This book discusses the building of comprehensive community support systems, which constitutes a key issue in social security reforms in Japan. The book comprises three parts: (I) Mapping Social Security in Japan, (II) Community-Based Integrated Care Systems in Japan, and (III) A Prospect of Community-Based Inclusive Society in Japan. The chapters in this book were composed on the basis of research into community-based integrated care systems and community-based inclusive society, conducted by members of the Association of Japanese Geographers’ Study Group “Regional Issues Related to the Birthrate Decline and Population Aging.” Choosing local governments with different regional characteristics, the authors conducted empirical research to uncover the characteristics of comprehensive community support systems, building processes, and challenges in the respective local governments. Non-Japanese readers will acquire an understanding of the characteristics of social security and the trendsof the reforms in Japan. To support its use as a reference book, chapters in Part I include numerous maps and figures with the themes of welfare, medical care, and health levels in Japan.
Hitoshi Miyazawa is an associate professor in the Human Science Division, Faculty of Core Research of Ochanomizu University, Japan. He is currently a visiting associate professor in the Open University of Japan. He holds a Ph.D. in geography from Tokyo Metropolitan University. His specialties are welfare geography, urban geography, and GIS. His research interests are provision of welfare services and health care services, transformation of urban demographic structure, urban sustainability, and liveability. He has published several books in the field of welfare geography.
He is the chief editor of E-journal GEO, a director of the Association of Japanese Geographers, and a councillor of the Tohoku Geographical Association. He has received the Young Researchers Award of the Association of Japanese Geographers (2004). In addition, he won the Special Award of the Japan Cartographers Association (2010) as a co-investigator.
Teruo Hatakeyama is an associate professor at the Naruto University of Education, Japan. He is a director of the Institute for Public Policy in Tokushima Prefecture and a researcher of the Institute for Public Policy in Kanagawa Prefecture. He holds a Ph.D. in science from Nihon University. His specialties are social geography and administrative geography. His research interests are elderly welfare, the long-term care insurance system, naming rights for public facilities, and local governance.
He is a representative of the Association of Japanese Geographers. He is also the chief founder of Regional Issues Related to the Birthrate Decline and Population Aging of the Association of Japanese Geographers. He is a member of the editorial boards of the Japan Association of Economic Geographers and journals of the Japan Association of Regional Policy, and the Geographical Association of Nihon University.
