| Masa Higo | Last modified date：2023.11.22 |
Professor /
The International Student Center
Papers
| 1. | Monika Winarnita,Masa Higo, Thomas R. Klassen, and Irene Blackberry, Asian female migrant aged care workers in regional Australia and social resilience, Review of Regional Research, 42, 3, 203-235, 2022.12. |
| 2. | Masa Higo, A “death-laden society”: The next stage of a hyper-aged Japan and health challenges ahead, Aging and Health Research, forthcoming, 2022.04. |
| 3. | Masa Higo, Japan’s Death-Laden Society: Five Areas of Prospective Policy Challenges, International Journal of Population Studies, forthcoming, 2022.06, Today, Japan stands as the world’s leading super-aged society. In the coming decade, preceding the rest of the aging globe, the country will phase into the next demographic stage, called a ‘death-laden’ society. Due in part to the aging and prospective mortality of the country’s two major baby boom generations along with a projected decline in the number of the working age population, Japan will be laden with ballooning deaths from old age from 2030 onward for several decades to come. Only in recent years have researchers started paying attention to this demographic prospect, and to date little study has been done to systematically examine how the coming of a death-laden society may affect the health, wellbeing, and comfort of those in advanced age in the country. This paper aims to contribute to the newly emerging body of literature on this subject by outlining, based mainly on findings from expert interviews, five key areas of policy challenges with which Japan’s death-laden society will likely contend. These challenges include: (1) shortages in basic medical resources for the dying; (2) mounting public burden of disease; (3) potential prevalence of ‘lonely deaths’ among the elderly; (4) urgency to facilitate national discussions on end-of-life options; and (5) crematorium shortages and their cultural impact. Future research is called for to help mitigate the impact of a death-laden society not only for Japan but also for other countries that may follow Japan’s demographic path in the conceivable future.. |
| 4. | Masa Higo, Japan’s Approach to Retirement Reform: An International Perspective, Polish Social Gerontology Journal EXLIBRIS, 10.24917/24500232.181, 18, 1, 94-104, 2021.03. |
| 5. | Masa Higo, The impact of COVID-19 on Japan In Today’s World (JTW) Lessons for future teaching and learning, Bulletin of KIKAN Education (Faculty of Arts and Science, Kyushu University) , https://doi.org/10.15017/4363023, 7, 1-17, 2021.02, [URL], Japan In Today’s World (JTW) has a significant link to Kyushu University’s KIKAN education. As the University’s representative, English-taught study program for exchange students from its leading partner institutions around the word, JTW serves as an integral part of the KIKAN education curriculum and uniquely contributes to pursuing its overarching missions of nurturing students’ cross-cultural competencies through diverse courses in general education. Our current era is marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, an unprecedented public health crisis that has constrained nearly all aspects of social activities around the world. Drawing on original data gathered through a program evaluation survey (n=22) and a series of Focus Group interviews (n=12), this article first overviews the ways in which the ongoing global public health crisis has affected the operation of JTW, particularly from April through July 2020, and the learning experiences of its participants. Based on the findings from analyzing those data, this article then discusses, albeit preliminarily, key lessons for its continuous, effective operation in a “post-pandemic age” to come. Those lessons are found in three areas that are essential components of the program: lessons for (1) the JTW core courses; (2) student-to-student cross-cultural exchange; and (3) immersion experience activities. These lessons may also serve as a potentially valuable source of knowledge to further strengthen the role of KIKAN education in coming years.. |
| 6. | Masa Higo, Making Sense of Japan's Retirement Reform: An International Perspective, Kyushu University International Student Center Annual Research Bulletin, 29, 1-11, 2021.01, [URL]. |
| 7. | Masa Higo, Japan's 'Adjustment Approach' to Retirement Reforms, Active Aging Consortium Asia Pacific Research Bulletin, August-October, 2020, 10-12, 2020.10. |
| 8. | Chisato Nonaka, Masa Higo, Ryoichi Imai, Exploring the Experiences of JTW Tutors: Challenges and Opportunities, Research Bulletin, International Student Center, Kyushu University / 九州大学留学生センター紀要, 28, 143-152, 2020.02, [URL]. |
| 9. | Masa Higo, Ryoichi Imai, Chisato Nonaka, Kyushu University Japan in Today’s World Program: A Program Overview in Celebration of the 25th Anniversary, Research Bulletin, International Student Center, Kyushu University / 九州大学留学生センター紀要, 27, 141-150, 2019.02, [URL]. |
