Based on comparative and collaborative studies of Japanese and Norwegian specialists, this book focuses upon the critical analysis of ‘rationality of care’ with an empirical examination of care services in the two countries.

The book argues that elder care is not simply the act of labor, but that of love, and it looks at such aspects of care as home help, new public management, and social enterprise. Predicated on the historical experience and contemporary reality of elder care in both countries, the study confronts the commercial rationalisation of care practices and explores their desirable forms.