Previously to this, I have been (and continue to be) involved as a lead musician with Music for Life , a programme of creative music workshops that bring together professional musicians, people living with dementias and those that care for them, to create music together through improvisation. It was therefore with great excitement that I received the invitation from the British Council in Japan to take part in a study tour, Arts for an Ageing Society. What a wonderful opportunity to step outside the environment that I am familiar with, and discover how issues of ageing, inclusion, creativity and the arts are being explored somewhere else.