| 10. | Masa Higo, Ageing and Old Age in Modern Society, Ageing in Asia-Pacific: Interdisciplinary and Comparative Perspectives (Routledge, 2018), 2018.11. |
| 11. | Nopraenue S. Dhirathiti Masa Higo, Ageing in Asia-Pacific: Policy Challenges and Recommendations, Ageing in Asia-Pacific: Interdisciplinary and Comparative Perspectives (Routledge, 2018), 2018.11. |
| 12. | Thomas R. Klassen Masa Higo Nopraenue S. Dhirathiti Theresa W. Devasahayam, The Impacts of the Demographic Transition in Asia Pacific, Ageing in Asia-Pacific: Interdisciplinary and Comparative Perspectives (Routledge, 2018), 2018.11. |
| 13. | Masa Higo, Older Worker Employment in a 'Hyper-Aged' Japan: Five Main Characteristics, Research Bulletin, International Student Center, Kyushu University / 九州大学留学生センター紀要, 25, 11-24, 2017.02, Against the backdrop of rapid population aging, most developed countries around the world are seeking ways to delay the retirement transition of older workers. Having been classified as a ‘hyper-aged society’ since 2007, today Japan stands as a precursory case of an aging country that may offer a source for policy lessons for other countries. This article aims to contribute to a body of policy literature on older worker employment and retirement by introducing main characteristics of the trends of older worker employment in Japan as a hyper-aged society. Relative to other developed countries, employment trends of older workers (aged 55-64) in Japan are characterized by (1) internationally high employment rates; (2) the high rates as a historical trend; (3) persistent gender gaps in employment; (4) an increase in non-regular employment; and (5) a large share of older workers who are referred to as ‘working pensioners.’. |
| 14. | Masa Higo, Thomas R. Klassen, Reforms of Retirement Policies: Three Common Paths in Aging Japan and Korea, Journal of Aging & Social Policy, 29, 1, 70-83, 2017.01, Faced with an unparalleled rate of population aging, Japan and Korea have been reforming their retirement policies. To date, however, while the age of mandatory retirement has increased, employees continue to face significant decreases in compensation and other working conditions, typically at age 60 in Japan and age 55 in Korea. Three factors have contributed to shaping the path of the policy reforms in both the countries, including (1) the productivist welfare regimes, (2) the structure of the labor market for young workers, and (3) seniority-based wage and compensation systems.. |
| 15. | Masa Higo Thomas R. Klassen, Rapid Population Ageing and Reforms to Contractual Mandatory Retirement in Japan and South Korea, Journal of Gerontology & Geriatric Research, 10.4172/2167-7182.1000350, 2016.11, Rapid population ageing in Japan and South Korea requires reforms to retirement policies, especially the contractual mandatory retirement of workers at age 60. The experience of other nations suggests that Japan and South Korea can amend retirement policies without undue impacts on productivity and economic performance.. |
| 16. | Masa Higo, 官民協働海外留学支援制度「トビタテ!留学JAPAN 日本代表プログラム」第３期 九州大学 応募結果報告 九大生合格者数、全国第２位 ～異分野融合の海外留学へ～, Research Bulletin, International Student Center, Kyushu University / 九州大学留学生センター 紀要, 第24号（2016）, 2016.01. |
| 17. | Masa Higo, Retirement in Aging Japan and Korea: Three Common Factors Shaping the Recent Policy Reforms, Research Bulletin, International Student Center, Kyushu University / 九州大学留学生センター 紀要, 第24号（2016）, 2016.01. |
| 18. | Heike S. Schroeder Masa Higo Matt Flynn, Workplace Accommodation for Older Teachers in Japan and Germany: The Role of the Institutional Context in Supporting Late Career Opportunities for Teachers with Ill-health, Management Review, 10.1688/mrev-2016-Schroeder , 27, 2, 2016.02. |
| 19. | Masa Higo, Global Ageing and Its Challenges, The Routledge Handbook of Global Public Policy and Administration, 2016.03. |
| 20. | Masa Higo Heike S. Schröder Atsuhiro Yamada, Japan: Determinants of Retirement in a Hyper-Aged Society, Delaying Retirement: Progress and Challenges of Active Ageing in Europe, the United States and Japan, 2015.12. |
| 21. | Thomas R. Klassen Masa Higo, The Future of Mandatory Retirement: A Japan-Korea Comparison and Policy Lessons, Retirement in Japan and Korea: The Past, the Present, and the Future of Mandatory Retirement (2015, Routledge), 2015.02. |
| 22. | Masa Higo, Experiencing Retirement: The Perspective of Older Workers in Japan, Retirement in Japan and Korea: The Past, the Present, and the Future of Mandatory Retirement (2015, Routledge), 2015.02. |
| 23. | Masa Higo Thomas R. Klassen, Introduction: Retirement in Aging Japan and Korea, Retirement in Japan and Korea: The Past, the Present, and the Future of Mandatory Retirement (2015, Routledge), 2015.02. |
| 24. | Atsuhiro Yamada Masa Higo, Mandatory Retirement in Japan: An Overview of the Past and Present, Retirement in Japan and Korea: The Past, the Present, and the Future of Mandatory Retirement (2015, Routledge), 2015.02. |
