School Study Guides

3

Japanese Book News

Number 17

Ironically, few people even knew there was such a thing

as a “special nursing home for the elderly” (tokubetsu

yôgo rôjin hômu) until a recent case of government cor-

ruption at the highest level was uncovered. A top Ministry

of Health and Welfare bureaucrat was arrested on suspi-

cion of receiving favors from a man who skimmed off

huge profits from government subsidies provided for con-

tracts to build nursing homes.

Although the Old-Age Welfare Law was enacted in

1963 and Japan has become a rapidly aging society in the

ensuing 34 years, the whole concept of “special care” is

still very poorly understood among the general popula-

tion. Special nursing homes are institutions designed to

look after elderly persons who need full-time care (the

bedridden and victims of various forms of senile de-

mentia) or attention close to full time, and for whom it is

difficult to provide adequate care at home. Anyone who

falls into these categories is eligible, regardless of the

economic resources of the individual or those responsible

for his/her support. In other words, these institutions ac-

cept any bedridden, seriously disabled, or dementia-

afflicted elderly person (as a rule 65 years and older),

from those in difficulties for lack of income to the top-

tax-bracket wealthy. The burden of the cost of this care is

calibrated in accordance with the income of each indi-

vidual. And all patients in these homes receive the same

level of care, regardless of whether they pay nothing or all

of the roughly ¥270,000–280,000 such care costs per

month.

The special nursing home is more or less equivalent to

a European-style nursing home. This type of home is the

best, most path-breaking development in the laws and

systems set up for the aged so far. The greatest difficulty

in post-retirement life comes when people become

bedridden or develop symptoms of dementia. As long as

the elderly are healthy, they can take care of their per-

sonal needs. They can live by themselves and even when

they live with the families of their children, they are not

much of a burden.

In Japan, there are several types of public (tax-sup-

ported) facilities for the aged in addition to special

nursing homes. Yôgo rôjin hômu, or low-income nursing

homes, provide care for those who are healthy but whose

income is low. These facilities are mainly designed for el-

derly people without kin upon whom they can rely or,

even if they do have close kin, cannot live with them.

Then there are “low-cost” homes (keihi rôjin hômu)

which cater to seniors whose income is comparatively

small but who are capable of paying a fixed monthly

amount in expenses. Residents have a private room

equipped with a sink (toilet facilities are joint use), and

are provided with three meals a day. In some facilities,

they can prepare their own meals.

There are also various levels of commercially run

homes (yûryô rôjin hômu), the most luxurious of them lo-

cated in recreation areas in hot spring spas or suburban

areas. The usually quite wealthy residents make a flat en-

trance downpayment of ¥50–100 million as well as pay a

¥200,000–300,000 monthly fee. But in most cases they

are left without any clear assurance that they will be

looked after to the very end when they become bedridden.

Of all these types of homes for the elderly currently op-

erating in Japan, I believe it is safe to say that the only

ones that are absolutely necessary are the special nursing

homes. The vast majority of people, however, do not

know what the distinctions are between the different cate-

gories of homes until they themselves or a family member

arrive at the point of considering professional care. The

case of the bribery scandal involving the former vice-min-

ister of welfare has certainly made the term special

nursing home more widely known. It may be that the cur-

rent case of corruption in the bureaucracy derived from

the lack of adequate checks on central and prefectural

government subsidies for the construction of homes for

the aged, but it would be unfortunate if people were to

start associating corruption with the special nursing

homes themselves. 

Literature of Aging

The first writer after the end of the war to take up the

theme of old age was Niwa Fumio, in a short story enti-

tled Iyagarase no nenrei [1947, tr., The Hateful Age,

1956]. Originally published in a 1947 issue of the journal

Kaizô, it “depicts the bewilderment and struggle of the

granddaughter of a senile 86-year-old woman with a vora-

cious appetite, kleptomaniac habits, and disgustingly un-

kempt appearance” (from the jacket commentary, Shinchô

bunko edition).

Niwa apparently did not consciously set out to write

about the problem of age, but had simply recorded in fic-

tional form, following his preferred realistic style, some-

thing he had witnessed after evacuating to Tochigi

prefecture during the bombing of Tokyo. This thoroughly

realistic portrayal of the ugliness of aging is so vivid as to

be at times repulsive. Even though it appeared soon after

the war when everyone was still suffering from the

shortage of food and getting enough to eat was something

of a national obsession, 

Iyagarase no nenrei drew consid-

erable attention.

Niwa Fumio, born in 1904, is now 93 years old. He

stood at the head of Japanese literary world for many

years as one of its most eminent writers and was a

member of the Japan Art Academy. He continues to live

in the city of Musashino, a western suburb of Tokyo, but

ceased writing some time ago, and is now widely rumored

to have entered his dotage.

The city of Musashino is known for having established

the Musashino Municipal Welfare Corporation as Japan’s

first experiment in welfare services for pay. This en-

deavor has provided a third alternative to bedridden

Writing and the Aging Society

Hayase Keiichi

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