By Takehiko Kambayashi

In this sleepy， mountainous city， 85-year-old Yoshiko Zakoji starts her day with exercises before cooking rice and simmering vegetables for pre-ordered boxed lunches—as she has done for more than a decade.1

“I need to keep myself fit to continue my business，” says Ms. Zakoji， who owns a shop in Iida2， located 110 miles west of Tokyo. She calls it Waraku： a name that evokes opening up to each other， and having a good time.3

Zakoji opened the shop in 1992， after her husbands retirement. She was a homemaker with no work experience， and 60 years old—just when her generation was starting to rely on the pension system.4

Before opening day， she recalls， some people rolled their eyes. “What on earth are you going to start？” they asked.

Female entrepreneurs are not the norm in Japan， which， despite a push for “womenomics” from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe， has one of the biggest employment gender gaps among developed countries.5 About two-thirds of women now work， but more than half of their positions are part-time or “irregular，”6 and many women are expected to stop working after they become mothers.

But before long， Zakoji had built more than a shop： shed created a community. Waraku sells traditional food， boxed lunches， and handcrafted goods made by locals and acquaintances， including disabled residents. She set up a nonprofit， too， offering classes on pottery and flower arrangement.7 And when some locals started to frown at newlyarrived foreign residents—whose experiences reminded her of her own sisters difficulties after moving to Canada—she was inspired to start an international exchange， where volunteers help tutor Japanese， math， and other subjects.8

Its a benefit for Iida and some of its most isolated9 residents. But Zakojis adventure also highlights that of a number of older women forging new paths through entrepreneurship—ventures that often bring isolated neighbors together， and are redefining what a rapidly “graying” society can look like.10

She encourages other elderly people to start their own business， or play a larger part in their local communities.

“When people get together， something will start to happen， and something will be created，” Zakoji says.

In Japan， people aged 65 or older will account for 38 percent of the total population in 2065， up from nearly 27 percent in 2015， according to the Tokyo-based National Institute of Population and Security Research.11 Statistics like that concern many economists， particularly paired with the countrys birth rate， one of the lowest in the world. They are an underlying impetus for“womenomics，” as low-immigration Japan considers how to boost its workforce.12

But “women in their 60s these days have more strength than the same age group a decade ago，” says Atsuko Arisawa， the director of non-profit organization Rokumaru 60—a play on the words for “six” and “zero.”13 The organization helps women， especially those in their 60s， improve job skills and find work or start their own business.

Traditionally， Japanese mothers have most responsibility for child-rearing， while “salaryman” corporate culture keeps mostlymale workers at the office into late evening hours.14 But even when kids are older， or have left home， women seeking a career face an uphill15 battle. In 2016， the World Economic Forum16 ranked Japan 111 out of 144 countries on gender equality.

“Its still very difficult for women to reenter the countrys workforce following the birth of a child，” says Fumie Kuratomi， director of the Fukuoka Gender Studies Institute17. “If you are a married woman over 35 in Japan， its hard to find even a temporary job.”

Abes government is “far from serious about creating work-life balance for working mothers，” adds Ms. Kuratomi， who is also a sociologist at the University of Teacher Education Fukuoka.

In the autumn of their lives， many women “finally reach a point where they can do what they want to do after staying at home to raise children and take care of their husbands，” says Ms. Arisawa， a former editor of a community newspaper. “They want to make their desire a reality.”

For many of these entrepreneurs， Arisawa says， making profits is not the first priority.

“So many women want to contribute to a community and bring pleasure to others，” she says.

Helping neighbors connect

In an area called “Hill of Hope”in the city of Yokohama18， near Tokyo， Maki Gomi， who has long volunteered to help local elderly people， opened Café Heartful Port at her home three years ago.

Since its opening， the 300-sq.-ft. cafe has drawn more than 10，000 customers， from teens and parents with babies to elderly people， and holds seminars and small concerts to help residents interact with one another.19

“We need to make communitybuilding more interesting，” says Ms. Gomi.