| 25. | Masa Higo, A Duality of Global Aging: Unequal Distribution of Risks in Later Life, 九州大学留学生センター紀要 第２３号, 23, 1-20, 2015.01, To date, much of the existing research on global aging – population aging around the world – has focused mainly on the impacts of this demographic shift on today’s economically developed countries, but not developing ones. This article aims to help close the gap in the literature by heuristically examining how unequally global aging will distribute socio-economic risks in later life between developed and developing regions of the world. Based on relevant literature and findings from administrative data drawn from OECD, the United Nations, and WHO, this article argues that the impact of global aging is dual: while population aging is a global trend, over the next decades this demographic shift will likely generate greater risks in later life predominantly for people in today’s developing region of the world. In the decade ahead the duality of global aging will likely be particularly pronounced in the following four areas: (1) contending with burden of disease in epidemiological transition; (2) declining familial resources for elderly care; (3) securing direct care workforce for long-term care; and (4) protecting financial security in retirement.. |
| 26. | Masa Higo Hafiz T. A. Khan, Global Population Aging: Unequal Distribution of Risks in Later Life between Developed and Developing Countries, Global Social Policy, 10.1177/1468018114543157, 2014.12, Much of the existing research on population aging has focused on its impact, including both opportunities and challenges, on developed countries, particularly those in Europe and North America. This article discusses how unequally population aging will distribute risks in securing socio-economic resources for the wellbeing of individuals in later life between developed and developing countries around the world. Based on a documentary analysis of relevant literature and findings from the survey data drawn from Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), United Nations (UN), and World Health Organization (WHO), this article discusses four main areas of the unequal distribution of risks in later life: (1) burden of disease in epidemiological transition, (2) financial security in retirement, (3) familial resources for elderly care, and (4) care workforce for elderly care. While population aging is a global trend, its impact is not equal; over the next decades, today’s developing countries will likely contend with double challenges at least in these areas.. |
| 27. | Matthew Flynn Heike S. Schröder Masa Higo Atsuhiro Yamada, Government as Institutional Entrepreneur: Extending Working Life in the UK and Japan, Journal of Social Policy, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047279414000075, 43, 3, 2014.06. |
| 28. | Masa Higo, Older Worker in National Context: A Japan-US Comparison, Journal of Population Ageing, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12062-013-9090-3, 6, 4, 305-322, 2013.12, [URL]. |
| 29. | Masa Higo Thomas R. Klassen, The Future of Retirement , Korea’s Retirement Predicament: The Aging Tiger, 146-162, 2013.10. |
| 30. | Masa Higo, Surviving Death-Anxieties in Liquid Modern Times: Examining Zygmunt Bauman’s Social Theory of Death and Dying, OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying, 10.2190/OM.65.3.e, 65, 3, 221-238, 2012.06, [URL]. |
| 31. | Masa Higo, Group of Eight - What Is G8?, The Wiley‐Blackwell Encyclopedia of Globalization, 10.1002/9780470670590, 2012.02, [URL]. |
| 32. | Masa Higo John B. Williamson, Global Aging, Handbook of Sociology of Aging (2011, Springer), 117-129, 2011.12, [URL]. |
| 33. | Atsuhiro Yamada Masa Higo, Institutional Barriers to Work beyond Retirement: Evidence from a Recent Japanese Employee Survey, Contemporary Japan, 10.1515/cj.2011.009, 23, 1, 157-186, 2011.06, [URL]. |
| 34. | Masa Higo John B. Williamson, Retirement, Encyclopedia of the Life Course and Human Development (2009, Gale), 2009.12, [URL]. |
| 35. | John B. Williamson Masa Higo, Why Japanese Workers Remain in the Labor Force So Long: Lessons for the United States?, Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 24, 4, 321-337, 2009.09, [URL]. |
| 36. | John B. Williamson Masa Higo, Older Workers: Lessons from Japan, Work Opportunities for Older Americans: Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, 2007.06, [URL]. |
| 37. | John B. Williamson Masa Higo, Why Do Japanese Workers Remain in the Labor Force So Long?, Working Paper Series: Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, 2007.05, [URL]. |
| 38. | Masa Higo, Aging Workforce in Japan: Three Policy Dilemmas , Hallym International Journal of Aging, 10.2190/HA.8.2.e, 8, 2, 149-173, 2006.04, [URL]. |
| 39. | Masa Higo, Death-Related Bereavements in Late Modern Time: A Sociological Perspective , Family Therapy: Journal of American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, 17, 1, 6-11, 2004.01. |
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