How long you live

The length of your life is set within a rough range at birth, then shifts little by little with your health. Some people die young; some live past 100.

Drawing a lifespan from the life table

In the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's 2024 Abridged Life Tables, life expectancy (life expectancy at age 0) is 81.09 years for men and 87.13 years for women. The life table lists how many of 100,000 people born would still be alive at each age (the number of survivors). From these survivor numbers, the game draws the age at which each person dies, like a lottery. So on average lifespans come close to the statistical life expectancy, while individual lifespans vary widely.

In the simulation, the average initial lifespan drawn is about 81 for men and about 87 for women, and about 2% die before 45.

Differences by generation

A life table is calculated from the death rates by age in a single year. In reality, thanks to better medicine and living conditions, later generations tend to live longer. The game adjusts lifespans to be about 0.5 years shorter for baby boomers and about 0.9 years longer for Gen Z (assumption).

Family finances and health

• Family finances: For people who live past 40, lifespan stretches a little the higher their family's position and shortens the lower it is (about a 4-year difference between the top and bottom; assumption). Many studies show a link between income and health and lifespan, but this range is not taken directly from statistics.
• Health: From 40 on, your lifespan lengthens or shortens a little each year depending on your health. Illness and injury, the burden of caregiving, and being hurt in traffic accidents or by violence lower your health (the size of these effects is an assumption).

Your rank in "length of life"

On the results screen, the game simulates 160 people born like you (same prefecture, generation, sex, family finances and so on) and shows your rank among them. Of lifespan, lifetime earnings and net worth, it shows the one where you rank highest.

Causes of early death

When someone dies before 70, a cause is always shown. The ordering of causes follows the leading causes of death by age group in the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's Vital Statistics. From the teens through the 30s, suicide and accidents (such as traffic accidents) rank near the top alongside cancer; from the 40s, cancer, heart disease and stroke become more common. For example, among 10–14-year-olds in 2020 (Reiwa 2), suicide was the leading cause of death at 28.6%, followed by cancer and then accidents.

Smokers are more likely to die of cancer and heart disease, and heavy drinkers of liver disease. When the cause is suicide, the results screen points to support lines (the Kokoro no Kenko Sodan mental health hotline, 0570-064-556, and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's "Mamorou yo Kokoro" site). The shares of causes by age group and the added risk from smoking, drinking and lifestyle are assumptions.

Related: Retirement and pensions / The odds of accidents and crime

Next: Lives off the usual path