A Comparative Study on Chinese and Japanese Social Consciousness of Lifelong Participation

"Participation"is a key concept of "active aging"put forth in the Second World Assembly on Aging.Based on investigations of about 1,500 adults and older people aged 40 and above in urban and rural areas of Jiading District,Shanghai,China and in Yamaguchi Prefecture,Japan respectively,this paper makes a comparative analysis of people's similarities and differences in the two places concerning their consciousness of lifelong participation in society,attitudes towards work and human relations,and participations in volunteer activities,and puts forward some suggestions on how to improve the consciousness of lifelong participation in society during people's midlife and how to provide elderly persons with opportunities to participate in society.