Aging & The Japanese concept of "a la foo"
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Aging & The Japanese concept of "a la foo"

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Have you ever heard of the concept of "a la foo" (アラフォー)?

This is a Japanese expression that I hear much more than I would care to these days.

It means "close to 40 years old". In my native language, French, we have the concept of "la quarantaine", which is similar to the English "being in your 40's" to talk about people who have already reached 40 years old.

But the Japanese "アラフォー" is used to talk about people who are between 36 to 39 years old.

In Japan, it is common thinking that "younger is better" in any situation. And I feel that people have more complexes about aging here than in any western countries.

I was a little amused when I first learnt that word.

I am less amused now that I am going on my 40th birthday.

Because everyone in Japan seems to change behaviour towards you when they learn that you are "アラフォー". For example, younger male coworkers will chat less with me now or use more formal language than before. Younger female friends will talk less about romantic relationships at lunch break with me than before. They even talk less about fashion with me than before.

I feel a little sad about this. It feels like you are not allowed to be interested in fashion or love after you go over 35.

I even heard colleagues of my age saying that they "cannot" wear shirts with bright colours like light blue because we are now "a la foo". A friend also explained to me that we cannot wear a fringe anymore since it makes asian faces look younger. If we do that, people will assume that we are trying to hide the fact that we are now in the group of "a la foo".

I find this very interesting.

Do you have any similar concepts in your culture or language?

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