New Approaches to Elderly Care and Senior Citizens EngagementFindings from Fieldwork in Japans Metropolitan Area

Workers Collectives as Care providers – The case of Kanagawa

Sebastian Hofstetter, MLU Halle-Wittenberg

Sociologist Ueno Chizuko has pointed out an ongoing development of a “socialization of care” (kea no shakaika). According to this theory “careservice” in all its varieties is increasingly offered by “workers collectives” on a community level (chiiki). “Workers Collectives” seem to draw on different resources in the area of elderly care. Unlike regular forms of care services Workers Collectives are located somewhere between the market and third sector, as well as between public and private sphere. According to Evers (2013) this mix of usually clearly disconnected spheres is called “hybridization”, which enables Workers Collectives to establish a new way of caring for and about elderly Japanese. By highlighting the specifics of this so called welfare-mix, I show how Workers Collectives shape new ideas and concepts of elderly care. Drawing on extensive fieldwork conducted in Kanagawa Prefecture, these talk shows which role Workers Collectives take on in offering an innovative care concept

Sebastian Hofstetter is a doctoral candidate of Japanese studies at the MLU of Halle-Wittenberg. He received his B.A. and M.A. in Japanese studies at Goethe University of Frankfurt/Main.

Promoting senior citizens engagement: Tokyo’s urban model for an aging society

Inger Maleen Bachmann, Hamburg University

The Tokyo Metropolitan Governments “Tokyo 2020 Vision” declares to “build and show the world an urban model for a society with a low birthrate and aging population”, with the ambition to create “an environment where senior citizens can participate in the community in many ways […]” (TMG, 2012). The 23 special wards (ku) that represent central Tokyo differ significantly in size, population and demographic structure and thus provide different environments for senior citizens participation. Drawing on material of the local ward offices and interviews with ward officials regarding selected flagship projects, this talk will discuss different approaches implementing the Tokyo 2020 Vision in selected Tokyo special wards. 

Inger Maleen Bachmann is a PhD candidate of Japanese Studies at Hamburg University, where she received her M.A in Japanese Studies and Political Science. She is currently conducting field research as a scholarship fellow at the DIJ Tokyo.