Mutual support in Gifu housing estate offers model case for aging society
Volunteer Shunichi Hirata (right) checks a heater as he chats with Takako Shimizu, who manages residents’ mutual support activities in Kakamigahara, Gifu Prefecture. | CHUNICHI SHIMBUN
CHUNICHI SHIMBUN
Jan 19, 2026
Many elderly people hope to remain in the homes they love and feel comfortable in even as they grow older or begin to live alone. Yet some choose to move out due to concerns about daily inconveniences and loneliness.
Residents in one housing estate in Gifu Prefecture, however, are working to make possible the wishes of those who want to stay by giving one another a helping hand in support.
In the city of Kakamigahara, a bedroom community for the cities of Nagoya and Gifu, about 2,000 detached houses line the streets of the hilly Yagiyama district, overlooking Inuyama Castle — a National Treasure. Families began moving into the area during the 1970s, each building their dream home one after another. More than 50 years later, roughly half of the residents are now age 65 or older.
In one corner of the neighborhood stands Sasae-ai no Ie — or House of Mutual Support — run by a local social welfare council. It serves as a hub for mutual support activities, through which residents help one another with small everyday problems. The activities are coordinated by Takako Shimizu, 81, a former teacher.
Shimizu moved to the area about 20 years ago, drawn by its beautiful scenery and fresh air. One day, however, a neighbor told her, “There are so many slopes here and it’ll get tough when you get old. You should move out while you’re still fit.”
The comment shocked her. Having lost her husband, Shimizu now lives alone. While she admits to feeling anxious about aging, she also thought, “If we can solve the difficult parts, maybe we can continue living here.”
In the spring of 2014, she launched the mutual support activities.
Under the program, residents who need help call or visit the House for consultation. Shimizu and other coordinators then contact volunteers in their registry, and arrange a time for them to help the residents. After the task is completed, the volunteer receives a small fee.
Once the program began, requests poured in and covered a wide range of activities — from helping with shopping or hospital visits, changing light bulbs and the weeding of gardens to even being a playmate for board games.
Many of these were small requests for help that would fall outside the reach of government services or nursing care programs. Shimizu became convinced that, with just a little assistance, people could continue living independently.
About 150 volunteers, including former company employees, full-time homemakers and others living nearby, are registered. They help when they can and receive help when they need it. Their shared motto is, “Those who can, do what they can, when they can.”
At first, the work was unpaid, but some residents insisted on giving gifts or money to show their gratitude. Eventually, the system adopted a payment system of around ¥1,000 ($6.40) per hour. After operating costs are deducted, a few hundred yen goes to the volunteer.
Both sides appreciate the arrangement.
“It’s easier to ask for help,” one user said, while a volunteer commented, “It motivates us.”
Fumie Shimizu (left) talks with a man seated next to her during a lunch event at a community center in Kakamigahara. | CHUNICHI SHIMBUN
In the year to March 2025, about 600 people used the service, showing how deeply it has taken root in the community.
One day in mid-November, several heaters collected from older residents’ homes were lined up inside the House. Ahead of the cold season, one volunteer, 76-year-old Shunichi Hirata — a former helicopter mechanic — inspected them one by one.
Hirata moved to the area at age 38, back when it was lively and full of children. His only son has since grown up and started his own family, and Hirata now lives with his wife. He visits the House almost every day, fixing appliances or sharpening knives when requests come in.
Asked what his life might be like without these support activities, Hirata smiled and said, “I might be drinking from morning. People thank me over and over, it doesn’t feel bad at all.”
Younger generations
In the Yagiyama district, a local community center also serves as a base for mutual support activities. In early December, elderly residents gathered at the community center for a weekly lunch event at which volunteers cook home-style meals for them.
The event began in 2022 to help prevent isolation among older residents who had become homebound during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sharing meals face-to-face naturally sparks conversations and helps people build connections.
Fumie Shimizu, 93, was among those who turned up that day in December. “I like reading,” she said as she chatted with a man seated next to her. “Then you should try the mobile library,” the man said to her.
Shimizu previously lived alone in an apartment near her eldest daughter in the city of Gifu after her husband died, but she had little interaction with neighbors. Encouraged by the daughter, who learned about the Yagiyama district’s support activities, Shimizu decided to move to a rental house in the district in the spring of 2025.
When she moved in, volunteers quickly helped her with tasks such as installing bamboo blinds and taking out the trash. “Everyone is so kind,” Shimizu said. “As long as I have the money and the physical strength, I want to stay here,” she said.
The mutual support activities have drawn attention as a model for community building, even attracting visitors from South Korea in November. More than 10 years have passed since the initiative began and core volunteer members are now in their late 70s, but their energy is starting to inspire younger generations.
In the course of their activities, volunteers also interact with children from the local Yagiyama Elementary School, helping with homework after school or hosting field trips. During long school breaks, they organize activities such as cooking and crafts together.
Fourth grader Kosei Yoshikawa, who joined a shogi workshop hosted by the group in the spring, chose the volunteer activities as the topic of a school essay. Titled “Sasae-au Machi” (“A Town That Supports One Another”), he wrote about how neighbors began greeting him after he started interacting with the volunteers. He concluded the essay by writing, “Someday, I want to be the one who supports others.”
Kazuhiko Sawada, 61, who moved to the area about a year ago seeking a place where he could live comfortably with pets, registered as a volunteer in the hope of quickly integrating into the community. “Old age will come to my generation too,” he says. “If people my age get involved now and bring in new energy, I believe things will get even better.”
Takako Shimizu, who launched the mutual support initiative, smiles and says, “This is the town where someone once told me I should move out because it was inconvenient. I’m happy that people now find it attractive.”
Though she still has concerns about aging, she says, “As long as I have companions, I can keep living here.”
A model case
Across Japan, large-scale housing complexes built on the outskirts of cities during the nation’s rapid economic growth period are seeing their residents age. Many had moved in around the same time, and after about 50 years, their children have moved elsewhere, leaving the parent generation behind.
According to the land ministry’s statistics based on the 2020 census, about 70% of housing complexes developed more than 40 years ago have an elderly population rate exceeding 30%.
Many of these estates were built in hilly areas separated from commercial zones, making physical movements difficult for older people and making it inconvenient for them to go shopping and embark on other outings.
In Kasugai, Aichi Prefecture, residents of the Kozoji New Town complex have launched a nonprofit organization that provides transportation services using golf carts. A land ministry official notes that these housing areas were originally designed to be quiet and comfortable to live in. “We need initiatives that make these places attractive for residents to want to continue living there,” the official said.
As for support activities in Gifu’s Yagiyama district, Yoshihiro Okamoto, a professor at Chukyo University who specializes in housing and social welfare, says he highly values the initiative as “a model case where functions that decline with age are effectively complemented within the community.”
While it was easier for residents of similar generations to develop relationships through shared experiences when the large housing complexes were built, a wide range of challenges have surfaced decades later as residents’ family structures have diversified.
“People of different backgrounds — the elderly and children, people with disabilities and those without, Japanese residents and foreign residents — need to actively connect with one another and work together to build their community,” Okamoto said. “That kind of inclusive attitude is now essential.”
This section features topics and issues from the Chubu region covered by the Chunichi Shimbun. The original articles were published Dec. 5 and Dec. 19.
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