National Survey of the Japanese Elderly, 1996

This survey is the fourth wave of a study conducted jointly by the Institute of Gerontology at the University of Michigan (IoG) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology (TMIG). Previous waves of data were collected in November of 1987 (ICPSR 6842), November of 1990 (ICPSR 3407), and November of 1993 (ICPSR 4145). The survey was designed to create a panel dataset for use in cross-cultural analyses of aging between the United States and Japan. This is the first, and to date only, panel study designed for cross-cultural analyses on aging. Therefore, this survey represents a unique contribution to the gerontological archives for cross-cultural aging. The survey was designed to match as closely as feasible the Wave I instrument, however it had to allow for dynamic growth in areas of interest. The Wave I instrument was designed to be at least partially comparable to many pre-existing surveys of the aged. Specifically it incorporates components from the American's Changing Lives surveys conducted by Jim House et al. of the Institute for Social Research (ISR) at the University of Michigan and the 1984 National Health Interview Survey Supplement on Aging.