JAPAN’S ‘LONELINESS MINISTER’ SEARCHES FOR HIS CONSTITUENTS

While the Japanese government has established the new role of a minister for loneliness and set about tackling isolation issues, setting up a standard for measuring individuals' levels of solitude is at the center of discussion, Shun Kawaguchi reported for Mainichi Japan.

Although creating a scale of loneliness is directly linked with achieving the government's goals, many challenges exist, such as the question of how to measure such a subjective feeling. An expert said that a consciousness unique to Japanese society has also been presenting further challenges.

Tetsushi Sakamoto, the minister for promoting the dynamic engagement of all citizens, who is also newly in charge of loneliness issues, raised the advancement of how the government understands "isolation" in Japan as one effort to initially address, in a meeting on loneliness which took place at the prime minister's office on March 12.

He said, "it is essential that we get a handle on the actual nature of loneliness and isolation, and establish a plan-do-check-act cycle for related policy measures of each administrative field."

However, he also said, "as a precondition to this, it is necessary to make certain adjustments on how to perceive loneliness and isolation." Exactly who should be regarded as a lonely and isolated person becomes a central question.

The University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) Loneliness Scale is commonly used worldwide for measuring loneliness. Individuals are asked to select from among four responses on how often they agree with statements including "I lack companionship" and "I feel left out." Loneliness levels are indicated by the total score of points corresponding to the selected responses.

Furthermore, the British government, which took the lead to appoint a minister for loneliness, has developed an original standard based on the UCLA Loneliness Scale, and the Japanese government also intends to move forward with discussion while using these overseas examples as a reference. It cannot be said that individuals who have a liking for solo activities, such as going to karaoke or camping out alone, are lonely or isolated.

Sakamoto said "loneliness is a subjective emotion accompanied by feelings of forlornness," and he emphasized that loneliness is a negative feeling experienced by those who are isolated. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has expressed the intention to take measures to tackle "undesirable loneliness."

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