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What can we learn from Japan's approach to healthy ageing?

How to make good things happen: global lessons for UK policymakers
26 Nov 2025

This event took place on Wednesday 26 November. You can watch the recording below.

Event recording

The opinions expressed in this event recording are those of the speaker. For more information, view our full statement on external contributors.

Japan's population is ageing faster than any other country in the world, with the population of 65+ year olds doubling in only 24 years. As such Japan has been at the forefront of innovation in health and social care for the elderly to improve quality of life. Learning from the successes of Japan will be vital as the UK faces its own demographic shifts and aims to promote longer, healthier lives.

On Wednesday 26 November we explored and critically assessed Japan’s approach to supporting its ageing population. Nesta’s Director of Policy and Government Partnerships, Joe Owen hosted a panel of expert speakers including Kosuke Wada, Director for Pensions, Pension Bureau, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan, Carole Euston, Chief Executive, Centre for Ageing Better, David Sinclair, Chief Executive, International Longevity Centre UK, Ryohei Mogi, Affiliate Researcher, National Institute of Population and Social Security Research in Japan and Natasha Curry, Deputy Director of Policy, Nuffield Trust. Our panel explored Japan’s specific policy responses including the practicalities of linking health and social services at the local level and the creation of community-based preventative health programs.

We investigated the design and effectiveness of Japan's Integrated Care Systems in coordinating health and social support, and looked at initiatives around extended employment and how they contribute to well-being for older citizens through social connection, financial stability and physical health. We explored key questions, including: How has Japan’s rapid demographic shift driven innovative approaches to health outcomes for the older population? What concrete lessons can United Kingdom policymakers take from Japan’s models? How effective are policies that promote extended employment in supporting healthy ageing, and could they be implemented here?

This hybrid event was of interest to policymakers working in health, age-focused charities, and researchers looking for evidence-based solutions and inspiration from a country pioneering healthy ageing.

Speakers

Joe Owen headshot

Joe Owen

He/Him

Joe is Director of Policy and Government Partnerships at Nesta. Joe was a senior civil servant in the Cabinet Office, where he worked on a wide range of economic and domestic policy issues including climate, regional inequality and migration. He also worked at the Institute for Government, as both Director of Impact and the director of the Institute's Brexit programme. He is a senior fellow at the Institute. Joe has also worked with a number of government departments as a consultant, including the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Defence and he spent a year at Transport for London in its strategy team.

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David Sinclair

He/Him

David has worked in policy and research on ageing and demographic change for 20 years. David has a particular interest in older consumers, active ageing, financial services, adult vaccination, and the role of technology in an ageing society. He has a strong knowledge of UK and global ageing society issues, from healthcare to pensions and housing to transport. David has presented on longevity and demographic change across the world (from Seoul to Singapore and Sydney to Stormont). And he has published reports on a range of topics including transport, technology, health and consumption. David is an International Advisor for the Sau Po Centre on Ageing at Hong Kong University and a member of the External Advisory board for the University of Surrey Centre of Excellence on Ageing. David has worked as an expert for the pan-European Age Platform for 15 years and is the former Vice-Chair of the Government’s Consumer Expert Group for Digital Switchover. For ten years he chaired a London based charity (Open Age) which enables older people to sustain their physical and mental fitness, maintain active lifestyles and develop new and stimulating interests. Prior to joining the ILC, David worked as Head of Policy at Help the Aged where he led a team of 8 policy advisors. David has also worked for environmental and disability organisations in policy and public affairs functions. His other experience includes working as a VSO volunteer in Romania, in Parliament for a Member of Parliament, and with backbench committees.

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Carole Easton

She/Her

Carole Easton is Ageing Better’s Chief Executive, leading our vision of creating a society where everyone enjoys later life. Carole is Chief Executive of the Centre for Ageing Better which is tackling inequalities in ageing. They are working to make our workplaces, homes and communities inclusive of older people as well as building an Age- friendly Movement so that society sees ageing in a more positive and realistic way. Carole has had an extensive career in the voluntary sector having initially worked as mental health practitioner.   Her previous roles include Interim Chief Executive at Refuge and the British Lung Foundation and Chief Executive at the Young Women’s Trust and ChildLine. Her PhD concerned violence against children. Carole is also an experienced non-executive director, Trustee and Chair. She sits on the Board of New Horizon Youth Centre which provides services for homeless young people.

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Ryohei Mogi

He/Him

Ryohei Mogi is a demographer specialising in low fertility, family change, and their policy implications. He is a Research Fellow at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona and an Affiliate Researcher at the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research in Japan. His mission is to bridge research and action, turning demographic evidence into practical strategies in collaboration with policymakers, local governments, and the media.

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Natasha Curry

She/Her

Natasha Curry joined the Nuffield Trust in 2011 as a Senior Fellow in Health Policy. Prior to joining the Trust, she worked as a Fellow in Health Policy at the King’s Fund. Natasha has an interest in international health and social care systems and is leading the Trust’s work on social care. She has researched and published on a range of topics, including clinical commissioning, integrated care, primary care, long-term conditions and NHS reform. As part of her work on social care, Natasha has been to Japan twice to study its long-term care system and published a paper in May 2018 reflecting on the lessons England could learn as it considers the future of its own social care system. She also published a paper in 2019 on the German long-term care system in order to further inform the debate about the options available to England. During Covid-19, she collaborated with the WHO on their review of international responses in social care and has undertaken research into the factors that shaped the Covid-19 response in England. She has recently co-authored a report into variation in NHS Continuing Healthcare and is currently undertaking a project looking at international approaches to social care market shaping. Previously, Natasha has worked as a consultant in health at Matrix Research & Consultancy Ltd and as the Evaluations Officer at the Chinese National Health Living Centre, prior to which she spent time living and working in China.

Wada

Kosuke Wada

He/Him

Kosuke Wada is a Japanese bureaucrat and a policy expert about Health and Ageing. Kosuke Wada is working at Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare(MHLW) from 2001 and now Director for Public Pension Scheme. Kosuke Wada was a former Cabinet Office Counselor and from 2022 to 2024, Director for Dementia and Community-Based Long-Term Care at MHLW. Kosuke Wada was responsible for the Basic Act on Dementia to Promote an inclusive society and also managed a Dementia Symposium Commemorating the G7 Health Ministers’ eeting in Nagasaki. Kosuke Wada served as a diplomat, first secretary at Japanese Embassy in the UK from 2014 to 2017 and have a great interest about comparing the policy between Japan and the UK.

Event information

26 Nov 2025

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