Hostname: page-component-7b9c58cd5d-hpxsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-03-17T04:39:44.552Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Community-Based Care During COVID-19: Balancing Social Distancing And Social Care In Rural Japan – The Case Of The Aso Region

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2025

Hanno Jentzsch  and
Sebastian Polak-Rottmann
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

This paper investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the process of regional welfare-making in the Aso region (Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan). It demonstrates how local stakeholders such as social welfare councils have been promoting the ideal of community-based regional welfare, while adapting to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. As the pandemic hindered social exchange and amplified longstanding processes of community decline, it further complicates the ongoing challenge of activating local communities to realize the vision of a healthy “aging in place” based on mutual support.

Keywords

Community-based Integrated CareRural JapanSocial WelfareCOVID-19Demographic ChangeSocial Distancing
Type
Research Article
Information
Asia-Pacific Journal , Volume 22 , Issue 3 , March 2024 , e5
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2024

References

Abe, Miwa 安部美和 and Murakami, Takeshi 村上 長嗣. 2020. “農村集落におけるくらしの変化と熊 本地震～南阿蘇村川後田区・加勢区の事例から [Changing life in rural communities and the Kuma-moto Earthquakes: Examples from Kawagoda-ku and Kase-ku in Minamiaso-mura].” 熊本大学政策 研究 [Kumamoto University Policy Research] 10: 29–39.Google Scholar
Askitis, Dionyssios, Miserka, Antonia, and Polak-Rottmann, Sebastian. 2021. “Exploring rural well-being through an interdisciplinary lens: The ‘Shrinking, but happy’ research team at the University of Vienna.” Asien: The German Journal on Contemporary Asia 158-159: 161–176. https://doi.org/10.11588/asien.2021.158/159.20427.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aso Shakyō Rengōkai (Aso Burokku Shakai Fukushi Kyōgikai Rengōkai) “阿蘇ブロック社会福 祉協議会連合会. 2023. 阿蘇やまびこネットワーク みんなでたすけあい・ささえあう地域づくり [The Aso Yamabiko Network: Making a Region, where Everybody Helps and Supports Each Other].” 阿蘇 やまびこネットワークとは [What is the Yamabiko Network?], accessed 22 March 2023. https://www.asoyamabiko.jp/about/.Google Scholar
Charmaz, Kathy. 2014. Constructing Grounded Theory. London: SAGE.Google Scholar
Costantini, Hiroko. 2021. “Ageing in Place? The Community-Based Integrated Care System in Japan.” Gérontologie et société 43 (165): 1–15. https://doi.org/10.3917/gs1.165.0205.Google Scholar
Dahl, Nils. 2018. “Social Inclusion of Senior Citizens in Japan: An Investigation into the ‘Community-Based Integrated Care System.’” Contemporary Japan 30 (1): 43–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Danely, Jason. 2019. “The Limits of Dwelling and the Unwitnessed Death.” Cultural Anthropology 34 (2): 213–39.Google Scholar
Danely, Jason. 2022. Fragile Resonance: Caring for Older Family Members in Japan and England. Ithaca: Cornell University.Google Scholar
Estévez-Abe, Margarita and Ide, Hiroo. 2021. “COVID-19 and Long-Term Care Policy for Older People in Japan.” Journal of Aging & Social Policy 33(4–5): 444–58. https://doi.org/10.1080/08959420.2021.1924342.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Estévez-Abe, Margarita. 2003. “State-Society Partnerships in the Japanese Welfare State.” In The State of Civil Society in Japan, edited by Schwartz, Frank J. and Pharr, Susan J., 154–72. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Gagné, Isaac. 2020. “Dislocation, Social Isolation, and the Politics of Recovery in Post-Disaster Japan.” Transcultural Psychiatry 57 (5): 710–23.Google ScholarPubMed
