Small Population. Big Numbers! Is it something in the Water?
Small population. Big numbers. And an intriguing question: **is there a connection?**
My True Longevity Index™ brought me to Kagoshima Prefecture, and then the data led me further—to remote Isen Town on the island of Tokunoshima.
Here, I found an unusually high concentration of centenarians, one of Japan’s highest fertility rates, and research exploring a correlation between local drinking-water characteristics and longevity.
Isen was also home to Shigechiyo Izumi, once recognized as the world's oldest man.
Longevity. Fertility. Water.
Coincidence? Connected? Or is something else going on in this small, isolated community? I spent a fascinating few hours talking to one of the researchers, Yuki Matsuoka, the head of the Isen Town History Compilation Office. More on this to come
This is **Leg One of a three-leg journey** through Japan, following the data to prefectures at both ends of my True Longevity Index™. I’m visiting the Top Ten and Bottom Three—but keeping the rankings secret as I travel.
Hopefully the ferries arrive today. If they do, this first leg continues south as I island-hop through the Ryukyus and through the historic **“Land of the Immortals,”** following the longevity trail one island at a time.
For now, one question:
**KAGOSHIMA — TOP TEN or BOTTOM THREE?**
Vote in the comments. 👇
https://japansolo.substack.com/p/top-ten-or-bottom-three
#Japan #Longevity #Tokunoshima
Japan Solo
Lowell Sheppard: The 71-year-old 'Never Too Later' who traded life in Tokyo for a solo odyssey, transitioning from Pacific ambitions to the Japan Solo longevity project.
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Small Population. Big Numbers! Is it something in the Water? Locations
- Tokunoshima Island (27.7144464,129.0063282)
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