Surprising Edo-era Caregiving: Samurai and Men Leading Parental Care

The belief that death = impurity.

“In modern times, we hear of tragic events such as abuse and murder in elderly care settings. Was Japan better in the past? Actually, from this thought, I began to research past caregiving practices, but I found that it wasn’t necessarily better back then. In fact, in ancient and medieval times, the chaos of caregiving can be seen.

In ancient and medieval times, there are frequent stories of elderly people being abandoned or neglected. Due to the belief that death was considered impure, elderly people nearing death were often expelled or left to die alone, unless they were family. Stories of ubasuteyama (abandoning the elderly on a mountain) are found in many medieval texts, and since Confucianism had not spread as widely as in the Edo period, views on the elderly were much more varied.

Of course, there was care from family members driven by love, and Buddhist teachings stated that if you didn’t show filial piety, you would fall into hell. Also, the stories of ubasuteyama typically end with the abandoned parents being saved and living happily, suggesting that these stories don’t necessarily reflect actual neglect. However, it is undeniable that elderly people were often treated worse in ancient and medieval times than in the Edo period.”

Saki reveals that his starting point was his own concern about contemporary caregiving issues. So, what should we discover when comparing the past and the present?