Gagné, Isaac. 2022. “Mapping the Local Economy of Care: Social Welfare and Volunteerism in Local Communities.” In Rethinking Locality in Japan, edited by Ganseforth, Sonja and Jentzsch, Hanno, 102–16. London and New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Goodman, Roger. 1998. “The ‘Japanese-Style Welfare State’ and the Delivery of Personal Social Services.” In The East Asian Welfare Model: Welfare Orientalism and the State, edited by Goodman, Roger, White, Gordon, and Kwon, Huck-ju, 139–58. London, New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Haddad, Mary Alice. 2011. “A State-in-Society Approach to the Nonprofit Sector: Welfare Services in Japan.” Voluntas, 22 (1): 26–47. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-010-9135-7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hatakeyama, Teruo 畠山輝雄, Nakamura, Tsutomu 中村努, and Miyazawa, Hitoshi 宮澤仁. 2018. “地域包括ケアシステムの圏域構造とローカル・ガバ ナンス [Community-Based Integrated Care Systems in Japan: Focusing on Spatial Structures and Local Governance].” E-journal GEO 13 (2): 486–510.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hatano, Yu, Matsumoto, Masatoshi, Okita, Mitsuaki, Inoue, Kazuo, and Takeuchi, Keisuke. 2017. “The Vanguard of Community-Based Integrated Care in Japan: The Effect of a Rural Town on National Policy.” International Journal of Integrated Care 17 (2): 1–9. http://dx.doi.org/10.5334/ijic.2451.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Heidt, Vitali. 2017. Two Worlds of Aging: Institutional Shifts, Social Risks, and the Livelihood of the Japanese Elderly. Baden-Baden: Nomos.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Inoue, Nobuhiro 井上信宏. 2016. “高齢期の生 活保障と地域包括ケア [Livelihood Security and Comprehensive Community Care in Old Age].” 社会政策 [Social Policy] 7: 27–40.Google Scholar
Jentzsch, Hanno and Polak-Rottmann, Sebastian. 2023. “Rural spaces, remote methods - the virtual Aso Winter Field School 2022.” In Research Into Japanese Society, edited by Polak-Rottmann, Sebastian and Miserka, Antonia, 63–78. Vienna: Department of Japanese Studies, University of Vienna.Google Scholar
Kanai, Hideaki and Kumazawa, Akinori. 2021. “An Information Sharing System for Multi-Professional Collaboration in the Community-based Integrated Health System.” International Journal of Informatics Information System and Computer Engineering 2 (1): 1–14.Google Scholar
Kavedžija, Iza. 2019. Making Meaningful Lives: Tales from an Aging Japan. Ann Arbor: University of Pennsylvania Press.Google Scholar
Kumamoto-ken Kankō Senryaku-bu Kankō Kika-ku-ka 熊本県企画観光戦略部観光企画課. 2022. 令和4年 (2022年) 熊本県観光統計表 [2022 Tourism Statistics of Kumamoto Prefecture], accessed 12 February 2024. https://www.pref.kumamoto.jp/uploaded/life/190000_477617_misc.pdf.Google Scholar
Monde, Le. 2023. “Inflation and staff shortages threaten Japan's care for the elderly.” Le Monde, 13 July. https://www.lemonde.fr/en/economy/article/2023/07/13/inflation-and-staff-shortages-threaten-japan-s-care-for-the-elderly_6052027_19.html.Google Scholar
Lützeler, Ralph. 2016. “Aso: ein ländlicher Raum in der Abwärtsspirale? Bemerkungen zur Messbarkeit der Qualität regionaler Lebensbedingungen.” In Aso: Vergangenheit, Gegenwart und Zukunft eines Wiener Forschungsprojekts zum ländlichen Japan, edited by Lützeler, Ralph and Manzenreiter, Wolfram, 153–67. Vienna: Department of Japanese Studies, University of Vienna.Google Scholar
Manzenreiter, Wolfram, Lützeler, Ralph, and Polak-Rottmann, Sebastian (eds.). 2020. Japan's New Ruralities: Coping with Decline in the Periphery. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Matsumoto-shi Fukushi Seisaku-ka 松本市福祉 政策課. 2021. “福祉づくりは地域づくり [Welfare-making is Region-making]” 福祉ひろばとは [What is the fukushi hiroba], accessed 27 February 2023. https://www.city.matsumoto.nagano.jp/uploaded/attachment/3818.pdf.Google Scholar
MHLW (Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare). 2021. 令和２年度福祉行政報告例の概況 [Overview of Welfare Administration Reports in FY2020], accessed February 27 2023. https://www.mhlw.go.jp/toukei/saikin/hw/gyousei/20/index.html.Google Scholar
