I re―examine the historical development of ideology and thought in Japanese social policy by focusing on Juitsu Kitaoka （1894―1989）. As a member of the Council on Population Problems, he paid special attention to population problems, and led the debate on establishing a welfare state in Japan. He intended to contribute to the planning and establishment of better living and working conditions, in sharp contrast to the economic―oriented approach represented by Kazuo Okochi （1905―1984）. This paper will make reference to the complicated academic backgrounds of Kitaoka and Okochi.

This article aims to contribute to theories of the Japanese welfare state by examining a ‘living wage’ from the perspective of working hours and social security. In Japan, there are few social security benefits for those of working age because they are expected to support themselves based on their income from work. Winning wages high enough to support families has been a major goal of the Japanese labour movement. However, a precondition for a ‘living wage’ has been flexible and excessively long working hours. But if single mothers have to work unlimited hours, they cannot find sufficient time to care for their children. This article demonstrates that workers who are taking care of children cannot earn a ‘living wage’. In the prewar period, working hours were one of the major topics of social policy studies, but research interest in this topic declined in the postwar period. The reason for this change was the shift of researchers’ interest to the employment system of male regular employees in large corporations. This article examines the works of Emiko Takenaka and her theory on women’s employment from the 1960s to the 1980s, and reassesses the implications of her works for contemporary research issues including wages, working hours, and social security.

In Korea there has been great dissatisfaction and distrust regarding inequitable health insurance premiums. The National Health Insurance Service reports that in 2013, it received 57.3 million complaints regarding premiums, accounting for 80 percent of the total complaints. Complaints about premiums were the most common health and welfare―related complaints fielded by the Anti―Corruption and Civil Rights Commission between 2008 and 2012. The Park Geun―hye administration has showed its intent to make strong efforts to address the problem of arbitrary premium―setting practices, but has yet to unveil concrete reform plans. A principle that the reform shall develop “premiums levied mainly on the basis of income” has been announced in its basic plan. It is, however, uncertain whether “premiums levied mainly on the basis of income” can be legislated into law. This paper reviews reform plans to date on premium―setting rules in Korea, discusses their problems, and considers alternative reform plans.

The Japanese health insurance system is divided into employment―based plans （EBPs） （including plans of health insurance societies, mutual societies, and the Japan Health Insurance Association （Zenkoku Kenko Hoken Kyokai） and residence―based health plans （including National Health Insurance （NHI） plans managed by municipalities and Health Insurance for Very Old Citizens）. Premiums of NHI plans are much higher than those of employment―based plans because senior citizens move from EBPs to NHI plans when retiring. NHI plans, which also cover non―regular employees ineligible for EBPs, continuously run deficits. The EBPs use the ability―to―pay principle and their premiums are based on employee income ; NHI plans, covering low―income persons, use both the ability―to―pay principle and the benefit principle. Meanwhile, the financial burden of health insurance societies, usually having better financial standing than NHI plans, has been increasing. This paper exams these issues while considering the principles of social insurance, and discusses possible directions for reforming the health insurance system.

We explore the trends and problems of the （post―） marketization of care in relation to the reconfiguration of the public sphere that has been induced by a nexus of community, family, market, and government. The marketization of care represented a paradigm shift from the traditional system of care provision for many advanced countries, while the actual content of the marketization and its impact on the reconfiguration of the public sphere in each country has been varied and dependent on the context of the care reform policy. Given these understandings, we have prepared three articles. The first article, by Professor Hiraoka, elucidates theoretical perspectives on the marketization of care, using this framework to describe the actual variety of marketization of care that has emerged. The second article, by Professor Nagasawa, explores the marketization of elder care in the UK and its impacts on the public―private relationship by focusing on the adoption of the quasi―market mechanism. The third article, by Professor Suda, focuses on the Long―Term Care Insurance system in Japan and examines whether and how an increase in chain―affiliated service organizations influences the role of local government. Research for these articles has been partly supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science （JSPS）, Grant―in―Aid for Scientific Research （KAKENHI） #15H03427 and #15H03433.

In response to marketizing reforms in social services that have been implemented in many industrialized countries since the 1990s, a number of studies have been conducted overseas, including both theoretical studies on the market framework in social services and empirical studies on social service reforms. As yet, the characteristics and significance of these studies, with the exception of the theory of the “quasi―market,” have not been examined by social policy researchers in Japan.In light of these circumstances, this study aims to review the major theoretical frameworks regarding the market in social services, as well as comparative studies on marketizing reforms in social services based on these frameworks, and to examine the possibilities for applying these frameworks in analyzing the institutional reforms of social care services that have been conducted in Japan since 2000. The theoretical frameworks reviewed in this study include the “market in the welfare state” approach developed by Jane Gingrich, the “culture of the welfare market theory” developed by Ingo Bode, and the “typology of the quasi―market” model developed by the author.

