This study examines why and how the policy implementation systems for the Support for the Self-reliance of Needy Persons （SSNP） have become so diverse among municipalities in Osaka Prefecture. We analyse service provision, client numbers and support measures to identify the policy patterns of each municipality. The analysis reveals three main findings : First, municipalities with a high Area Deprivation Index have received a more significant number of new consultations, which indicates that the number within SSNP accurately reflects the local area’s needs. Second, we did not find evidence that comprehensive projects are being developed in areas with high levels of deprivation. Third, although relatively few, some municipalities are addressing both the demand and supply sides of the labour market. Such municipalities support individuals facing significant difficulties and implement support measures for those in need by engaging employers through initiatives such as job fairs and placements. The four municipalities discussed in this special issue can be identified as those that have fostered cooperative relationships with various local groups and established a comprehensive support system for those in need by utilising local resources.

This work details the path dependency of the current system of the Support for the Self-Reliance of Needy Persons （SSNP） of three municipalities in Osaka Prefecture at the actor level. The minutes of city council meetings and detailed budget explanations over 20 years were analyzed. “Local Employment Support for People with Difficulties,” “Job Placement Service by Municipality,” “Personal Support,” and “persons with various life difficulties” were entered into each city’s search system, and the exchanges at the general meetings, standing committees, and budget and accounting committees were interpreted.

The findings are as follows : ⑴ Cooperation between the Department of the SSNP and the department（s） responsible for labor can be classified into “parallel type” and “collaboration type.” ⑵ The current system of the SSNP was formed amid differentiation and functional connection with related and similar projects that each municipality had implemented before its launch. The underlying issue of gaining legitimacy of the policies was the generalization of the Local Employment Support for People with Difficulties, which has an “anti-discrimination and human rights policy legacy,” related with procedural transparency.

With a focus on the engagement of “labor-demand side” actors such as local employers, this work examines the development of employment and training opportunities in the Support for the Self-Reliance of Needy Persons. The main issues are as follows : ⑴ clients and activity details of the employment support programs, ⑵ contents/roles of pre-application visit and practical training in the workplace, and ⑶ actions of support staff to encourage employer engagement. Analysis of how the embedded agency of support staff, as a workforce intermediary, influences the program details is particularly important.

The following findings were derived : ⑴ Work preparation support programs are served for clients with serious problems in finding a job. ⑵ Pre-application visit and practical training in workplace opportunities are not abundant, and certified job training programs have few participants due to physical and psychological barriers. ⑶ Although the support staff struggle in finding supportive employers, they are trying new approaches to encourage employer engagement, utilizing knowledge and connections built through past experiences, as well as resources of other programs of the municipality.

This paper clarifies how the discourse on the “overpopulation problem” in rural areas was formed in Japan from the late 1920s to the wartime period, and examines the significance of this discourse in establishing the Japanese total war regime and welfare state during this period and beyond. It mainly analyses the discussion by population experts affiliated with the Institute for Research of Population Problems and the Council on Population Problems.

Population increase does not necessarily equate to overpopulation. In the late 1920s, the excessive rural population was problematized within the academic sphere, in contradiction to the actual population outflow to cities and the gradual decline of the rural population. Even when labor shortages and the necessity for population increase in rural areas became the imminent social issue after the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, there was still a widespread agreement on the need to solve the overpopulation problem in rural areas. By framing the issue in this way, it was made possible to attribute the causes of every social problem to the demographic dynamics in the rural areas, and to conceive the idea of disposing of the overpopulation problem outside of the cities.