't give up because I have a clear goal: to make Japan a better society by helping seniors live a better life," Yamazaki says in an Osaka accent.
With 37 employees at his company, "a leader needs to show a clear goal. Let your team members know each other's visions and what each member can gain when they overcome these difficulties and why we need to achieve this," he says.
