ABSTRACT
In the Meiji Era Japan deliberately set out to learn from the world’s leading economies how to modernize its society. Though not as widely identified as Japan’s successful industrial development, this effort included initiatives to introduce scientific medicine and public health. Over the next century and a half, these policies succeeded. In the New Meiji, Japan is the teacher because it is at the forefront of aging societies. It is tasked with addressing the wicked problem of paying for and delivering care and support for a large and increasing elderly population. Japan’s experiments in public long-term-care insurance and enabling the elderly to live in their communities as long as possible, offer lessons for policy makers elsewhere.
