Japan's 83-year-old Develops Mobile Apps

83 year-old Masako Wakamiya is one of the oldest app developers in the world. She built her first mobile app in 2017, Hinadan, a game for elderly users. Masako says the lack of distractions helped her focus on programming and overcoming the learning curve.

“Everything was in English. Error messages, online guides and emails and other communication with Apple about getting the game into App Store was all in a foreign language,” she confides. “People from my generation have trouble with English, and it was tough.”

Masako bought her first computer when she was nearly 60-years-of-age. She wanted to keep up with friends and take care of her elderly mother. “I felt like my view expanded. I was excited to know that the world was much larger with a diverse range of people. As I discovered how great it is, I thought I should tell that to people from my generation. Then I opened a sort of PC salon in my tiny house and started teaching people of my generation.”

With that, Masako traveled the world to share her story. She has spoken at TEDxTokyo, met the Apple CEO Tim Cook and spoken at the United Nations. “I wondered if the opinions of such an old person like me could be accepted by the people, mostly young males at TED, but they welcomed me with warm applause.” Masako said they showed sympathy regardless of the generations, nationality or sex.