MHLW (Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare). 2023. 地域包括ケアシステム [The Community-Integrated Care System], accessed February 27 2023. https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/seisakunitsuite/bunya/hukushi_kaigo/kaigo_koureisha/chiiki-houkatsu/.Google Scholar
MIC (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications). 2021. 自治会・町内会の活動の持続可 能性について [On the Sustainability of Neighborhood Associations' activities.], accessed February 12 2024. https://www.soumu.go.jp/main_content/000777270.pdf.Google Scholar
Miyake, Yasunari 三宅康成 and Iseki, Takahiro 井 関崇博. 2014. “農村地域における「ふれあいサロ ン」の実態と課題 －姫路市郊外のサロンを事例と して [Actual Conditions and Subjects of Community Salon in Rural Area: A Case of Himeji Suburbs].” 兵庫県立大学環境人間学部研究報告 [Research Reports of the Faculty of Environmental and Human Studies at the University of Hyogo] 16: 99–109.Google Scholar
MUFG (Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group). 2021. 地域包括支援センターの効果的な運営に関する調査研究事業 [Report of the Survey and Research Project on the Effective Operation of Community Comprehensive Support Centers]. Tokyo: Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting.Google Scholar
Niki, Ryū 二木立. 2019. “日本の地域包括ケアの事実・論点と最新の政策動向 [Reality, Issues, and Recent Policy Trends in Japan's Community-Based Integrated Care].” 日本福祉大学社会福祉論集 [Nihon Fukushi University Social Welfare Review] 140: 127–34.Google Scholar
Noda, Shinichiro, Hernandez, Paul M., Sudo, Kyoko, Takahashi, Kenzo, Woo, Nam E., Chen, He et al. 2021. “Service Delivery Reforms for Asian Ageing Societies: A Cross-Country Study Between Japan, South Korea, China, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines.” International Journal of Integrated Care 21 (2): 1–14. https://doi.org/10/5334/.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Numao, Namiko 沼尾波子. 2016. “社会保障制度改革と自治体行財政の課題 [The Reform of the Social Security System and Challenges for Local Administrative and Financial Governance].” 社会政策 [Social Policy] 7 (3): 12–26.Google Scholar
Odagiri, Tokumi 小田切徳美 (ed.). 2011. 農山村再 生の実践 [The Revitalization of Agricultural Mountain Villages in Practice]. 東京: 農山漁村文化協 会 [Tokyo: Agricultural, Rural and Fishery Culture Association].Google Scholar
Odagiri, Tokumi 小田切徳美. 2016. 農山村は消滅しない [Mountain villages will not disappear]. 東京: 岩波書店 [Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten].Google Scholar
Okada, Norio. 2022. “Rethinking Japan's Depopulation Problem: Reflecting on over 30 Years of Research with Chizu Town, Tottori Prefecture and the Potential of SMART Governance.” Contemporary Japan 34 (2): 210–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Polak-Rottmann, Sebastian. 2023. “Being active and sharing happy moments: exploring the relationship of political participation and subjective well-being.” Asian Anthropology 22 (4): 293–97. https://doi.org/10.1080/1683478X.2023.2215639.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Polak-Rottmann, Sebastian. 2024. Wie politische Partizipation Freude bereiten kann. Sechs Dimensionen des subjektiven Wohlbefindens politisch handelnder Personen im ländlichen Japan. Munich: Iudicium.Google Scholar
Prochaska-Meyer, Isabelle, Kieninger, Pia R., and Nutz, Stefan. 2014. “65+ Being old in rural Japan,” accessed February 8 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDyPwiVObzg.Google Scholar
Sudo, Kyoko, Kobayashi, Jun, Noda, Shinichiro, Fukuda, Yoshiharu, and Takahashi, Kenzo. 2018. “Japan's Healthcare Policy for the Elderly through the Concepts of Self-help (Ji-jo), Mutual Aid (Go-jo), Social Solidarity Care (Kyo-jo), and Governmental Care (Ko-jo).” Bio Science Trends 12 (1): 7–11.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Takeda, Shunsuke. 2022. “Continuation of Festivals and Community Resilience during COVID-19: The Case of Nagahama Hikiyama Festival in Shiga Prefecture, Japan.” Japanese Journal of Sociology 31: 55–66. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ijjs.12132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tanaka, Kimiko and Johnson, Nan E.. 2021. Successful Aging in a Rural Community in Japan. Durham: Carolina Academic Press.Google Scholar
