What feelings and perspectives have people in Japan had on aging, end-of-life care, death and the afterlife? How are we affected at present by these factors? The purpose of this study is to explore these issues, focusing on the present situations of caring for the elderly and based on literature review of historical materials in Japan, which could lead to a solution for problems which have arisen in the present care environment in Japan. Learning from the wisdom and sensibility of the past in Japan concerning aging, end-of-life care, death and the afterlife, the research employs a new approach to observe the elderly care settings of contemporary Japan. Students of this field, researching night and day, range widely from nursing researchers through nurses and others in the field to international students.
Introduction to Projects
What is the idea of “not wanting to be a burden”? Why do people feel that way?: An interdisciplinary study of “aging” in Japanese society
Mind-set for aging and impending death, which is commonly found in Japan, is “desire to not cause trouble for family members or children.” Many people would feel that any Japanese person would naturally think that way, when they hear this expression. This type of mind set could lead to adverse effects, reducing the mental quality-of-life (QOL) of people in need of nursing care and aged people, and promoting negative images for hospitals or aging. However, there has been a dearth of systematic research regarding this conception. It is essential to gain an insight into the nature of this conception of “hesitation of being a source of trouble.” This investigation could be beneficial to improve mental QOL of people in need of nursing care and aged people. However, it is difficult for only one academic field to accomplish successfully. Therefore, this research project is conducted with mainstay of humanities (philosophy, history of thought, theology, history of science and technology, Japanese history and cultural anthropology) and with cooperation of nursing and psychology. Focusing on this conception concerning aging and death, which is commonly recognized in Japan, and deeply related to settings of nursing care, the integrated research aims to clarify structures and characteristics of this consciousness of not wanting to be a burden.This research is supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP20H00007.
Bridging the humanities, clinical sites of care, and gerontology: Constructing “humanistic gerontology”
Gerontology is an academic field which studies various issues associated with the super-aging society. In the past, gerontology has focused on natural sciences (medicine, nursing, biology, etc.) and social sciences (social welfare, psychology, law, economics, etc.), with little connection with the humanities. However, the future super-aging society seems to call for the perspective of humanities as well, including attitudes toward aging and approaches to death. Based on this sense of the issue, the present project aims to develop a new academic field called “humanistic gerontology” that bridges the humanities, clinical sites of care, and gerontology. Gerontology is an academic field which studies various issues associated with the super-aging society. In the past, gerontology has focused on natural sciences (medicine, nursing, biology, etc.) and social sciences (social welfare, psychology, law, economics, etc.), with little connection with the humanities. However, the future super-aging society seems to call for the perspective of humanities as well, including attitudes toward aging and approaches to death. Based on this sense of the issue, the present project aims to develop a new academic field called “humanistic gerontology” that bridges the humanities, clinical sites of care, and gerontology. This research was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP26310105. : Basic Research B (Generative Research Fields: Neo Gerontology) and the research period is from April of 2014 to March of 2020. The research results were published as a collection of papers entitled Aging: Humanities, Clinical Sites of Care, and Gerontology (Polano Shuppan, 2019). Presently, along with the above-mentioned “interdisciplinary study of “aging” in Japanese society,” we are working on a project aimed at publishing a collection of papers entitled Six Questions regarding Aging, End-of-life, and Death, which examines modern death and life with readers, including questions such as “Is a long life a good thing?” and “Is dying a burden for others?”.