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Paper short abstract

As Japan’s population ages, dementia has become an issue of growing importance. This presentation analyses public discourse on dementia in Japanese media, tracing major shifts and examining the factors behind them, since perceptions of dementia shape how the illness is understood and experienced.

Paper long abstract

In Japan, dementia became a widely discussed public issue following the publication of Ariyoshi Sawako’s bestselling novel Kōkotsu no hito (The Twilight Years) in 1972, which was followed by a film adaptation the next year and several television series. At that time, Japan’s ageing population accounted for only 7.1 percent of the total population (1970).

Since then, not only has the ageing rate risen to nearly 30 percent today, with more than 4.5 million people estimated to be living with dementia, but the ways in which dementia is discussed and understood have changed considerably. The introduction of the Long-Term Care Insurance system in 2000 gradually contributed to the growing acceptance of institutional care as a legitimate option. Dementia, once hidden within families and cared for primarily by daughters and daughters-in-law, has increasingly become a topic openly discussed in public—by families as well as by people in the early stages of dementia themselves. This shift has been accompanied by the expansion of care infrastructures, including nursing homes, daycare services, care managers, and home helpers.

At the same time, public discourse has moved away from viewing dementia solely as an inevitable fate of old age toward an emphasis on prevention and delay. More recently, this discourse has further evolved to promote the social inclusion of people with mild dementia, with some employers redesigning jobs to accommodate employees with dementia—particularly those affected at a younger age—or creating suitable employment opportunities for older individuals living with the condition.

As Emma Putnam observes, “how we represent dementia both reflects and helps to shape how we experience the syndrome, individually and collectively” (Navigating Dementia and Discourse, 2025). Perceptions of dementia are therefore of crucial importance. In this presentation, I trace changes in public discourse on dementia in selected Japanese media in order to identify major shifts and the factors behind them, including developments in medical knowledge, demographic and economic pressures, and cultural influences such as literature and film, all of which have played significant roles in shaping these discursive transformations.