What is ILC-Japan?

The purpose of ILC (International Longevity Center) is to study the trend of population aging with low-fertility from the international and interdisciplinary perspectives, to share the center's findings, to educate the public, and to make policy recommendations to the government.

16 centers have been established to date in the world: in the United States, Japan, France, the United Kingdom, Dominican Republic, India, South Africa, Argentina, Netherlands, Israel, Singapore, Czech Republic, Brazil, China, Canada and Australia. These centers constitute an alliance (called ILC Global Alliance) that promotes joint studies and symposia as well as country-specific activities within the context of this loose network.

This concept of ILC Global Alliance was advocated by Dr. Robert Butler, a global authority on gerontology. In Japan, a group of private companies endorsed his vision and passionately pursued the establishment of a Japanese center. After three years of preparatory work with the guidance of the Ministry of Health and Welfare (currently Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare), ILC-Japan was launched in November 1990.

Since then, we have been engaged in numerous studies concerning the ethos of productive aging* and we have actively sought to share our findings, and educate the public.

We aspire to serve as an international resource center and will continue to proactively initiate projects that will contribute to an ideal aging society where all generations will support one another and live happily.

*Productive aging
A concept advocated by Dr. Robert Butler, the first President and CEO of ILC-USA. In contrast to seeing the elderly as socially weak or the target of discrimination, productive aging recognizes the contribution which all older people make and by which they remain an integral part of society.