Cologne, Germany - Japan makes better use of the abilities of senior citizens than Germany does, according to a German expert in the field.

"Public services, families and companies in Japan can access the expertise of older people through regional centres and networks, said Hartmut Meyer-Wolters, professor of gerontology at the University of Cologne. "We're a long way from reaching this stage in Germany."

The services offered, paid or unpaid, range from household work, gardening, driving, consulting or caring for the sick or needy, Meyer-Wolters told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

"Statistics show 60-70 per cent of Japan's senior citizens are keen to take on such voluntary work, compared to a maximum of 20 per cent in this country," he said.

One of the reasons for this is the attitude prevalent in Japan that once a person retires, "he owes a sort of debt to society," Meyer-Wolters said after a meeting of experts from the two countries.

While German retirees like to look after their grandchildren, the younger senior citizens in Japan like to take care of the older ones.

"They want old people in need of nursing care to be able to live out their life in the environment they are used to. The younger old ones help the older old ones in this way," Meyer-Wolters said.

"At one time, old men who no longer had a partner were looked after by their daughter-in-law. This is becoming less common in modern Japan."

Societies in both Germany and Japan are ageing, but Japan has one of the highest rates of life expectancy in the world.

"When we talk of old people in Germany, we usually refer to those over 70. In Japan, it's the over-80s that attract the attention," Meyer-Wolters said, pointing to the differing attitudes towards older people.

"The Japanese don't subscribe to our view that a person reaches his peak in mid-life and then its all downhill after that. They believe in a continuing upward trend."

That's why a lot of emphasis is placed on lifelong learning and enhancing one's abilities, he said. Even Japanese industry is targeting the so-called silver generation, making products specially for them, even cars, he added.

This is easier because the Japanese have less scepticism when it comes to making use of technical innovations such as household robots. "They don't appear to have a problem with them, not even with cuddly robots." (dpa)