The Political Economy of Japanese Aging


John C. Campbell, University of Michigan and University of Tokyo
Date/Time January 26, 2012 6:30 PM
Location Room 549 Akamon Sogo Kenkyu-to Institute of Social Science, University of Tokyo  [map]
Abstract Population aging is often cited as the main cause of Japan's recent economic woes and as its biggest policy problem for the future. This talk will put aging into a broader policy perspective, and assess how well Japan has been dealing with the various problems of the aging society.
Bio John Campbell is emeritus professor of political science at the University of Michigan. Professor Campbell received his B.A. and Ph.D. from Columbia University and taught political science at the University of Michigan from 1973 until he retired. He works on Japanese politics in general, decision-making, and social policy. His books include Contemporary Japanese Budget Politics (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1977), How Policies Change: The Japanese Government and the Aging Society (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1992), and The Art of Balance in Health Policy: Maintaining Japan’s Egalitarian, Low-Cost System (Co-author with Naoki Ikegami, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998). These books and many of his other writings also were published in Japanese. Professor Campbell served in administrative posts at UM, including director of the Center for Japanese Studies, at the Social Science Research Council, and as Secretary-Treasurer of the Association for Asian Studies. Since moving to Tokyo in 2006, he was a visiting professor, at the University of Tokyo's Institute of Social Science, and at the Keio University Medical School. Currently he is a visiting scholar at the Institute of Gerontology at the University of Tokyo. His research still centers on Japanese policy toward the aging society, particularly long-term care, as well as broader welfare state concerns in Japan and beyond.