The first delivery girlsknown as «the yogurt ladies«, their deliveries began in Japan in 1963. Today there are around 80,000 women, and the phenomenon transcended borders: they are seen making their rounds in communities in 14 countries.
The women’s network not only does Yakult deliverthe pioneering probiotic dairy drinks sold in a small bottle with a bright red lid – and which until not long ago was available in Argentine supermarkets and is still sold in Uruguay – but also develops a relationship with its customers and provides health information.
Officially they are delivery girls, recognizable by their blue uniforms, who travel through the neighborhoods on bicycles or motorcycles, but in practice they are part of the social infrastructure of the Asian country.
According to the instructions BBCJapan has the economy with the largest aging population in the world. Almost 30% of its inhabitants are over 65 years old, and the number of older adults living alone continues to increase.
The Yakult Ladies
As families shrink and children become independent, loneliness has become one of the most challenging social challenges for the Japanese, and the Yakult delivery girls, dubbed there as «Yakult Ladies,» are sometimes the only ones holding the ties of the elderly community together, one delivery at a time.
The prebiotic drink was launched in Japan 90 years ago, long before the term «microbiome» became popular. In 1935, the idea of drinking «bacteria» did not seem like a good idea, and the population perceived it more as something that would make them sick, rather than benefit their health.
It was necessary to explain what the product was and they thought of salespeople who would go door to door. The workforce was almost exclusively male, but faced with a labor shortage, local distributors they started hiring women.
And what happened? The result was an unusual sales success. They realized that those who made the decisions about what foods to buy were the women of each house, and it inspired their confidence to hear another woman, who gently and knowledgeably explained to them how the product helped intestinal health.
The company decided to formally implement the program and the «Sales Network for Women at Home«, now known as el «Sistema Yakult Lady».
Most of the employees are self-employed, many of them mothers. «I make deliveries on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays,» he said. Satoko Furuhata, who has been working as a delivery girl for 25 years from Yakult, in dialogue with the BBC.
«I take Wednesdays off, I work four days a week, which allows me to have a good balance between work, my personal life and stay energized,» Satoko said.
«I have different routes every day, but I visit between 40 and 45 homes daily«, he specified. For a quarter of a century he visited the same client every Monday, an 83-year-old woman who lives alone in Maebashi, 160 kilometers northwest of Tokyo.
Her client confessed that it became such an important ritual for her that she avoids making any plans for that day, because she awaits his visit. They talk about their families, gardening, local news and health issues.
«They may seem like trivial conversations, but they make me feel and realize that I am not alone,» the woman said in the same interview, conducted in March 2026.
«Healthy gut, long life»: Dr. Minoru Shirota’s gut health mantra
Yakult is a fermented milk drink that contains a specific strain of lactic acid bacteria, known as Lactobacillus casei shirotacultivated by Dr. Minoru Shirota, the founder of Yakult, in 1930.
When the scientist began his medical career at Kyoto University in 1921, he dedicated himself to the study of disease prevention in the midst of a context of high infant mortality in Japan, generated by infectious diseases.
He focused on microbiology and beneficial bacteria, which could suppress harmful bacteria in the intestine. He was innovative and his knowledge was proven by science, but when Yakult hit the market, no one understood it.
There was very little awareness about its contribution to gut health. «The term ‘probiotics’ did not yet exist. Achieving public understanding and acceptance took time,» a Yakult spokesperson acknowledged in an interview with the BBC.
Many years passed. Only in 1971, eight years after the formation of the «Yakult Ladies», sales reached 15 million bottles daily in Japan.
Dr. Shirota’s mantra, «Healthy gut, long life»«, the mothers who gave it to their children began to repeat it. Later it was learned that diet influences intestinal health, but also stress and chronic loneliness.
Dr. Emily Leeming, a microbiome scientist, consulted by the BBC, said: «We live in a microbial world, where we constantly exchange microbes, and loneliness is related to a lower diversity of the gut microbiome and a stress response mild, which can also negatively affect the gut microbiome.
The Yakult Ladies, key in the prevention of kodokushi or «lonely death»
Yakult’s distribution network was never intended as a public health intervention, but the social dimension of the visits grew more than imagined.
Statistical projections indicate that the People over 65 living alone will increase to almost 11 million by 2050according to Japan’s National Population and Social Security Research Institute.
The country even uses the term kodokushi or «lonely death», which refers to the tragic cases of people who die alone in their home, without anyone realizing their death for months.
According to data from the Japanese National Police Agency, 40,913 people died alone in their homes in Japan between January and June 2025, an increase of 3,686 compared to the same period in 2024.
All this context led to the appointment of Japan’s first «Minister of Loneliness» in 2021. and a working group dedicated to social isolation will be created.
Asuka Mochida, another «yogurt lady,» 47, explained: «No. we are just people who sell products. «We are people who care about others, and who notice small changes in our clients’ health or lifestyle.»
For example, if someone doesn’t open the door for them, they can notify their relatives, because they have the phone records. Also if they detect weight loss or any signs of health deterioration.
«For older clients or those who live alone – not necessarily just the elderly population, but also young and middle-aged people who live alone – the peace of mind of seeing a familiar face is extremely important,» Mochida said.
«This is a job where responsibility and kindness are intertwined, because our simple presence can change their day,» he said.
This model was also successfully replicated in China, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brazil and Mexico. Instead of «ladies», in many of those countries they are affectionately known as «Yakult moms«, or «Yakult aunts», and they play the same double role, commercial and social.
