Lifelong learning to revitalize community case studies of citizens’ learning initiatives in Japan

Abstract

The phrase ‘muen shakai’ (meaning ‘a society without relationships’) was invented in 2010 to describe the essence of Japanese society. The number of single-person households is increasing in Japan, as it quickly becomes a ‘super-ageing society’: the percentage of those over 65 years old is expected to reach 25% in 2013 and 30% in 2024. Solitary deaths of single people are therefore becoming a social issue in Japan. In this chapter, I would like to shed light on lifelong learning, a practice that may help revitalize local communities facing the consequences of a rapidly ageing population. Japanese lifelong learning programmes have gone through severe budget cuts during the recessionary period of the last 20 years, as they have been seen as a luxury unworthy of public subsidy. The Japanese government has been trying over the last few years to promote the continuous education of the unemployed; unfortunately, many Japanese do not consider employment-based learning as an aspect of lifelong learning. Most Japanese think that the purpose of education and lifelong learning is personal development and spiritual growth rather than anything directly connected to human resource development or economic development.