Sources of support for the aged in Japan and recent changes

Includes bibliographical references (pages 56-60)There is an old saying in Japan that a man's life is but fifty\ud years. It was true statistically a couple of decades ago. However,\ud since then there have been critical changes in the post World War II\ud Japanese social system as Japan moved from a feudal society to a\ud democratic society, and the Japanese people had to accommodate such\ud social changes accordingly. Those who have experienced this dramatic\ud shift between these two different social systems are over 65 years of\ud age now. What are the sources of support for them now in their old\ud age?\ud This thesis is aimed at exploring the major problems that these\ud aged Japanese confront by examining their sources of support from the\ud private side as well as the public side which are covered in both\ud chapters 3 and 4. From the theoretical points of view, there are \ud various theories about old age which are dealt with in Chapter 2 and\ud their applications are reflected in Chapter 5. The effect of cross-cultural\ud differences on the problems is also mentioned in Chapter 5.\ud It is hoped that the longer the life expectancy of mankind, the\ud better the social security system lest the longevity becomes a state\ud that old people regret