Policy Implications of Social Capital for the Japanese Social Security System

We discuss the concept of social capital, which has received much attention recently. Social capital is important for the following 2 key reasons: (1) a highly democratic polity and a strong economic per-formance that attaches great importance to the public good can be achieved on the basis of high social capital; and (2) social capital can effect health status in the human population, and widening of income inequality harms human health through the erosion of social capital. In addition, there are 3 political implications of social capital for Japanese society: (1) social capital has implications for the political decision of whether Japanese society should adopt a “medium burden for medium welfare ” or a “low burden for small welfare ” model together with the concept of social overhead capital; (2) reciprocity, which is one of the primary components of social capital, is similar to the philosophy underlying the health care system of Japan; (3) Japanese society needs to change from a society that emphasizes the relationships between its members to a society that is open to outsiders and has sufficient opportuni-ties. Key words: social capital, trust, norm of reciprocity, network of civic engagements, income inequality and health n recent years, in developed countries an