1. Measures for the Aging Society in FY 2005

Budget related to Measures for the Aging Society

Measures for aging society will be steadily enforced in the field of working & income, health & welfare, learning & social participation, living environment, promotion of survey and research, etc. The FY 2005 budget related to aging society out of the government general account amounts to 12.7109 trillion yen. Its breakdown is: 6.4355 trillion yen for working & income, 6.1894 trillion yen for health & welfare, 26.6 billion yen for learning and social participation, 13.0 billion yen for living environment, and 46.3 billion yen for promotion of survey and research, etc.

2. Measures for the Aging Society by Field

New major measures in FY 2005 by field are as follows:

(1) Working and income

- The "Project for the Employment of Older Persons Up to the Age of 65" shall be implemented in order to smoothly enforce the "Law to Partially Amend the Law Concerning Stabilization of Employment of Older Persons" (Law No. 103, 2004). This project is intended to offer, through employers' organizations, instruction and consultation on review of the current wage and personnel management system and the introduction and promotion of the continuous employment system.

- In the "Panel to Discuss Social Security" presided over by the Chief Cabinet Secretary, the overall social security system, especially financial burdens for taxes and pension premiums and the payment of benefits, shall be reviewed in order to create a social security system that will be sustainable in the future.

- The "Review Meeting for Harmonization of Work and Life" has been held since October 2003, to review general employment management from diversified directions. Therefore, necessary measures shall be taken in light of the reports of the meetings.

(2) Health and welfare

- With respect to the promotion of lifetime health, the following measures shall be primarily taken under the Health Promotion Law (Law No. 103, 2002) in order to further prevent diseases and promote efforts made by the public to stay healthy: the "21st Century National Health Plan (Healthy Japan 21)" aiming to extend the healthy life expectancy of the public and improve their quality of life; the "Health Frontier Strategy" that will be implemented for the period from 2005 to 2014.

- Under the "Next Generation Nurturing Support Measures Promotion Law" (Law No. 120, 2003), municipal governments and companies shall implement an action plan that contains the detailed measures formulated in FY2004.

(3) Learning and Social Participation

- The places where children may participate in activities safely and in peace shall be established in school yards and classrooms, and a variety of activities for all elementary and lower secondary school students shall be conducted there with the help of adults living in the community, such as extracurricular or weekend hands-on activities and exchange activities with local residents. Especially on weekends, the "Weekend Challenge Classroom" will invite local experts and technicians to give lectures to be held to provide children with an opportunity to participate in practical real-life learning or hands-on activities.

(4) Living Environment

- In order to create a "mental barrier-free" society and realize a barrier-free traffic environment both physically and psychologically, model volunteer projects shall be implemented to accelerate systemized, proactive human approaches. In addition, comprehensive efforts for human development shall be promoted, such as the creation of model educational programs for the employers of public traffic companies and the selection and fostering of local leaders for barrier-free activities.

- With respect to evacuation measures for the elderly and people who need assistance in disasters, the creation of systems reflecting the actual circumstances of each region shall be promoted through information sharing with welfare departments and agencies and the implementation of practical trainings.

(5) Promoting survey and research

- Molecular imaging research shall be started, aiming to enable the live imaging of movements of protein and other various molecules of living creatures and to achieve research results that will contribute to tumor diagnosis and brain functional interpretation.

Overview of Budget Related to Measures for Aging Society by Field

(Unit: million yen)

Item	Primary budget FY 2004	Primary budget FY 2005	Year-to-year changes
1. Working and income	5,994,281 (36,446,400) <->	6,435,455 (37,745,767) <->	441,173 (1,299,367) <->
(1) Securing employment and working opportunities for the elderly	14,483 (250,514) <->	14,224 (222,790) <->	-260 (-27,724) <->
(2) Helping working people exhibit their abilities throughout their lives	1,311 (137,939)	270 (123,494)	-1,041 (-14,445)
(3) Stable operation of public pension system	5,974,412 (36,048,972)	6,417,031 (37,391,058)	442,619 (1,342,086)
(4) Support of securing incomes for the elderly through self-help	4,074 (8,975)	3,929 (8,425)	-145 (-550)
2. Health and welfare	6,309,799 (454,594) <->	6,189,434 (474,882) <->	-120,365 (20,288) <->
(1) Comprehensive promotion of health improvement	109,579 (28) <->	124,407 (1,394) <->	14,828 (1,366) <->
(2) Steady implementation of the Long-term Care Insurance System	1,810,203	1,960,987	150,784
(3) Enhancing long-term care services	196,383 (15,752) <->	64,908 (11,065) <->	-131,476 (-4,687) <->
(4) Innovation of the medical health system for the elderly	3,975,795 (10,443)	4,028,862 (10,408)	53,068 (-34)
(5) Promoting comprehensive measures to support child care	217,840 (428,372)	10,271 (452,015)	-207,569 (23,644)
3. Learning and social participation	27,735(38)	26,649(0)	-1,086(-38)
(1) Creating a life-long learning systems	15,079	16,221	1,142
(2) Promoting social participation	12,656 (38)	10,428 (0)	-2,228 (38)
4. Living environment	13,007 (521,101) <-> [23,112]	13,032 (510,692) <-> [21,050]	25 (-10,409) <-> [-2,062]
(1) Ensuring stable and comfortable housing	- <->	- <->	- <->
(2) Comprehensive promotion of creating a city in consideration of "UniversalDesign"	11,547 (506,860) <->	12,253 (495,952) <->	706 (-10,908) <->
(3) Protecting the elderly from traffic accidents, crimes, and disasters	144 (-)	210 (-)	67 (-)
(4) Developing a comfortable and energized living environment	1,316 (14,240) <-> [23,112]	568 (14,740) <-> [21,050]	-748 (499) <-> [-2,062]
5. Promoting survey and research	45,320 (19,302) <->	46,327 (19,609) <->	1,007 (306) <->
(1) Promoting a variety of research activities	43,579 (11,034) <->	43,383 (11,040) <->	-196 (6) <->
(2) Improving the basis of research activities	1,741 (8,268)	2,945 (8,568)	1,204 (300)
Total	12,390,143 (37,441,436) <-> [23,112]	12,710,896 (38,750,949) <-> [21,050]	320,754 (1,309,513) <-> [-2,062]

Note:

Figures of budget amount Increasing rate of the total to the former fiscal year: general account 2.59%, special account 3.50% The items for which the budget amount and changes are not identified are shown as -. Therefore, the total and the budget amounts by item are the total of only those identified.