Presentation Schedule
Suppressing the Mobility for the Elderly: Discourses Seen in Mass Media in Japan (103438)
Session Chair: Longjian Liu
Thursday, 26 March 2026 13:40
Session: Session 3
Room: Room 707 (7F)
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
This study discusses the cultural factors that restrict the autonomy of elderly individuals in driving automobiles in Japan. In particular, I argue how discourses about elderly drivers are constructed and reconstructed through an analysis of expressions used in Japanese media reports of traffic accidents and driving issues involving elderly motorists. Such discourses have formed stereotypes regarding elderly drivers and have led to a nationwide movement prompting seniors to relinquish their licenses, affecting both the elderly and those around them. To understand the discourses, this study examines articles containing comments or opinions about elderly drivers—identifying using keywords, such as “elderly driving,”--from the most widely read newspapers published between 2019 (the year preceding the enactment of the amendment to the Road Traffic Act regarding elderly drivers) and 2024, and analyze them in the framework of symbolic and interpretative anthropology. Previous research on newspaper coverage of elderly driving has included both qualitative and quantitative studies, debating whether elderly driving is overrepresented, with conflicting conclusions. This study shifts the focus to an examination of Japanese culture, discussing deeply held stereotypes about elderly drivers and culturally rooted ideals about relationships with others, both of which influence even competent elderly drivers to surrender their licenses. The findings will illuminate the cultural construction of this pressure and the social environment affecting the elderly.
Authors:
Chie Saito, Kanazawa Seiryo University, Japan
About the Presenter(s)
Dr. Chie Saito is currently a professor of Intercultural Studies at Kanazawa Seiryo University, Japan.
See this presentation on the full schedule – Thursday Schedule
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