The New Contract meets The Silver Backpacker

As we're continuing our journey into the world of retirement, our guide today is Dr. Shiori Shakuto, author of "After Work: Japanese Silver Backpackers in Malaysia." In this episode, Shiori is helping Drago and Scott explore the evolving perceptions of retirement across Asia. Dr. Shakuto's groundbreaking anthropological research reveals how Japanese retirees are rejecting traditional expectations and embracing hypermobility, self-discovery, and new forms of community.

What We Discuss:

Debunking Retirement Myths

• Is retirement a time of immobility or hypermobility?
• How do 20-30 years of healthy post-work life create opportunities for self-discovery?
• How is the old social contract being renegotiated?

The Gender Divide in Aging

• How are men and women's expectations of post-retirement marriage experience different?
• What are the different ways in which men and women choose to create and maintain networks and what does yogurt have to do with it?
• What is the nureochiba - i.e. men as wet fallen leaves - phenomenon about?

Transnational Retirement Migration

• Why is Malaysia attractive to Japanese "silver backpackers"?
• What does their perception of Malaysia say about the way they view present-day Japan?

Redefining Contribution

• What does the retiree's desire to be 'useful' look like and how is it manifested?
• How are domestic and neighborhood contributions evaluated in comparison to public volunteering?

About Our Guest: Dr. Shiori Shakuto is a lecturer in anthropology at the University of Sydney and a feminist anthropologist specialising in gender and household dynamics in Japan. Her book "After Work: Japanese Silver Backpackers in Malaysia" explores how Japanese retirees are redefining post-work life through transnational migration and community building.

Resources:

• "After Work: Japanese Silver Backpackers in Malaysia" by Dr. Shiori Shakuto

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