Routledge Contemporary Japan
1 primary work • 2 total works
Book 16
Population Decline and Ageing in Japan-The Social Consequences
by Florian Coulmas
This book presents a comprehensive analysis of one of the most pressing challenges facing Japan today: population decline and ageing.
It argues that social ageing is a phenomenon that follows in the wake of industrialization, urbanization and social modernization, bringing about changes in values, institutions, social structures, economic activity, technology and culture, and posing many challenges for the countries affected. Focusing on the experience of Japan, the author explores:
how Japan has recognized the emerging problems relatively early because during the past half century population ageing has been more rapid in Japan than in any other countryhow all of Japanese society is affected by social ageing, not just certain substructures and institutions, and explains its complex causes, describes the resulting challenges and analyses the solutions under consideration to deal with it the nature of Japan's population dynamics since 1920, and argues that Japan is rapidly moving in the direction of a 'hyperaged society' in which those sixty-five or older account for twenty-five per cent of the total population the implications for family structures and other social networks, gender roles and employment patterns, health care and welfare provision, pension systems, immigration policy, consumer and voting behaviour and the cultural reactions and ramifications of social ageing.
This book offers a fresh view on Japanese society focussing on the role of comportment for group cohesiveness. It explores the stereotype that Japan is the world’s most polite country, examining how proper conduct is acquired and expressed; and how the apparent conflict with some of the concepts considered essential for Western modernity, such as society, freedom and the individual, are balanced with Japan’s great emphasis on courtesy, politeness and civility. By comparing the present situation in Japan with behavioural standards of former periods as well as with other cultural traditions, the book explains some of the distinctive features of present-day Japanese society. Overall, the book argues that Japan is a prime example of multiple modernities concerning individuals, collectives and relationships between state and society.