Aging in Japan: Domestic Healthcare Technologies in Place
January 2017 - August 2018
Collaboration Project between DIJ and LeidenAsiaCentre
BACKGROUND
Japan is the global leader in aging. Currently one out of eight Japanese is older than 75,1 years and predictions indicate that by 2030 nearly one-third of Japanese will belong to the elderly category. This rapid demographic shift is not an isolated Japanese phenomenon, but rather a forbear of the future global trend. Declining fertility combined with the rising life expectancy are most pronounced in OECD countries, but similar tendencies can also be observed in the developing regions.
“Aging in Japan: Domestic Healthcare Technologies in Place“ is a joint project between DIJ Tokyo and LeidenAsiaCentre. More precisely, the research collaboration is part of the overall research scheme “Aging Japan: Leading the way into the future” at LeidenAsiaCentre and “The Future of Local Communities in Japan. Risks and Opportunities in Face of Multiple Challenges” at DIJ Tokyo.
FOCUS
What challenges will aging societies face? What innovations and solutions will prove most effective to deal with them? Do the solutions that are currently being proposed actually work in real life? This project intends to offer empirical evidence from studying the situation in Japan. The analysis will focus on the use of high-tech home care solutions, from remote-care services to robots, exploring the daily interactions of elderly with technology. The speed and intensity of Japan’s demographic change, along with the flexibility of the market and the innovative capacities of Japanese companies, offers a unique opportunity to explore the everyday reality of an aging society.
Publications
Please find the final report on "Ageing in Japan. Domestic Healthcare Technologies. A Qualitative Interview Study on Care Robots, Monitoring Sensor Systems, and ICT-based Telehealth Systems" here.
Brucksch, Susanne; Schultz, Franziska. 2018. Ageing in Japan. Domestic Healthcare Technologies. A Qualitative Interview Study on Care Robots, Monitoring Sensor Systems, and ICT-based Telehealth Systems. Report. May 2018. Leiden Asia Centre (LAC) and German Institute for Japanese Studies Tokyo (DIJ).
Brucksch, Susanne & Sasaki, Kaori (2021). "Introduction". In: Brucksch, Susanne & Sasaki, Kaori (Eds.), Humans and Devices in Medical Contexts. Case Studies from Japan (pp. 3-20). Palgrave Macmillan. LINK
Brucksch, Susanne & Wiggert, Kevin (2021). "Theoretical Reflections on Medical Devices and the Sociocultural Context in the Locale of Japan". In: Brucksch, Susanne & Sasaki, Kaori (Eds.), Humans and Devices in Medical Contexts. Case Studies from Japan (pp. 21-51). Palgrave Macmillan. LINK
Brucksch, Susanne (2021). "Conclusions on Socio-Technical Settings in Medical Contexts from the Locale of Japan". In: Brucksch, Susanne & Sasaki, Kaori (Eds.), Humans and Devices in Medical Contexts. Health, Technology and Society (pp. 313-324). Palgrave Macmillan. LINK
Brucksch, Susanne (2021). "Insights into the Digital Transformation from the Fields of Medicine and Healthcare in Japan". In: Waldenberger, Franz & Kümmerle, Harald (Eds.), The Digital Transformation: Implications for the Social Sciences and the Humanities (pp. 43-49). DIJ. (DIJ Miscellanea). LINK
Brucksch, Susanne (2020). Sustaining Healthcare in Japan’s Regions: The Introduction of Telehealth Networks. LINK
Brucksch, Susanne (2020). "Sustaining Healthcare in Japan’s Regions: The Introduction of Telehealth Networks". In: Manzenreiter, Wolfram, Lützeler, Ralph & Polak-Rottmann, Sebastian (Eds.), Japan’s New Ruralities: Coping with Decline in the Periphery (pp. 140-158). Routledge. LINK
Waldenberger, Franz, Braeseke, Grit, Naegele, Gerhard, Lingott, Nina & Park, Sieun (2019). Einsatz von robotischen Systemen in der Pflege in Japan mit Blick auf den steigenden Fachkräftebedarf. Abschlussbericht für das Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie. IGES Institut (Infrastruktur- und Gesundheitsfragen). LINK
Brucksch, Susanne & Sasaki, Kaori (2018). "医療機器と医学にまつわるSTS研究、そして日本を事例とするSTS研究の可能性―ワークショップ (Humans & Machines in Medical Context: Case Studies from Japan: Seeking Various Potentials for Further Developments of STS Case Studies on The Relation between Medical Devices and Medical Practice in Japan)". 科学技術社会論研究 (Journal of Science and Technology Studies), 15(11) (pp. 148-153). LINK
Brucksch, Susanne & Schulz, Franziska (2018). Ageing in Japan. Domestic Healthcare Technologies. A Qualitative Interview Study on Care Robots, Monitoring Sensor Systems, and ICT-based Telehealth Systems.. DIJ (DIJ Working Papers). LINK
Brucksch, Susanne (2017). "Employing the concept of techno-governance to analyse the field of biomedical engineering in Japan". Global Perspectives on Japan, 1 (2017). LINK
Brucksch, Susanne & Wagner, Cosima (2016). "Introduction to the Technikstudien — Science & Technology Studies (STS) Research Initiative on Japan". ASIEN, 140 (Juli 2016) (pp. 5-21). LINK
Brucksch, Susanne & Wagner, Cosima (2016). "Technikstudien and STS: Launching a Research Initiative Regarding Intersections between Technology and Society in Japan". ASIEN, 140 (pp. 5-21). LINK
+81 (0)3 3222-5077
health-tech-japan@dijtokyo.org