Abstract
Longevity is a phenomenon that still cannot be fully scientifically explained. Certain regions in the world show longevity of subjects on an exceptionally high level, with an above-average number of older, healthy people. These areas are better known as Blue Zones. Among these four areas, this contribution concerns the Japanese island Okinawa where exceptional longevity was confirmed and centenarians reach roughly 68 per 100,000 persons, in comparison to 10–20 per 100,000 persons in most industrialized. The existing research on longevity investigates this phenomenon mostly in the context of demographic, genetic, or medical research. However, only 20–30% of human life expectancy can be explained by medical and biological factors. Psychosocial factors playing an important role within the context of longevity is to be expected. To discover which psychosocial factors may be important for a long and healthy life, two explorative qualitative interviews with oldest old in Okinawa were carried out in 2018. These inter alia dealt with life structures, subjective well-being, values, and meaning of life (ikigai). The aim of these interviews was to collect factors of longevity in order to learn how to lead a healthy and meaningful life.