Page 28 - IJPS-8-2

International Journal of
Population Studies Japan’s death-laden society

concerns related primarily to the health, well-being, and asset price bubble in the early 1990s weakened long-term
comfort of citizens of all ages, but particularly those in employment security of workers of all ages, which has
advanced age and those living out their past days as well contributed to reduced productivity in some sectors of the
as their relatives. Together with the continuous shrinking labor force (Kamabayashi and Kato, 2016). Together with
of the working-age population, the ballooning of deaths – mounting pressure from the rapid aging of the population,
annual deaths of 1.6 million people – will likely exacerbate Japan’s fragile economic situation has led to austerity-
already existing shortages in clinical doctors and hospital motivated cuts to welfare policies and programs for older
beds and contribute to pushing to insolvency the national people, including public pensions and public health-care
expenditures for medical and long-term care. These programs for the aged (Suzuki, Dolley, and Kortt, 2021).
challenges will be inevitable especially if hospitals remain A thorough assessment of the impact of a death-laden
the primary place of Japanese citizens’ death in the coming society includes calls for close attention to the associated
decades. Promoting “dying in place,” however, will create current and future prospects for Japan’s national economic
the grim risk of a further prevalence of “lonely deaths” vitality and competitiveness within the ever more
among those in advanced age and living in urban areas. competitive global economy.
Japan is also under pressure to begin swiftly increasing The future research should also draw policy suggestions
citizens’ end-of-life options, such as physician-assisted to help mitigate the prospective risks and challenges
suicide, should a majority of them call for it. Finally, but of Japan’s transition into a death-laden society. Such
not of the least importance, a shortage of crematoriums suggestions would also serve as a source for the current
needs to be effectively addressed. An immediate policy and future policymaking of other countries that may follow
measure needs to be implemented not only for the sake of the path of a super-aged Japan to become death-laden
public health and sanitation but also to help preserve the societies in the conceivable future including South Korea,
cultural legacy that has long supported remaining family China, Taiwan, and Singapore. Specific and sound policy
members in managing their grief and loss of the deceased. suggestions require future, more issue-specific research.
Death-laden society is a newly emerging subject. To Nonetheless, a possible direction that future policymakers
date, little systematic study has been done to discuss the might consider drawing from this paper is to expand the
impact of the coming of this new phase of demographic existing policy paradigm surrounding older people and
shift. Furthermore, this paper is based mainly on findings later life. To date, the age-related policy goals in many
from exploratory research; thus, the discussions presented countries commonly focus on protecting the health,
above are only limited and preliminary. More research, well-being, and more broadly the quality of life of older
both empirical and theoretical, is called for to continue people. The prospective challenges of a death-laden Japan,
examining the way in which a death-laden society will as explored in this paper, suggest that in the conceivable
affect the health, well-being, and comfort of those in future, rapidly aging societies including Japan itself
advanced age in Japan, including and beyond the five areas more explicitly include a goal of enhancing what may
of policy challenges discussed in this paper. Of particular be referred to as the quality of dying. In a death-laden
importance for the future research is to pay close attention society, more and more people will likely call for societal
to the prospects of rural areas of the country, including support for protecting comfort and respecting dignity
remote islands, as a result of the transition into a death- not only in the experience of the advanced stage of their
laden society. These areas have experienced more rapid lives but also during the very process of their dying. Such
aging and population implosion than the rest of the a policy direction should also aim to help younger people
country. Therefore, these areas will likely not only contend become less laden with various burdens brought on by the
with greater challenges in the five policy areas as explored prospective ballooning of deaths in their society.
in this paper; the transition into a death-laden society may
also generate challenges that are unique to these areas. As Acknowledgments
such, among the goals for the future research should be to This work is supported by Japan Society for the Promotion
uncover how unevenly the coming of a death-laden society of Science (JSPS) – JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number
affects those of advanced age and their relatives in large JP19H01563 (Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research B) –
cities compared to rural and remote regions of the country. and Kyushu University Institute for Asian and Oceanian
Furthermore, important is to examine how the future Studies.
changes to labor market institutions and the prospects
for national economic vitality may be affected by Japan’s Funding
transition into a death-laden society. The burst of the Not applicable.

Volume 8 Issue 2 (2022) 22 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.v8i2.301