A. From Meiji Restoration in 1868 to the End of the Second World War
In 1874, the new Meiji Government issued the famous administrative order called "Jutsukyu Kisoku" (the Relief Order of 1874), which stipulated that an elderly sick person of 70 or more who had no relatives to support him/her could be given public relief. Other targets of public relief were orphans and severely impaired persons. It should also be pointed out that the amount of money given as relief was very small, only sufficient to maintain a bare existence. Furthermore, this order did not cover any indoor relief. Thus, indoor relief to poor children and older persons had to be provided by private charity organizations or individuals. What the government did was only to give these almshouses a partial grant which covered only a very small proportion of actual expenses. This severe Relief Order was kept in effect for more than 60 years until 1932, when a new public relief law (Kyugohoh) was put into practice. The number of almshouses at that time was only 66 and the number of older persons living in these almshouses was only 2,753 throughout Japan.
The new public relief law (Kyugohoh) which was enacted in 1929 and put into practice in 1932 stipulated that the National Government should take the responsibility of relief for the poor. Eligibility for relief was eased a little in comparison with the previous order (Jutsukyu Kisoku), though it was still very limited from the standpoint of modern social welfare philosophy. This law lowered the age limit for relief from 70 to 65. In addition, indoor relief was approved as a legitimate form of providing assistance. As a result, the number of older persons institutionalized increased to 4,295 in 1940. That is, the number of such older persons was nearly doubled in nine years between 1931 and 1940. The number of relief institutions was, however, still seriously short of the actual needs. Therefore, many older beggars could be seen wandering here and there throughout Japan, while a huge amount of money was ungrudgingly spent for the expansion of military forces.
Japan's entrance into the Second World War in 1941 caused a devastating effect on the lives of Japanese people, especially on the lives of older persons without children on whom to depend, of orphans, and of the disabled. Because of the shortages of food, clothing, and above all, money allocated to the services for these persons, the death rate among the institutionalized, especially that of older persons, was extremely high. Such miserable conditions continued till the end of the Second World War in 1945.
