“The Society of Adults” I Found in Matsuyama — The Comfortable Distance of Independent Living — 2026/5/27(Wed) R8

Kanon
May 27, 2026 14:37

It has been almost one month since I moved to Matsuyama.

This is an independent-living residence, so many of the residents are still relatively active and healthy.

Before coming here, I wondered whether having many women around might mean long conversations and endless small talk.

But the reality was different.

People chat a little during meals, then quietly return to their own routines once they finish eating.

Even during mahjong, when conversations begin drifting too far, someone gently brings the flow back by saying, “Let’s enjoy the mahjong.”

People are not overly attached to one another.

But they are not cold, either.

I felt that this sense of distance was very mature.

It is very different from my mother’s facility.

Many residents there have dementia, and sometimes there are harsh words toward staff members or restless behavior.

I have watched both my grandmother and my mother grow older.

Fractures, compression fractures, bedridden years, dementia.

Perhaps that is why I wanted to move somewhere while I could still move on my own and live independently.

Here, meals and cancellations can be managed on an iPad.

It is convenient.

But at the same time, people still gather together, play mahjong, do handicrafts, and talk face to face.

I do not think human beings can live on convenience alone.

People maintain a respectful distance from one another, yet still continue living together in the same place.

Since coming here, I feel I have begun to glimpse something called “a society of adults.”

#SeniorLiving
#IndependentLiving
#MatsuyamaEdenNoSono
#Mahjong
#LifeAfterRetirement
#DementiaCare
#HumanConnection
#CommunityLiving
#AgingSociety