This paper discusses how municipal mergers have influenced the council of social welfare in Nikko City, which faces depopulation problems and an aging community. Based on a survey of the council staff, the study focuses on the following points of view: 1) unification of the councils, 2) expansion of the service area, and 3) promotion of the local governance. As a result of the investigation, the following is made clear. The advantages in the post-consolidated social welfare councils are: improvement in service standards, diversification of service options, substantiality of staff with various specialties and rich information. On the other hand, the disadvantages are: abolition of previous projects, confusion caused by increasing contact organizations, weakening relationships between councils and welfare groups because of personnel shifting, remote location of councils for users, and delays in decision-making. In conclusion, the analysis in this paper makes practical suggestions to social welfare councils from these perspectives.

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This paper discusses the necessity of regional social welfare associations (Chiku Shakai Fukushi Kyogikai ("Chiku Shakyo")) in metropolitan areas in present-day Japan. The "local social welfare association" is an informal organization formed primarily in units of elementary school districts and autonomously managed by community residents for the purpose of promoting social welfare in small communities. Shigeo Okamura discussed "small community social welfare association (Sho-chiiki Shakyo)," which is referred to in this paper as "local social welfare association." In the 1950s, Okamura conceived his theory on the activities of small community social welfare associations. He also identified the characteristics of small communities in metropolitan areas in 1970 and argued the need for small community social welfare associations. It is important to understand why local social welfare associations were established and have persisted in metropolitan areas, where dilution of ties among community residents is generally discussed and the weaker networks of community are often pointed out. The purpose of this study is to clarify whether such questions indicate the necessity identified by Okamura in his work on the nature of small communities.

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In order to clarify the introduction of home help services in Japan after World War II, this study explores Shuji Harasaki's interests and the itinerary of his visit, based on the diary he kept between September 19, 1953 and May 1, 1954, as well as papers and memoirs written before and after his return to Japan. In the 1950s, before the idea of social care in the community had become widespread in Japan, Harasaki devoted himself to observation study of social welfare in Western countries as a student of social welfare scholarship by the United Nations. A major component of his visit comprised the observation of home help services, and upon his return, Harasaki set out to improve the quality of life among recipients of social welfare services in Japan by changing people's way of thinking. Home care worker dispatch services, officially established in 1956, were initiated by Harasaki in order to realize a "creatively evolving society". The background of this experiment lay not only in the advanced welfare services Harasaki had observed in Western countries, but also in the creativity, originality and nationality that Western people exhibited in their daily lives.

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The purpose of this research is to clarify the problems of supporter's recognition to child abuse by parents with mental health problems and the quality of team management, focusing on activities of the Regional Council of Countermeasures for Children Requiring Aid. To clarify this issue, we made a preliminary investigation of the nature of activities in one of the child abuse prevention networks, House of Bethel, which has positively supported parents with mental health problems who were thought to be engaged in child abuse, as well as staff recognition to the problem. As a result, we first found that parents' mental health problems were regarded as one of the problems in their daily lives, but were not dealt with as a special problem by the staff. Next, the staff have supported the parents independently in an atmosphere of mutual aid like in a self-help group. These factors suggested that there existed appropriate recognition of mental health problems and supportive management of the team in the background of this case. Therefore, we may say with confidence that these are necessary elements of activities for the Regional Council of Countermeasures for Children Requiring Aid to show what it may do to deal more effectively with these issues.

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