Discussion
The 268th Japan Specialist Seminar was held online on September 13, 2022. With 50 participants, OH Dok Lip, an academic researcher at Research Center for Korean Studies, Kyushu University, discussed the ‘reality’ and ‘discourses’ on ‘lonely death’ in Japan.
The presenter first focused on the ‘reality’ where the concept of ‘lonely death’ has been discussed in Japan without any clear definition. The issue of ‘lonely death’ began to surface in Japan from 1973, the ‘first year of welfare,’ as a ‘problem of the elderly.’ It established as a social problem demonstrating the disintegration of community when the victims of 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake died unattended at temporary houses, and with a series of cases in the 2000s including a starvation death in Kitakyushu, the problem became a reality in itself. Along with the trend, policy interests on ‘solitary death’ also arose, and policy responses and orientation have consistently focused on ‘community’ and ‘local welfare.’
As the background of Japanese ‘lonely death’ being recognized and discussed in terms of ‘community,’ the presenter points out to a more detailed aspect of lonely death, its ‘discourses.’ These could largely be categorized into three types: welfare/institutional discourse, personalization discourse, and community discourse. However, while analyzing the case of Tokiwadaira apartment complex, often referred to as a representative and successful measure against the issue in Japan, the presenter emphasized how it revealed the need for reconsideration of community-oriented responses.
Meanwhile, the presenter added that ‘solitary death discourses’ in Korea display stronger inclination to welfare/institutional discourse unlike those in Japan that focus on community.
Q/A followed after the presentation. First, there was a question about the universality and specificity of ‘lonely death phenomenon.’ On this, the presenter responded that the term ‘lonely death’ is limitedly used in Japan, Korea, and China, and there is no corresponding concept in the West. However, he believes that the universality/specificity of the phenomenon would closely be associated with the individualism in Japan and the West, thus leaving it to the future topic of research.
In addition, the seminar was concluded after discussions on additional cases of success in dealing with the issue of lonely death, the difference between lonely death and unattended death, the terms of ‘lonely death’ and ‘isolated death,’ the reason for Japan’s sensitive reaction towards the relationship between the community and the individual, the limitations of Korean welfare system that places greater importance on the national system than community, and the concept of ‘new community.’
