Family and Social Policy in Japan

This 2002 book is an in-depth study of the formation of social policy in a non-western society.

This 2002 book examines the relationship between the state and the individual in a number of unexplored areas in Japanese society. The conclusion is that major transformations have taken place in all these areas over the last decade as changes have occurred in Japan's economy and demography.Social policies reflect and construct important ideas in societies about the relationship between the state and the individual. This 2002 book examines this relationship in a number of hitherto unexplored areas in Japanese society including policies relating to fertility, peri-natal care, child care, child abuse, sexuality, care for the aged and death. The conclusion is that a great change has taken place in all these areas through the 1990s as a consequence of Japan's changing economy, demography and the development of civil society. The case studies, based on intensive anthropological fieldwork, not only demonstrate how and why family and social policies have evolved in the world's second largest economy, but in the process provide a challenge to many of the assumptions of western policymakers. The empirical material contained in this volume will be of interest to anthropologists and to students and practitioners.