Surprising Edo-era Caregiving: Samurai and Men Leading Parental Care
Learning from the Five-Man Group System for Community-Based Care
“In modern times, there are civil law provisions regarding parental support and a long-term care insurance system. However, these systems require financial resources, which come from taxes and long-term care insurance premiums paid by the younger generation. While people in circumstances that would have been impossible to support in the past can now receive care, Japan’s financial resources are becoming increasingly strained. To control social security costs, we must avoid relying too much on public services and instead care for individuals within families and communities. However, if too much reliance is placed on family care, the burden on the younger generation increases, leading to a rise in caregiving-related job resignations.”
One breakthrough could be the concept of community-based care from the Edo period. The government is still promoting the spread of community-based care systems today. However, while modern concepts of community care imagine an area where care can be provided within 30 minutes, the Edo period relied on much smaller units.
“In the Edo period, groups such as the ‘Five-person group’ focused on small, local communities. Within neighborhoods, it was easy to offer support, such as monitoring, checking in, and providing simple help as part of everyday life. Since these relationships were an extension of neighborly interactions, there was less chance of the feeling that people won’t act unless it’s free, as there was an understanding that, if one became in need of care in the future, help would be received in return.
However, considering the aging society in modern times, some adjustments are necessary compared to the Edo period. In today’s society, the younger generation is smaller in number, and they need to leave home for work during the day to support the society. More importantly, the number of young caregivers working in the long-term care sector is drastically insufficient.
Therefore, attention is given to the active elderly people of today. The concept of creating a system where active older adults, who have more time than the working generation, help support elderly neighbors in need of care is expected to be crucial in Japan’s future. A system where elderly neighbors help each other is likely to become more important in Japan’s care system, considering the increasing number of elderly people living alone.”
It is truly a case of learning from the past and reflecting on how it applies to us today.
In Samurai Care Leave, the focus is on how samurai and commoners provided care during the Edo period, 