After the enforcement of the NHS and Community Care Act in 1993, the ‘quasi―market’ mechanism was introduced and England became the first major European country to marketize social care services through outsourcing programmes and, later through personalization policies. This paper aims to examine the structure of the ‘quasi―market’ adopted in the field of social care in England and its impacts and difficulties based on the “typology of the quasi―market” developed by Hiraoka. The British social care market has been undergoing a transition from the ‘commissioning type’ to the ‘voucher type’. In the former type, care managers （the agents） belong to local authorities （purchasers）. They are expected to act as gatekeepers who control demand in times of austerity, and in part, it led to the failure of the markets. In the latter type, councils seek to maintain a balance between promoting choice and managing and reducing risk to protect care recipients from abuse. It is suggested that to review how to regulate informal care is one of the issues to be solved.

Under the Long―Term Care Insurance （LTCI） system, the provision of public human services was privatized for the first time in Japan’s history. Focusing on the LTCI system, this article examines whether or not, and how, the increased number of chain―affiliated service organizations influences the role of local governments. The data was collected from the LTCI organizations that have provided services in Municipality A, where the average of residents’ income levels was lower, and in Municipality B, where the average of residents’ income levels was higher. Both municipalities are located in the Tokyo metropolitan area. The findings indicate that chain―affiliated service organizations are less influenced by differences in local conditions, as in the case of cream―skimming, i. e., serving only users who bring profits. At the same time, stand―alone service organizations undertook important roles in supporting low―income service users in Municipality A. The findings suggest that local governments need to be aware of their decreased influence over chain―affiliated service organizations.This article argues that local governments should exercise active but varied roles depending on context, including directing the LTCI system to serve the interests of the community.

Based on Robert Owen’s ideas of ‘unity and mutual co―operation’, this study examines his views, especially concerning ‘mutual duty’ and ‘entitlement’. By defining all the residents living in a community as co―operation, Owen’s ideas of ‘unity and mutual co―operation’ become important conceptions in promoting active participation of residents in the community. First, this paper reviews publications and records of speeches by Owen, sampling his use of the terms ‘mutual duty’ and ‘entitlement’, to examine his distinctive ideas regarding the differences between rights and obligations of civil society. The paper then moves on to discuss how his theory of ‘unity and mutual co―operation’, which Owen emphasised was necessary to achieve a rational state of human existence, is related to the concept of ‘community cohesion’ and continues to be widely used in public policy debates in the 21st century.

Dr. Kazuo Okochi, in his later life, transformed the implication of “social policy” under the so―called “Okochi Theory” into the Integrated Social Policy by extending its scope vertically, to include the “consumption” aspect of life, as well as “horizontally”. He integrated social policy and social security, public assistance, and social welfare by utilizing the concept of “work”. Underlying this transformation in Okochi’s thinking was his undeterred belief that independence and self―responsibility, along with “work” as their embodiments, are fundamental for any human being. Okochi did not have the opportunity to assemble a General Recommendation at the Advisory Council on Social Security （ACSS） during his term as chairperson ; however, the integrated implementation of “traditional” social policy under Okochi theory, which focuses on the maintenance and cultivation of the labor force, and social security measures under his Integrated Social Policy concept gained influence after his death in 1984. It is important to utilize his transformed Integrated Social Policy ideas and his underlying views toward human beings and ideas. It is also important to evaluate the ACSS under Okochi and Dr. Mikio Sumiya, his successor, and to analyze the policies developed thereafter by examining current issues of labor and social security policy comprehensively.

This paper describes the problem of barriers to obtaining information on social welfare services in Japan. Barriers to the effective utilization of social welfare services often result from the inadequate dissemination of information about them. These barriers have been investigated using a questionnaire and interviews of public employees in the areas of long―term care, childcare support, and public relations of a municipal government, along with a study of the municipal government’s website. The following results were obtained : 1） The municipal government places a high priority on improving hard measures used to convey information rather than soft measures such as better dissemination of the information itself. 2） The public employees of the municipal government were not fully aware of the gaps between the information required by citizens and the information actually disseminated, primarily because of cognitive bias and the lack of monitoring systems to detect such gaps. To make public employees more aware of these gaps and responsive to citizens’ need for information about social welfare services, it is necessary to be aware of the gaps and review the division of tasks systematically.

This study examines the effects of compulsory Special Education for children with disabilities on welfare policy for people with disabilities ; in addition, it points out problems that may arise in the future in developing welfare policies for people with disabilities. The findings of the study reveal that during the 1990s, when special education schools were made mandatory, a steady increase was observed in the number of children with disabilities graduating from special schools for the disabled and also in the number of welfare facilities for people with disabilities. However, such welfare policies also caused problems for the children as they became adults, as many required welfare assistance. Awareness has subsequently been raised regarding the aging of people with disabilities and the problems of children with severe disabilities. The nature these problems remains unclear, a situation that is likely to create problems in developing welfare policies for people with disabilities.