SNU Japanese Studies Series

"Care" and "Solidarity" that Lifted a Wounded Society
And the Aspiration Toward Another World

This book offers a multifaceted view of contemporary Japan as a "front-runner in social challenges," struggling to restore the social fabric and reorganize communities amid large-scale disasters and rapid super-aging. How are communities of care and solidarity being reshaped and newly constructed under the constant threat of disasters and unprecedented demographic shifts?

The contributors revisit the direction of welfare, centering on the vulnerabilities exposed during disasters and the everyday lives of elderly citizens, and they argue for the conceptual expansion of welfare itself. The weight of Japanese society, long oriented toward outward achievements such as economic growth and internationalization, is gradually shifting toward welfare, care, and solidarity.

“Who is most vulnerable in times of disaster?” “How can communities build and sustain networks of care?” Through such questions, researchers encounter emerging changes that illuminate the trajectory of Japan as a Disaster Community and offer significant implications for Korean society as well.

Table of Contents

Preface

Part I. The Subjects and Objects of Care
Chapter 1. “Smiling Face, Kind, and Cheerful” — PARK Kyungmin
Chapter 2. Forty Years of Searching Between Independence and Dependence — JI Eun-sook

Part II. Reorganization of Local Communities in an Aging Society
Chapter 3. Our Neighborhood's "Gathering Place” — OWA Mie
Chapter 4. “Local Debut” of Retired Men — YAMA Yoshiyuki

Part III. Challenges Revealed During the Pandemic
Chapter 5. The Coexistence of Care and Surveillance — KIM Kyunghwa
Chapter 6. Womenomics and the Female Recession — PARK Seung-hyun

References
Index
Abstract