Meeting with Ms. Masako Wakamiya: The world’s oldest app developer

In her home country, they call her Japan’s oldest developer. But she is much more than that. We have had the great honor of meeting the incredible Ms. Masako Makamiya: The world’s oldest app developer.

Ms. Masako Makamiya developed her first, but certainly not her last, app when she was 82 years old. The app is called Hinadan, and it is a game designed for seniors based on traditional Japanese culture. Hinadan refers to a special display stand where one can arrange emperor and empress dolls from the Heian period (794-1185 AD). It is worth noting that the app has received almost exclusively 5-star reviews, leading to an impressive average rating of 4.9. This achievement is remarkable even for young and highly skilled app developers. To put it into perspective, Subway Surfers has an App Store rating of 4.7, and Facebook only manages a modest 2.2 rating.

Ms. Masako Makamiya is very focused on the user experience, especially on how seniors can benefit from the digital world. She calls herself an IT evangelist, which covers her daily work as a digital artist and app developer, as well as her significant roles as a director at NPO Broadband School, a member of the Digital Agency Advisory Board, and Vice Chairman at Mellow Club.

According to Makamiya, older individuals should be much more curious about new technologies, as it benefits both themselves and society. One of Makamiya’s ideas is to create a fund where seniors can invest 500,000 yen (approximately 25,000 DKK) in a young IT entrepreneur. After investing, the seniors would be invited to visit the entrepreneur’s company, where they would learn more about the business and IT in general. This creates a closer relationship between the older investors and the young entrepreneurs. Makamiya acknowledges that the investment could, of course, end in failure, and the money could be lost. However, as she points out, it would still be better than the current situation where telephone scammers exploit the older generation’s lack of knowledge about IT.

(Ms. Masako Makamiya & Apple CEO Tim Cook)

Unfortunately, both countries also have a significant group of elderly individuals who struggle to navigate the digital world. Many feel helpless or even unsafe with the numerous new digital initiatives. According to Makamiya, it should not be this way. As she has demonstrated many times before, there is not much distance between thought and action for her. So, she puts on her work gloves and takes the first flight to Denmark, which, like Japan, is renowned for its digital solutions.

This is where we enter the story. Makamiya had heard about Videolink but wanted to see it in real life and learn more about its possibilities. Our meeting had a slightly tight schedule as Makamiya had to head directly to the Danish Agency for Digitalisation (Digitaliseringstyrelsen). Therefore, we provided a relatively short presentation of the system. Makamiya was deeply impressed. “This is spot on,” she exclaimed, and continued, “Many elderly struggle to use smartphones, and even the TV remote control often poses challenges for them. The fact that your system seamlessly switches between video chat and TV signal can solve communication difficulties for a great number of elderly individuals.”

Subsequently, we gained insight into Makamiya’s numerous ideas and projects, while she also expressed her willingness to assist Videolink in successfully entering the Japanese market. With a current population of 35.6 million Japanese citizens aged 65 or older, it is indeed a substantial market to consider.

(Ms. Masako Makamiya & Hans Oxmond)

It was indeed an amazing day with an exceptional personality. “A shining star never gets lost in darkness,” as they say – and Ms. Masako Makamiya is undoubtedly a shining star!