This book describes and clarifies how certain problems can be resolved in Japan and Asia. For the future, the focus should be on Japan, which can provide "common knowledge" as a public good. The book collects the results of researchers in Japan, China, South Korea, and Indonesia on declining birthrates and aging, rapid technological innovation and societal changes, and recovery from natural disasters.

Chapter 1 covers Japanese social welfare system reform and transformation of social governance. Chapter 2 deals with the decreasing birthrate and national security. Chapters 3 to 5 discuss three aspects of the impact of modern technology on Japanese society. Chapter 6 and 7 include the research results on recovery from the earthquake disasters in Indonesia and East Japan.

Through reading this book, the increasingly necessity to capture Japanese studies in Asia as a public good can be understood. The authors believe that sharing of knowledge as a public good is of great help in solving problems for the future.

1 Japanese Social Welfare System Reform and Transformation of Social Governance            7

1.1 Basic Conceptions and Understanding of Japan's Social Welfare Reform            7

1.1.1 Social Welfare, the Welfare State, the Welfare Society          8

1.1.2 Social Governance 9

1.2.1 The Administrative Measures Model of Welfare        10

1.2.2 Institutional Reform of Japan's Welfare System        11

1.2.3 Shift to Local Welfare        12

1.3 The Outcomes and Problems of the Institutional Reform           14

References         19

2 Aging Population, Decreasing Birthrate and National Security      20

2.1 Outline of Japan's defensive power and population problem      20

2.2 National Defense Plan and Population Problems in Korea         27

2.3 Conclusion   32

References         34

Part 2 Technological Innovation and Society Changes        36

3 The Impact of Modern Technology on Japanese Studies   37

3.1 A Brief History of Modern Technology in Japanese Studies       37

3.2 Pros and Cons of Using Modern Technology in Japanese Studies           40

3.3 Concluding Remarks 42

4 Social technology research in Japan as a public good       43

4.1 Introduction: the problem      43

4.3        What social technology research in Japan suggests 47

4.4        Conclusion        49

References            51

5 The new overseas Chinese in Japan: What case studies tell us        52

5.1 The development of research and its challenges            52

5.2 Research subjects and method 54

5.3 What the survey tells us         55

5.3.1 The state of identity: Japan and China in life 55

5.3.2 On nationality        56

5.3.3 Relationship with the host society    56

5.4        On the future     58

5.5 Conclusion and remaining challenges  58

Part 3 Robust Society against Natural Disasters    &nb...