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The Yomiuri Shimbun End-of-life documents in a file made by Hiroko Osaki
By Akiko Morikawa / Yomiuri Shimbun Senior Writer
10:00 JST, January 1, 2025
Tech-savvy elderly woman got 200,000 followers
The Yomiuri Shimbun Yuko Osaki talks about her mother, Hiroko Osaki, in Nerima Ward, Tokyo.
Two years ago, The Yomiuri Shimbun featured Hiroko Osaki, a tech-savvy elderly woman who lived alone in Nerima Ward, Tokyo. When Osaki died this past July at the age of 91, she had more than 200,000 followers on X, formerly Twitter. She was connected to many people not just online, but in real life as well. I learned about her from her daughter Yuko, 56.
The Yomiuri Shimbun: Your mother called herself “technologically challenged.” But she started using a computer in 2011 at the age of 78. Did you recommend her to do so?
Yuko Osaki: I studied abroad in England, got married there and currently live in London. International phone calls were expensive, so I suggested that she use a computer to make online video calls.
She thought she wasn’t good with technology and even found it difficult to use a DVR. But she tried her best by attending a computer class every week in order to interact with me and her grandchildren.
One of her life mottos was: “It’s fine to quit easily. Just start anyway.” If a family member tried to teach her, there were times it’d be frustrating all around. However, in a classroom, no matter how many times she asked the same question, people would always kindly teach her.
Communication in real life
After that, she also started using Twitter (now X). She posted photos of her cooking paired with alcohol, daily events, wartime memories and other topics. The number of her followers grew to more than 200,000 after she was featured in an online news article.
Osaki: My mother received a lot of support from her followers. When she posted “Good morning” in the morning, they would reply “Good morning.”
Yomiuri: She also made connections with people in real life.
Osaki: In addition to the computer class, she joined a tai chi group that practiced every morning in the park and made many friends. She also liked playing mahjong and regularly went to two different clubs.
We usually talked around noon in London, which is about 8 p.m. in Japan. She hated losing and would say, “I lost at mahjong today.” I told her, “If you always win, you’ll be hated.” About a week before she died, she was very happy that my son had been accepted into college.
Noticed by neighbors
The Yomiuri Shimbun Hiroko Osaki’s pendant, which her daughter Yuko owns now.
Her last post on X was “Good night, everyone” at 9:34 p.m. on July 22.
Osaki: On the night of July 23, a friend of hers called me on LINE and said, “She hasn’t posted on X today. I saw no light on in her apartment.” I was connected on LINE with three of her neighbors, including the caller.
A resident on an upper floor of the same apartment complex, to whom my mother had given a spare key to her apartment, went to her apartment and found the door latched, so they called the police. My mother was found dead in her bed. I arrived in Japan on the morning of July 25.
Yomiuri: Your mother wrote in her book, “I go to practice tai chi every day. If I’m absent for three days in a row without notice, I hope someone in the group will realize something is wrong.” But they noticed much sooner.
Osaki: Apparently her cause of death was a cerebral hemorrhage. As she was wearing earrings and a bracelet, I think she got up once to get ready to go out but she felt sick and went back to bed. In her apartment, I found a Japanese teacup, a present from her friend, with some cold water in it. I think it was hot when she drank from it.
Preparation for death
Yomiuri: Was it your mother’s wish that her death be reported on X?
Osaki: Yes, it was written in her will.
Yomiuri: I heard that she also made an end-of-life file.
Osaki: Yes. She had also already obtained copies of the family register needed to inherit her assets, her portrait for her funeral and an estimate for the funeral cost. She had also written down some passwords. I think she was so meticulous partly because she knew I wouldn’t be able to stay in Japan very long.
When my mother had stomach cancer surgery years ago, my children were still small and I had to leave Japan before she was released from the hospital. This year, my youngest started college, so I was planning to visit her for a while in around September. I’m sorry I didn’t have a chance to say goodbye to her.
Yomiuri: In her book, she wrote that as she made more friends, her worries about her twilight years started to fade.
Osaki: Her friends also helped me a lot. They helped me prepare for her funeral and brought food to me, telling me, “You should eat well.” I feel like I’m harvesting the fruits of the seeds my mother planted.
Published two books
Hiroko Osaki was born in Ibaraki Prefecture in 1932. She divorced in her 30s and raised her only child, Yuko, by herself.
Osaki wrote a book, published by Takarajimasha, Inc., titled “Living alone at age 89: How to make a happy life even without money,” about her life at 89 and how to live happily alone frugally.
A posthumous book was released on Nov. 22 by the same publisher, titled “At age 91, in my happy last days. Meals for one,” which includes her recipes that were popular when she posted them on X. Osaki had been working on it while she was still alive and Yuko completed it.
Yomiuri Shimbun photos Left: Hiroko Osaki’s book on living alone at 89 Right: Hiroko Osaki
Start with what you want to do
The Yomiuri Shimbun Hiroko Osaki’s smartphone, tablet and laptop
Some people are interested in using digital technology but hesitate to get started. I asked Mayu Urata, an associate professor at Nagoya University specializing in social informatics and who studies digitization support for the elderly, for some advice.
Urata says that the most frequently asked questions at consultation events for the elderly are how to use LINE and how to send photos on the internet.
“I recommend starting with what you want to do, such as getting in touch with family members more easily or showing photos to friends,” Urata said.
She also says that local governments are holding an increasing number of classes and consultations, while mobile phone companies also give classes on how to use smartphones.“Some people are afraid of using smartphones. I advise them to install and use safe apps suggested by knowledgeable people,” she said.
“The octogenarian grandmother of a graduate student in my lab wanted to post videos on YouTube by herself and learned how to do so by calling various places,” Urata said. “I think it’s important to be curious when you are doing something new.”
‘It’s fine to quit easily’
I have no idea what the last days of my life will be like, including my health. I feel that sooner or later, I probably won’t be able to keep up with the new technology. Also, unlike Osaki, I don’t have children to rely on.
However, listening to her daughter’s account of how Osaki positively started doing various new things and enjoyed life based on her motto that it’s fine to quit easily, it makes me feel that I can manage to live while seeking what is within my reach at the time. As a woman who is younger than Osaki and lives alone like her, I would thank her from the bottom of my heart.
