Abstract
The author was responsible for organizing a symposium on "Rethinldng the era of mutual help"
held at the 2009 conference of the Japan Welfare Sociology Association. The intention behind holding
this symposium was stated as follows. "What is it that occurred in Japanese society in the period before
public long-term-care insurance was introduced in 2000, for example, and in the period following this
introduction? There was talk of 'tomorrow's self' , and, in order to attain this or in addition to it,
"mutual help". This was not only talk: this sort of system was actually created, and this is what social
welfare came to be seen as. At this time everyone began to share an awareness of the limitations and of
the need to do things to an 'appropriate extent' . While this might be how things have appeared, this
appraisal may not be accurate. There must have been at least a wider range of opinions and approaches,
both in the past and today, than are included in this account. How should the current state of affairs
and its development be viewed, and what is the outlook for the future? I would like to talk about and
consider these questions with the various presenters and panelists taking part." In this article I express my own thoughts on what we can learn from the papers published in this journal.by Reiko Gotoh and
Josuke Amada, both of who made presentations at the symposium. In addition, I raise several points on
the subject of how going forward on this can be connected to all the thinking and research that have been
devoted to these issues till date.
