Challenges in Rural Japan’s Elderly Care System

Therefore, the challenges for public care systems are particularly pronounced in rural areas, where exceptionally high aging rates coincide with the effects of large-scale administrative restructuring in the mid-2000s.

Based on field research, Hanno Jetzsch presents in this talk an analysis of how state-sponsored self-governance organizations maintain, formalize, and expand pre-existing social practices of community care, examines their relationship with the local state, and discusses the limitations they face.

Hanno Jentzsch is Assistant Professor for Japanese Politics at the Department of East Asian Studies, University of Vienna.

This lecture is one of four in the spring of 2026.

February 20th  Japan and foreign policy

March 26th      Japan and football

April 23rd        Japan and demography (an ageing society)

May 28th        Japan and democracy (its media landscape)

The lectures are in english.

This event is part of a lecture series on Japan organized by Japan Studies within the Global Studies program, in collaboration with Dokk1 and with generous support from the Sasakawa Foundation.