Japan is at the forefront of the trend in developed nations to have an increasing proportion of the population represented by the elderly. By 2030, people over 65 years of age are expected to reach 30 % of Japan's population. Despite the significance of this demographic group, remarkably little is known about how the elderly adjust to the social changes that they experience with aging. The focus of this talk is on the issue of change as it impacts on the aging individual and how this change is discursively interpreted and negotiated. Recorded informal conversations of elderly Japanese women both with peers and with younger acquaintances will be used to illustrate the speaker's continuing adjustment of her established persona, identity and attitudes in recognition of the changing reality associated with age.

Co-sponsored by the Center for East Asian Studies.