Modern Japanese society, now entering an era of a super-aging population, faces various challenges, including elderly care and healthcare issues, as well as problems related to the shrinking workforce.
How should science and technology develop in response to these challenges?
This study examines the development of science and technology required by contemporary society from two perspectives. First, using historical methods, it investigates the historical development of science and technology related to healthcare and caregiving. Second, it analyzes the development of science and technology in modern Japan within the broader context of social structure.
The first part of the study focuses on the history of the introduction and development of medical technologies associated with the adoption of Western medicine in modern Japan, using historical research methods. The second part examines science and technology policies for the development and promotion of welfare and nursing-care equipment, as well as the actual conditions of caregiving sites, through documentary research and interviews with related organizations and companies.　　
Part of the research results was published in Integrated Science, Vol. 6.　(JSPS KAKENHI, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A), 20H00007, Co-investigator, April 2020 – March 2025)