The Challenges of an Ageing Society in Japan

Ageing Society is a phenomenon happening not only in Japan but also in many other developed countries, and will soon spread to developing countries as well. In this seminar looking at how Japan is tackling this challenge, we have invited four speakers from Kobe University to address different aspects of the issue - Prof Naoki Mitani will look at the question of ageing in relation to Employment Policies in Japan; Prof Yuki Sekine will be considering the status of social security within an ageing society; Prof Masahiko Yoshii will be looking at the consequences for the Japanese economy of ageing; and, Dr Zhiwei Luo will examine Innovations in Health Engineering related to an Ageing Society. Each speaker will talk for 10-15 minutes, followed by time for discussion.

 

Prof Naoki Mitani has been Professor of Labour Economics at the Graduate School of Economics at Kobe University since the year 2000. He studied Mathematics at the Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo and obtained a Ph.D in Economics at Kobe University. His professional experiences include the positions of Deputy Director at the Ministry of Labour, as well as Administrator at OECD. He has published papers in various journals and books on topics such as the employment of older workers, youth and female workers, and the Japanese employment system.

 

Prof Yuki Sekine is Professor of Social Security Law at the Graduate School of Law, Kobe University. She holds a degree of Bachelor of Law from Universite Libre de Bruxelles, and a Master of Law from the University of Tokyo. She has worked for six years with the ILO, spending three years in the International Labour Standards Department in Geneva, and two years in detachment to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in Tokyo, before joining Kobe University in 2004.

 

Prof Masahiko Yoshii has been Professor of the Graduate School of Economics, Kobe University since 1998, and is currently Dean of the Graduate School. He obtained a PhD in Economics at Kobe University in 2001. His major research interests are comparative economic systems, and the economics of Russia and Central-Eastern European countries

.

Prof Zhiwei Luo obtained his PhD in Engineering from Nagoya University in 1992. From 1992 to 1994 he was an Assistant Professor of Toyohashi University of Technology. In 1994, he moved to BMC RIKEN as a Frontier Research. He then worked at Yamagata University as an Associate Professor. Since 2001, he served as laboratory head of BMC RIKEN, and led the development of a human interactive robot RI-MAN, which was selected by TIME as the best invention of 2006. In 2006, he became a Professor of Kobe University, where he joined the setting-up of the new Graduate School in System Informatics, and is now promoting integrative research on health for the Aging Society. 

 

This event is free to attend but booking is essential. To reserve a place, please email your name and the title of the event you would like to attend to event@jpf.org.uk.