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Paper short abstract

This study examines elderly people living alone in early modern Japan, noting the emergence of "burden" perceptions despite community support. These ideals of independence resonate with contemporary Japan, where declining support systems may intensify such anxieties surrounding aging alone.

Paper long abstract

This paper examines the relationship between elderly people living alone and perceptions of “being a burden” in early modern Japan, and seeks to historicize the connection between solitude, social isolation, and burden consciousness in contemporary Japan.

It first argues that in early modern Japan elderly people living alone were generally regarded as objects of relief, and that support systems at the level of households and local communities functioned to sustain them. Because of the operation of these systems, there are relatively few historical sources that directly reveal the lived experiences or inner attitudes of elderly people living alone, especially in comparison with contemporary Japan. This situation reflects a fundamental contrast with modern Japanese society, where the advance of nuclear families has transformed living arrangements and perceptions of old age.

The paper then turns to a range of historical materials, including biographies of filial children, Ōjōden, official documents from various domains, and essays by intellectuals. These sources contain discourses in which elderly people living alone are associated with expressions of “not wanting to be a burden to others.” By examining such examples, the paper analyzes both the forms and the contents of the notion of being a burden as they emerged in relation to elderly people living alone. In terms of expression, it shows that the notion of being a burden was articulated through vocabulary and phrasing different from those used in contemporary Japan, a point that is essential for understanding its historical transformation. In terms of content, these perceptions were closely connected to decisions regarding places of care or recuperation, aspirations for an independent way of life, and an awareness of maintaining an appropriate distance from family members. In these respects, important continuities with contemporary Japan can be observed.

Finally, by contrasting early modern and contemporary Japan, the paper discusses the significance of a historical approach to solitude, social isolation, and perceptions of being a burden. It suggests that as traditional support systems and the moral teachings associated with them lose their social reality, the linkage between solitude, isolation, and the notion of being a burden may become increasingly pronounced.