With a community turning gray， and the number of nuclear families20 rising in a Tokyo suburb like Yokohama， such interaction is important. Elderly people and a family member looking after them can be isolated， says the mother of three grown children. Isolation is a problem for many young families， too： intense schedules that send kids straight from school to extra tutoring classes are common， leaving less time for activities that bring the generations， or the neighborhood， together.

Gomi had their first floor of the house renovated in order to launch the cafe， where she had cared for her aging mother-in-law until her death in 2011.

In September， the cafe will start a program to serve those with dementia21 and their family members， while they have already had a monthly program for children in low-income families.

“We need a framework in which residents can help each other，” Gomi says. “Building a community starts by raising local awareness of issues.22 A community problem should be solved within the community. Its not a good idea to turn to authorities instantly.”

1. simmer： 燉；pre-ordered： 預訂的。

2. Iida：（日本）飯?zhí)锸小?/p>

3. 她把這家店命名為Waraku，寓意大家都能敞開心扉，坦誠相待，快快樂樂地生活。

4. 她是一位家庭主婦，沒有任何的工作經(jīng)驗，而且已經(jīng)60歲了——大部分同齡人都開始依靠退休金生活了。homemaker： 家庭主婦；pension system： 退休金制度。

5. 在日本，女企業(yè)家并不常見。盡管首相安倍晉三曾發(fā)起一場“婦女經(jīng)濟”的熱潮，但日本仍舊是就業(yè)人員性別差異最大的幾個發(fā)達國家之一。entrepreneur： 企業(yè)家；norm： 慣例；womenomics： 婦女經(jīng)濟；Shinzo Abe： 安倍晉三，現(xiàn)任日本首相。

6. irregular：（此處指員工）非正式的，不穩(wěn)定的。

7. pottery： 陶藝；flower arrangement：插花。

8. 后來，社區(qū)里新來了一些外國居民，這引起了一些本地居民的不滿。這讓她想起自己遠在加拿大、同樣因為是異鄉(xiāng)人而遇到諸多困難的妹妹。受此啟發(fā)，她開設(shè)了國際交流項目，邀請志愿者教授日語、數(shù)學等課程。

9. isolated： 孤獨的，離群索居的。

10. 不僅如此，Zakoji的大膽行為也突出表明，有一群年長女性正在努力通過創(chuàng)業(yè)尋找新的出路。這一舉動試圖將孤獨的鄰居們召集起來，也正在重新定義人們心中迅速擴大的“灰色社會”，即“老齡化社會”的樣子。forge： 開創(chuàng)；gray society： 灰色社會，即老齡化社會。

11. 據(jù)位于東京的國家人口和社會安全研究所的調(diào)查表明，預計到2065年，日本65歲及以上人群將占總?cè)丝跀?shù)的38%，而在2015年，這一比例還只有27%。

12. 鑒于日本移民率偏低，這些成為了“婦女經(jīng)濟”發(fā)展的潛在動力，以作為增加日本勞動力數(shù)量的一種對策。underlying： 潛在的； impetus： 勢頭，動力。

13. 但是，“和10年前相比，現(xiàn)在60歲左右的婦女更加健康了，”Atsuko Arisawa說，她是非營利組織Rokumaru 60的負責人——Rokumaru結(jié)合了“六”和“零”兩個數(shù)字的日語讀法。

14. 在日本，一直以來母親需要承擔更多撫養(yǎng)子女的責任，而“工薪族”企業(yè)文化則促使員工——主要是男性——在辦公室工作到很晚。rear： 撫養(yǎng)，培養(yǎng)。

15. uphill： 逐漸上升的，日益艱難的。

16. World Economic Forum： 世界經(jīng)濟論壇。

17. Fukuoka Gender Studies Institute：福岡性別研究學院。

18. Yokohama：（日本）橫濱市。

19. 300-sq.-ft.： 300平方英尺；seminar： 研討會。

20. nuclear family： 核心家庭，由夫妻和子女組成的小家庭。

21. dementia： 癡呆癥。

22. 為了建立一個社區(qū)，首先我們需要提高當?shù)鼐用竦膯栴}意識。