As reported recently by Reuters, the membership in the country’s blow dart club has tripled to 30,000 in only five years, and the member’s average age is 70.
One instructor told the news source that seniors are taking a liking to blow darting as a hobby because it is available to anyone.
“Older people are really getting into it because it's easy for anyone to do - whether your legs are playing up, you're confined to a wheelchair or missing an arm,” Nobuhiko Yamada said.
Members of Japan’s blow darting club practice in gymnasiums, where they place blunted darts into four-foot long poles and then shoot the darts toward targets.
Yamada told Reuters that among Japan’s rapidly-expanding elderly population, blow darting is especially popular among men, who after many working years, often have difficulty re-adjusting to retirement life, so for them, this sport is especially enjoyable.
If blow darting continues to grow in popularity, it might make its way to North American assisted living communities, as well.