A 70-year-old retired man turns his life around with advertisements for university public lectures

[Financial Channel/Comprehensive Report] After retiring at the age of 70, he received a monthly pension of about 160,000 yen (approximately NT$32,000). He lived without financial pressure, but suddenly found that he had "nothing to do" every day; after 70-year-old Japanese Makoto Takahashi (pseudonym) retired, he couldn't stand the passing of days and decided to find something to do again. Unexpectedly, because of an advertisement, he started taking a train for up to 2 hours every day to attend public lectures at the university, which unexpectedly turned his life around.

Japanese media reported that Takahashi worked in the company until he was 65. He had no plans to find a job after retirement and was not worried about living expenses. However, without work arrangements, he found that time became long and empty. After breakfast, it was lunch time soon, and then the sky gradually became dark. After taking a shower and eating dinner, I still didn’t know what to do even after 9 p.m.

"If this continues, my life will end soon." This thought made him think about what else he could do after retirement.

He occasionally plays golf during work, but he doesn't really like it. He tends to fall asleep while watching TV or movies, and traveling has never been his interest. After thinking for a long time, Takahashi found that besides work, he could not think of anything else to devote himself to.

At this time, while taking the train, he saw an advertisement for a university to hold public lectures for the local community, and he reminisced about his student days.

Takahashi said that when he was in college, he loved reading and listened carefully to lectures. When he graduated, he even thought about continuing to study in graduate school. So he began to investigate public lectures at universities and found that some courses did not require participants to be formal college students. Working people and local residents also had the opportunity to participate.

Although he thought at first, "Is it really appropriate for me to go to college at my age?" But after actually participating, he found that there were many people similar to his own age in the class. Discussing the course content with his classmates during class also allowed him to gradually make more friends.

For Takahashi, attending the lecture was not to get a certificate or to enter the workplace after retirement, but simply to find "something to do." Unexpectedly, listening to lectures, checking information, and communicating with classmates would put a new rhythm into retirement life.

For Takahashi, entering college again at the age of 70 made the retirement time that he originally didn’t know how to spend full of curiosity and communication again. "I never thought I would go to college at the age of 70. Live and learn, right?"