This book presents a new dimension of the lives of the zainichi Koreans in Japan and the development of social policy for an ageing society. Using Aera, (a non-profit North Korean welfare organisation in Japan) as the case study, Lee investigates how this group utilises and mobilises Japanese state policies, especially the social welfare system, for its own political purposes. Japanese Social Welfare provides a new way of looking at minorities in Japan: they are no longer powerless but have started to employ state policies and resources to advance their social and economic status; and, they are far from homogenous and zainichi especially shows the most considerable diversity because of its political division. By also examining the interplay between the Japanese state and the ethnic community in recent decades this research also shows that at the grassroots level, an unprecedented diversity emerges in Japan's social welfare sector.