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For the past few years, I've been looking to visit Japan once again - but between COVID and some minor health scares, plans have been sent awry again and again. I'm planning to try again come early 2023; I'm wanting to see snow (there is precious little here in Australia) and I'd love to revisit Harajuku. I'm certain my wife will require me to remortgage the house to cover all her wants when we can visit there again. Though it would be a little early, I also plan for my wife and I to renew our wedding vows since it would be coming up to our tenth anniversary. One of my long term plans is to eventually retire to Japan - though by retire, I mean working at my own pace rather than the dictates of a 9 to 5 job. Full-time retirement I suspect would involve me being put in a deep hole in the ground with a native tree planted on top. The red dirt of the Perth Hills is in my blood but Japan is my spiritual home and calls to me like the song of a siren. Since this would probably be some time in the distant future, I ponder what I could look forward to in my declining years. A trawl through YouTube paints a fairly rosy picture for the now but my concern is how long this would last? How long before Japan takes the approach that my parents are facing right now; doctors and specialists in their regional town taking the attitude of "You're old - why don't you just die and stop wasting our time?" Japan is an ageing population but I wonder if there is an expiry date when the seniors stop being treated with dignity and respect. Dad contracted polio in his early teens and once of the things that we have learned is that not only can the symptoms reappear 40 to 50 years later after the disease is eradicated, the symptoms can also be passed on to successive generations, compounding each time. If family history is any example, I will be nigh on immortal, but it would be nice to have all my faculties and bodily functions co-operating. I've watched many videos talking about the prickly topic of life after retirement, when many suddenly drop off the face of the Earth due to not wanting to be a burden of their families - the reason for their unexpected passing is usually given as "Oh, they were ill" through the real reason is never mentioned (but hinted at). One of my hopes is to inspire people to continue pushing forward and giving to society, but also permitting society to give back. That they are not a burden but a treasure.