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Reuters

Entertainment

By Kim Kyung-Hoon, Satoshi Sugiyama and Tom Bateman

For Japan's ageing soccer players, 80 is the new 50

Soccer Kim KyungHoon Japan SFL Tokyo Football Red Star World Cups

FILE PHOTO: Red Star’s midfielder Mutsuhiko Nomura (left), 83, shoots to score a goal against Blue Hawai’s goalkeeper Hiroshi Nishino, 87, at the SFL (Soccer For Life) 80 League opening match in Tokyo, Japan, April 12, 2023. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Mutsuhiko Nomura's soccer career has spanned 18 World Cups, or 70 years, to be exact.

Now the silver-maned former Japanese national team player is a member of the brand new over-80 division of Tokyo's "Soccer For Life" (SFL) league, which played its first match this month.

FILE PHOTO: Mutsuhiko Nomura (right), 83, and his wife Junko Nomura, 80, watch the Japanese national team’s soccer match against Colombia, at their home in Tokyo, Japan, March 28, 2023. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

The sprightly 83-year-old and his teammates are among a growing number of seniors pushing the boundaries of active living in Japan, one of the world's fastest-greying societies.

"When I was a kid, men in their 50s and 60s were considered 'grandpas'," Nomura, already a member of several amateur teams, said after a pre-season practice match in February.

"And now, we're all still at it in our 80s. It's shocking."

FILE PHOTO: Mutsuhiko Nomura, 83, stretches during a practice with his TAFF (Tama Area Friday Football) teammates, a football team where the players’ average age is 65-year-old, in Tokyo, Japan, March 31, 2023. Nomura, who was chosen as an outstanding athlete in high school and had a place in the Japanese national team, is now a member of the inaugural soccer league, the SFL, for seniors aged 80 or older in Tokyo, with the average age between 82 and 84 in three teams, and the oldest player being 94 years old. "If possible, of course I want to keep playing until I'm 100 (years old)," he said. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

(For photo essay, please click on )

As Japan's average lifespan inches up, people aged 65 and more form nearly a third of its population of 126 million, with life expectancy, now at 85, ranking among the world's highest.

That has brought societal changes, too: about a fifth of those older than 70 are employed, and the government encourages pensioners to start collecting later, by holding out the promise of larger deferred payments.

FILE PHOTO: Players from Red Star, White Bear and Blue Hawaii attend the opening ceremony of the SFL (Soccer For Life) 80 League in Tokyo, Japan, April 12, 2023. Competitive athletics such as soccer were once considered off-limits for the elderly in the country, but people aged 65 or older now represent nearly a third of the population, and relatively healthy seniors are pushing the boundaries of aging, which has led to societal changes: about a fifth of seniors over age 70 are employed now, as the government entices the elderly to put off collecting their pensions by promising bigger payments later. "I think the formation of the O-80 division is a reflection of what we're seeing in Japanese society, where the elderly demographic can be active like this," said Yutaka Ito, the SFL league's secretary general. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Elderly security guards and shopkeepers have become a common sight.

"I think the formation of the 0-80 division is a reflection of what we're seeing in Japanese society, where the elderly demographic can be active like this," said Yutaka Ito, the secretary general of the SFL league.

It was only two decades ago that Tokyo created a division for the 0-60 age group. In 2012, the 0-70 division followed, and five years later, the 0-75 category. At that rate, 0-80 was simply a matter of time.

FILE PHOTO: Red Star’s midfielder Mutsuhiko Nomura, 83, arranges soccer vests with the teammates jersey numbers before the SFL (Soccer For Life) 80 League opening match in Tokyo, Japan, April 12, 2023. Nomura, who was chosen as an outstanding athlete in high school and had a place in the Japanese national team, is now a member of the inaugural soccer league, the SFL, for seniors aged 80 or older in Tokyo, with the average age between 82 and 84 in three teams, and the oldest player being 94 years old. "If possible, of course I want to keep playing until I'm 100 (years old)," he said. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

ROLE MODEL

If his more "mature" teammates are something to go by, Nomura may easily have another decade on the pitch: the oldest player, Shingo Shiozawa, is 93.

"If I hadn't played soccer, I'd have been dead by now," said the former designer of racing cars, who plays goalie.

FILE PHOTO: Nihon Soccer OB Club members, a team whose members’ average age is 77.4-year-old, do physical training before a practice match in Tokyo, Japan, April 4, 2023. Competitive athletics such as soccer were once considered off-limits for the elderly in the country, but people aged 65 or older now represent nearly a third of the population, and relatively healthy seniors are pushing the boundaries of aging, which has led to societal changes: about a fifth of seniors over age 70 are employed now, as the government entices the elderly to put off collecting their pensions by promising bigger payments later. "I think the formation of the O-80 division is a reflection of what we're seeing in Japanese society, where the elderly demographic can be active like this," said Yutaka Ito, the SFL league's secretary general. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

He credits the sport with motivating him to quit smoking and helping to speed his recovery after treatment for spinal stenosis.

With an average age of 83-1/2, however, stiff backs, creaky knees and laboured breathing were often on display as the players of the three SFL teams slogged through inaugural matches under a blazing sun last Wednesday.

A ball propelled forward by a player failed to reach his slow-moving teammate, while a few stumbled and wobbled on the pitch. An 89-year-old who ran out of breath asked to be substituted about 10 minutes into a match, unable to play the rest of the 15-minute half.

FILE PHOTO: Mutsuhiko Nomura (1st to the left), 83, chats with his TAFF (Tama Area Friday Football) teammates, a football team where the players’ average age is 65-year-old, at a restaurant after their practice in Tokyo, Japan, March 31, 2023. Nomura, who was chosen as an outstanding athlete in high school and had a place in the Japanese national team, is now a member of the inaugural soccer league, the SFL, for seniors aged 80 or older in Tokyo, with the average age between 82 and 84 in three teams, and the oldest player being 94 years old. "If possible, of course I want to keep playing until I'm 100 (years old)," he said. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

After the game, Nomura and his teammates toasted their prowess with cans of beer, in a ritual familiar to many younger players.

Despite decades of watching Nomura play soccer, his wife, Junko, says she's not concerned about injuries - only his high blood pressure, which she logs everyday in a notebook, along with his activities and meals.

"He likes to eat meat, so I try to get him to eat vegetables," she said of Nomura, who started playing soccer in middle school and won the national tournament three times in university.

FILE PHOTO: Shingo Shiozawa, 93, sprints in his office to keep fit at his office in Tokyo, Japan, March 28, 2023. Shiozawa, the goalkeeper of a soccer team in a league for seniors aged 80 or older in Tokyo (the SFL or Soccer for Life), trains several times a month and the sport has motivated him to quit smoking due to the intensive running it requires and has also helped him recover swiftly after being treated for spinal stenosis. "If I hadn't played soccer, I'd have been dead already," he said. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

"I think soccer is the best thing for his health."

Far from slowing down, Nomura has also taken to kicking the ball around with his daughter and grand-daughter on weekends, teaching them tricks and building their love of the game.

"I sometimes go to watch the seniors play, and it makes me feel I should work hard," said his 48-year-old daughter, Yuriko.