Main description:

Known for a tradition of Confucian filial piety, East Asian societies have some of the oldest and most rapidly aging populations on earth. Today these societies are experiencing unprecedented social challenges to the filial tradition of adult children caring for aging parents at home. Marshalling mixed methods data, this volume explores the complexities of aging and caregiving in contemporary East Asia. Questioning romantic visions of a senior's paradise, chapters examine emerging cultural meanings of and social responses to population aging, including caregiving both for and by the elderly. Themes include traditional ideals versus contemporary realities, the role of the state, patterns of familial and non-familial care, social stratification, and intersections of caregiving and death. Drawing on ethnographic, demographic, policy, archival, and media data, the authors trace both common patterns and diverging trends across China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, and Korea.

Contents:

List of Illustrations

List of Tables

Acknowledgments

Notes on Text and Transliteration

Introduction

Jeanne Shea, Katrina Moore, and Hong Zhang

Part I: Aging and Caregiving in Chinese Contexts

Chapter 1. Old-Age Support in Rural China: Case Study of the Jiangxiang Model for Community-Based Filial Piety

Youcai Tang and Jeanne Shea

Chapter 2. Meanings of Spousal Eldercare in Life and Death in China

Jeanne Shea

Chapter 3. "Too Busy to Do Anything Else": How Caregiving and Urban Sojourning Impact the Aging Experience of China's Migrant Grandparents

Min Zhang

Chapter 4. Population Aging and Care of the Elderly in Hong Kong

Michelle Shum and Terry Lum

Chapter 5. Teach Me to Be Filial: Intergenerational Care in Singapore Families

Leng Leng Thang and Kalyani Mehta

Chapter 6. Constructing Networks of Elder Care across Borders: The Experiences of Taiwanese Immigrants in the US and Their Parents in the Homeland

Ken Chih-Yan Sun

Part II: Aging and Caregiving in Japanese Contexts

Chapter 7. Who Cares for the Elders? Aging, Independence, and Interdependence in Contemporary Japan

Katrina Moore

Chapter 8. "Son, I've Already Become a Mummy": The Sociocultural Contexts of Missing Centenarians in Super-Aging Japan

Heekyoung Kim

Chapter 9. Rethinking Burden: Japanese Elder Care Careers from Helping to Grieving

Susan Long and Ruth Campbell

Part III: Aging and Caregiving in Korean Contexts

Chapter 10. "Without Feeling Guilty": Filial Piety and Eldercare in Twenty-First-Century Korea:

Hyun Ji Lee and Kyong Hee Chee

Chapter 11. The Dynamics of Care in the Context of Limited Repatriation of Sakhalin Korean Elderly

Dorota Szawarska

Chapter 12. Expansion of End-of-Life Care Services in South Korea: A Qualitative Analysis of the Experiences of Family Caregivers and Hospice Staff

Sooyoun Han and Jeanne Shea

Conclusion: Contemporary Trends in and Future Directions for Aging and Caregiving in East Asian Societies

Jeanne Shea, Katrina Moore, and Hong Zhang

Appendix I: Historical Trends Noted in Ikels's Volume (2004) and This Volume

Appendix II: Topical/Thematic Coverage in Ikels's Volume (2004) and This Volume

Index