| Budget Amount *help |
¥1,400,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,400,000)
Fiscal Year 2000: ¥800,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000)
Fiscal Year 1999: ¥600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000)
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| Research Abstract |
In 1999, I presented my paper on the social change in Northern Thailand at the International Conference on Thai Studies, and conducted anthropological research in Mie prefecture. In 2000, I conducted anthropological research in Nan prefecture, Thailand, I focused on the activities of elders for my research, especially in the fishing community in Miyama town in Mie prefecture and the peasant community in Thawanpha district in Nan province. I reported on the ethnography of my research sites, on the activities of authorized elders club, official service for elders, the role of religion for elders and the role of elders in the succession of traditional culture. Through this, I tried to clarify the situation of elders in the two communities. This work is intended to form the basis of a comparative study in the future.
In the fishing community in Miyama town, in spite of the depopulation and the increase in the number of elders because of the decline of the fishing industry, the activities of
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the authorized elders club is very active. However attention must be paid to the informal activities of elders such as at a beachside haunt and chattering in small shops. In the peasant community in Thawanpha district, though the youth go to big cities to work as in Japan, the co-operation between different fields such as education, religion, medical service etc. can be found for rural development, including caring for elders. In Japan, however, this kind of co-operation is not so common in the context of regional policy, but we must pay attention to the individual which is supported by several formal and informal networks. And in Thailand, the Buddhist temple offers the chance for the elders to meet with each other and to play a role in the community. I suggest that the role of religion should be more regarded among the activities of elders in Japan as one of the Buddhist countries in Asia.
Now, in Asian society, the adjustment between the way of modern social-welfare and the traditional way of mutual aid is a very difficult problem. We must search for the Asian way of welfare, not only for the Western way. Less
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