Free paper targets Japan's baby boomer generation
By Leah McBride Mensching, Monday 4 February 2008 at 21:44 :: Newspaper Data :: #1202 :: rss
A new free paper is increasing in popularity in Japan, targeting baby boomers as they enter retirement and have more time for community activities, a growing niche in the country, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported Monday.
Gaya Gaya, published by the Setagaya Ward Office in Tokyo, launched in December, and has since distributed about 40,000 copies. It publishes information that encourages baby boomers to participate in community activities.
After reading the paper, many have applied to volunteer in their communities, a good indication that the publication is off to a good start, according to the Yomiuri Shimbun.
Volunteers aged 55 and older publish the newspaper, while writers and editors were selected after an open recruitment. The staff began working on Gaya Gaya in September.
As Japan's population ages, the paper seeks to fill that new niche. Gaya Gaya's “Ikigai sagashi” section (Seeking Motivation in Life) gives readers a chance to help one another by carrying information on volunteer activities, such as ways to help the elderly. The Yomiuri Shimbun reports that “an unexpectedly high number of people applied to teach Japanese language and culture to foreign residents of the ward,” for example.
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