7: Japanese Social Education and the Aging Problems in Underpopulated Areas: Older Adults’ Self-Initiated Learning

This research demonstrates how the Japanese social education concept was applied to solve underpopulated areas’ aging problems and why it was necessary. First, the aging crisis in underpopulated areas, its related policies, previous research, and the social education concept will be reviewed and analyzed. Then, to investigate older adults’ self-initiated learning activities in underpopulated areas, fieldwork and a survey on social education practice were conducted in Kagoshima prefecture. The research results indicated the importance and the implications of older adults’ self-initiated learning in underpopulated areas. The study pointed to some alternatives and provided recommendations for solving the aging issues encountered by the underpopulated locations in Japan and other countries.