Using the framework for understanding vocational education and training in a systematic way, the author discusses important topics in the field. They include, 1) the necessity to understand occupational education and training in a systematic way and connect the two effectively, 2) the necessity of developing continuous education and training systems, 3) the necessity of integrating general education and occupational education and training, and 4) how to develop occupational education and training institutions fully.

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Recently, the functions of training and career formation in Japanese companies have been changing. The basic premise of occupational training in Japan has been long-term skill development, which combines on-the-job training (OJT) and career development through job assignments (referred to as the Internal Labor Market, ILM). Vocational training in Japan has mainly been implemented through the ILM. However, recent various market pressures on Japanese companies have undermined some of their functions. The main purpose of this paper is to clarify the true conditions of the recent vocational training environment, such as OJT, and to discuss the political implications. Especially since many employees in medium-sized enterprises lack training opportunities, some systems such as an Occupational Labor Market (OLM) to compensate for the limits of ILM are needed.

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This paper examines the past conditions of career education and vocational training, as well as their present status, which is perplexing as they are still conducted through trial-and-error despite their rapid expansion. This paper also uses results of an independent questionnaire survey to gain further insights into the implementation of career education and vocational training in general high schools. In this analysis, 'comprehensiveness' and 'coordination' will be the two keywords. 'Coordination' draws on assistance provided by outside agencies related to issues that cannot be handled in the short term while devising long-term plans to move away from the present state of school education. This promotes a multifarious and continuous effect on students; in other words, it secures their 'comprehensiveness'. An empirical analysis shows that implementing comprehensive and integrated career education (multifarious), having a long history of career education (continuous) and enriching coordination between the community outside the school and home were more effective than independent or one-off attempts.

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The main system for occupational training in Japan existed within the public training system through the Vocational Training Law established in 1958. At that time, in-house training was conducted by individual companies. The purpose of the new law was "skill acquisition" by workers. The cost of the public training system was paid by the Treasury. The Vocational Training Law was revised in 1969, and its financing shifted to the employment insurance system. This was to bring elasticity in training standards and diversification in training. After the Human Resources Development Promotion Law was enacted in 1985, inplant training became the main system for training. A notable result was that career development plans based upon individualism came to be encouraged by companies. But the defects in the private occupational training system, which depends upon employment insurance and career development plans, became clear in the serious economic downturn in the 1990s. Restructuring and labor deregulation brought great increases in unemployment and irregular employment. The number of the irregular workers rose to one third of the working population. The institutionalization of a new public occupational training system for every worker regardless of employment type is desirable. Employers should be required to fund occupational training because they need to employ highly talented workers.

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In Germany and the United Kingdom, as well as in Japan, the care system for elderly people is now faced with problems caused by the rapid aging of the population and change in the disease structure. It is necessary to organize a system that can provide comprehensive health and social care in order to meet the demands for care for the elderly. At the same time, it is also important to revise the roles of care workers and to improve their economic and working conditions. This special issue aims to seek solutions to problems concerning health and social care for the elderly and to analyze policies in Germany, the UK, and Japan from the perspective of service providing systems and worker systems.

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In Germany, providing appropriate health and social care matched to the individual conditions of elderly persons has become an important issue as the population has aged and the disease structure changed. In fact, there are several problems concerning the system for providing services and the professional division of labor. This paper examines the new "integrated care" system and the expansion of the roles of nurses and care workers. The analysis suggests that the effects of the measures on the provision of health and social services leaves problems that still need to be solved.

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This article discusses health and social care partnerships under the Blair and Brown governments in England, specifically focusing on inter-professional relationships in support systems for patients discharged from acute care hospitals. The contemporary policy has been characterized by health and social care coordination through an incentive mechanism, facilitating the smooth transfer of patients from hospital to community without a fundamental institutional change. This approach reduced delays in discharge cases and the duration of care needs assessment following referral of patients. With regard to team working, the growing importance of Community Matrons, who are case managers and practitioners in both health and social care fields, necessitates a reconsideration of the role played by general practitioners and social workers. However, there is no national qualification and registration for personal care workers, who usually take common vocational training courses with nursing assistants and health care assistants. Additionally, this article reveals that the newly introduced "assistant critical care practitioner" position engenders debate on these persons' practice and pay standards as compared to qualified practitioners. Thus, the current situation of health and social care coordination indicates that health care is relatively dominant over social care.

