[Life planning--consequences of a steadily growing life span 1650-2000. Considering the longer life span, do we need a life plan?]. / Lebensplanung--die Konsequenz der stetig wachsenden Lebensspanne in den Jahren 1650 bis 2000. Brauchen wir angesichts einer längeren Lebensspanne einen Lebensplan?

Recent social historical studies on the development of life expectancy over the last 300-400 years have shown that the increasing certainty that the great majority of us will be able to live relatively healthy lives until the end is more decisive for most people than the lengthening of the life span itself. A premature death is no longer--as in previous generations--the rule. Today it is the exception. In an historical and worldwide context, we are the first who will--or could--be able to live our lives from the perspective of a relatively calculable, distant end. In order to do this to a greater degree and, above all, more consciously, a "life design" or "life plan" seems to be necessary. This means developing, as early in life as possible, the types of interests that will last a whole life long and will provide fulfillment, particularly in the "Fourth Age". The period of maturity (and waning activity) should not then be one of insufferable emptiness. "Maturity of life" can mean a chance and a goal for most of us today, provided that we structure this life appropriately ourselves. Contributions to discussions in this context in the USA and in two research-related seminars at the Free University of Berlin are presented.

Is Japan following Europe towards a society of singles? Possible impacts of the rapid increase in life expectancy on Japanese social structure--as seen by a European historical-demographer.

PIP: The author examines the implications of increasing longevity for social development in Japan. He suggests that Japan is following the example set by Europe, in that almost universal longevity is leading to a focus on individual rather than societal well-being.^ieng

[Similar findings on different backgrounds: different effects of a longer life expectancy in Japan and Germany]. / Ahnliche Befunde vor unterschiedlichem Hintergrund: Differierende Auswirkungen der längeren Lebenszeit in Japan und Deutschland.

From October 27 to 29, 1983, a Japanese-German Colloquium on 'Time' took place in Kyoto. One of the main topics being discussed was 'Human Life Time'. The first section of this report deals with some common demographic findings - actual as well as historical ones - such as developments of life expectancy, aspects of life planning, attitudes towards different stages of life, grids of inheritance and transmission systems, etc. The second part concentrates upon the consequences of a standardized long life in both societies today against the background of two different cultures, above all in view of the religiously conditioned differences in attitudes towards a life/no life after death. In Japan, a 'good dying and death' traditionally means the transition into a state where there is neither life nor death (and thus no eternal life), whereas in Europe, dying and death meant during nearly two thousand years only a passage between an earthly and the eternal part of 'Life'. And even after 'dechristianization', most of us still know what we have lost--fully or partly--only very recently: our belief in eternity. As a result, many elderly people in Japan may prove 'only' economic or family and generational problems, whereas in the West, the deepest concern of the aged still more often may be a metaphysical one.