ABSTRACT
The idea of compassionate cities and communities (abbreviated as CC) was recently introduced in Japan and fully-fledged activities are about to start. Some communities start from scratch, while others develop their practices with this ‘new’ idea. After sharing the attempt to create a nationwide network for compassionate communities, which overlaps with the short history of Compassionate Communities in Japan, this chapter approaches two cases. The first is a compassionate town, Matsuzaki in Shizuoka Prefecture with a population of 5,000, which officially announced in its comprehensive plan to aim to be the first compassionate city in Japan. The other is Honaminosato in Miyagi Prefecture with a history of 20 years, a compassionate community based on palliative care practices.