Daigaku, Tōkai 東海大学 2022. 熊本県の市区町村ごとの新型コロナウイルス新規感染者数 [Number of new cases of new coronavirus infection by municipality in Kumamoto Prefecture], accessed March 21 2024. http://covid-map.bmi-tokai.jp/choropleth-map_kumamoto/.Google Scholar
Tokoro, Michihiko 所道彦. 2016. “座長論文: 社会保障改革と地方自治体 : 論点の整理と今後の課 題 [Keynote: Social Protection Reform and Local Governments – Summary of the Issues and Future Challenges].” 社会政策 [Social Policy] 7 (3): 3–11.Google Scholar
Tokuno, Sadao 徳野貞雄. 2015. “人口減少時代 の地域社会モデルの構築を目指して [Toward the development of a regional social model in an era of population decline].” In: 暮らしの視点からの地方再生: 地域と生活の社会学 [Rural revitalization from a livelihood perspective: a sociology of regions and livelihoods], edited by Tokuno, Sadao 徳野貞雄 and Makino, Atsushi 牧野厚史, 1–36. 福岡: 九州大学出版会 [Fukuoka: Kyūshū Daigaku Shuppankai].Google ScholarPubMed
Tomita, Megumi 富田恵, Ōnuma, Yuka 大沼由香, Koike, Taeko 小池妙子, Yūko, Kudo, 工藤雄行, Terada, Fujiko 寺田富二子, and Nakamura, Naoki 中村直樹. 2015. “委託型の地域包括支援センター保健師のネットワーク構築に関する認識 [Perceptions of Network Building Among Public Health Nurses at Outsource-type Comprehensive Community Support Centers].” 弘前医療福祉大学紀要 [Bulletin of Hirosaki University of Health and Welfare] 6 (1): 91–8.Google Scholar
Traphagan, John. 2020. Cosmopolitan Rurality, Depopulation, and Entrepreneurial Ecosystems in 21st Century Japan. Amherst, MA: Cambria Press.Google Scholar
Tsujinaka, Yutaka, Pekkanen, Robert, and Yamamoto, Hidehiro. 2014. Neighborhood Associations and Local Governance in Japan. London and New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Tsutsui, Takako. 2014. “Implementation Process and Challenges for the Community-Based Integrated Care System in Japan.” International Journal of Integrated Care 14. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3905786/pdf/IJIC-14-2014002.pdf.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wake, Junko 和気純子. 2014. “支援困難ケースをめぐる3職種の実践とその異同 : 地域包括支援センターの全国調査から [Differences and Similarities of the Practice among the Three Professions in Responding to the Complex Needs of the Community-dwelling Elderly: Through a Nationwide Survey to the Community Integrated Care Center].” 人文学報社会福祉学 [Journal of Humanities. Social Welfare Studies] 30: 1–25.Google Scholar
Waldenberger, Franz, Naegele, Gerhard, Matsuda, Tomoo, and Kudo, Hiroko (eds.). 2022. Alterung und Pflege als kommunale Aufgabe: Deutsche und japanische Ansätze und Erfahrungen. Dortmunder Beiträge zur Sozialforschung. Wiesbaden: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilhelm, Johannes. 2020. “Das Grasland von Aso zwischen gesellschaftlicher Schrumpfung und Landschaftserhalt.” In Japan 2020: Politik, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft, edited by Chiavacci, David and Wieczorek, Iris, 222–249. Munich: Iudicium.Google Scholar
Yamaura, Yōichi 山浦陽一 and Tsutsui, Kazunobu 筒井一伸. 2022. 地域福祉における地域運営組織との連携 [Regional Welfare and the Cooperation with Regional Management Organizations]. 東京: 筑波書房 [Tōkyō: Tsukuba Shobō].Google Scholar
Zenshakyō (Zenkoku shakai fukushi kyōgikai) 全国 社会福祉協議会, Chiiki fukushi suishin iinkai 地域福祉推進委員会, and Zenkoku borantia, shimin katsudō shinkō sentā 全国ボランティア市民活動振興センター. 2020. 社会福祉協議会活動実態調査等報告書 2018 [Report of the Survey of the Activities and Current State of Social Welfare Councils 2018]. 東京: 東京都同胞援護会 [Tokyo: Tokyo Compatriots Aid Association].Google Scholar
Zenshakyō (Zenkoku shakai fukushi kyōgikai) 全 国社会福祉協議会. 2023. “地域福祉について [About regional welfare].” 分野別の取り組み:地域 福祉・ボランティア [Initiatives by Sector: Community Welfare and Volunteerism], accessed February 27 2023. https://www.shakyo.or.jp/bunya/chiiki/index.html.Google Scholar