The world is rapidly ‘greying’ due to an increasingly ageing population. From ancient times, humans have dreamed of longevity and eternal youth. Thanks to medical advancements, life expectancy has drastically increased, and one half of our wishes are almost granted. Now, we are no longer satisfied with merely living longer, we expect to stay healthy and independent too. The rapid growth of an ageing population has resulted in much general interest in ageing, and there is now an abundance of research pertaining to ageing and disability. As one might expect, this is because a perfect correlation exists between population age and the number of people with impairments (Coni et al. 1992).

Ageing takes places in cultural milieus. Different cultures, with different traditions and customs, mirror various ageing realities (Hashimoto 1993; Sennet and Czarniecki 1991). Although the ‘greying’ phenomenon can be seen in many developed nations, Japanese society is facing a tougher challenge, because population ageing here is coupled with decreasing birth rates and an increasing number of nuclear families (Hashimoto 1993). In fact, life expectancy for the Japanese, especially for women, is the longest in the world at 83.1 years (Freed 1990) and many elderly Japanese have disabilities.

Although the population of Japanese with impairments constitutes 4.8 per cent of the total population, ageing has become a prominent topic (Sori-fu 1998). A national poll, taken by the Japanese government, illustrates a sharp generational divide (Sori-fu 1998).