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While Japan's Long-Term Care Insurance System (LTCIS) created a massive labor market, a shortage of care workers along with poor work conditions and the low wages of such workers have become social problems, prompting the need to rethink the value of care work. Yet neither the framework for valuing care work nor the rationale behind policy interventions has been adequately debated. In this manuscript, I break down the efforts to value long-term care work into three dimensions and eight frameworks. I focus on the reimbursement system for care work as the primary policy intervention in valuing care work; analyzing administrative documents used by the council of the Ministry of Health and Welfare in preparing the LTCIS, I elucidate the fundamental reimbursement structure and identify characteristics of the framework for valuing care work implied by this structure. The remuneration system for home help/care, for example, has created a framework that is, while open to a valuing "visible" activities, far from "guaranteeing the basic living and social rights of workers". The current scheme of valuing care work faces the challenge of guaranteeing these rights. Whether it should be achieved by enlarging the range of work valued by making more activities more visible needs further discussion.

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This study reviews preceding studies of current Japanese child daycare policy to clarify issues related to the recent reform of the child daycare system. First, I introduce two studies that criticize the reform of the child daycare system. These books point out issues concerning deregulation and privatization, and argue that maintaining national minimums is important. Second, I analyze two studies written by child welfare specialists which emphasize decentralization and community work, and comment on public child daycare centers. I believe these opinions are questionable. Finally, I note that the recent reform of the child daycare system will not realize well-being for children. Henceforth, the policy priority should change from economy to life, and funds necessary to establish sound child daycare should be provided.

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Nowadays Japanese academics take a keen interest in the drastic changes in social security schemes in Korea, while fierce debates about the welfare state are in progress in Korea. The objective of this article is to review both Japanese and Korean literature on social policy in Korea, and to clarify its current condition and future challenges. The discussion covers the following. First, the main object of comparative study of two countries is to show the "cause and effect" of events. It is important to "compare" this with points drawn from analysis focusing on one country's domestic events. Second, it is still too early to introduce policies based on social investment strategies in Korea. Third, when analyzing the degree of use of medical services, it is necessary to resort to longitudinal data. Fourth, there is heavy reliance on the private sector for the provision of long-term care services in Korea. Therefore the role of central and local government should be considered in the future.

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The signing of the Convention on the Rights of Person with Disabilities has heated up the discussion for ratification in this country, and at the same time, the Reasonable Accommodation (RA) spelled out in the convention has gotten a great deal of attention in Japan (Nagase et al. 2008). It is essential for ratification of this convention to define a standard on what constitutes "reasonable accommodation" (or where it ends). In addition, the characteristics of disabilities should be considered in setting this standard because accommodation regarded as reasonable will differ depending on the characteristics of particular disabilities. I am drawing on the characteristics and problems found in the actual operation of RA provisions for people with psychiatric disabilities by reviewing trial records in America, showing what type of RA is needed and what kinds of issues for effective operation of RA provision are involved for persons with psychiatric disabilities.

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In this paper, we attempt to measure subjective minimum living standards (SMLS) in Japan, utilizing original web survey data. There are three objectives for this measurement; firstly, to compare SMLS with the public assistance (PA); secondly, to investigate the range of the concept depending on the line of questioning; thirdly, to identify how its equivalence scale differs from the PA. We define SMLS based on two different concepts in the survey: (a) the K level, which is reduced as much as possible, and (b) the T level, which is modest but respectable. There are three main findings. Firstly, the PA level is midway between the K and T levels, except for single households. The SMLS for single households is less than both levels, possibly suggesting that their PA benefit is relatively low. Secondly, the equivalence scale based on SMLS is insensitive to the number of children. The observation that the equivalence scale based on SMLS is relatively small is consistent with the past research on subjective equivalence scale. Thirdly, the level of SMLS is relatively insensitive to the respondents' incomes. A one percent increase in their income results in 0.2 percent increase in SMLS.

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This study reveals the types of high schools which implement career education and the degree to which they implement it, using an independently conducted questionnaire survey. The study focuses on the 'demand' for and 'feasibility' of career education. It further classifies the content of career education into 'practical' and 'classroom' types and examines the effectiveness of integrating the two. Results clarify the main factors which determine the state of implementation of career education. High schools with a low rate of students opting for higher education implemented career education because of the pressing 'demand' for it, and smaller schools in highly 'feasible' environments also implemented it. Furthermore, the effectiveness of combining 'practical' internship with 'classroom' intellectual training was verified from the several items relating to 'effectiveness'. Approaching career education from various directions is an effort that should be actively pursued in classrooms.

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