This book illustrates why and to what extent societal aging has triggered a change in our social security systems - which has simultaneously led to the emergence of new social risks in Japan. The regional context thus forms a crucial factor in welfare creation. As the foundation for a coherent and comprehensive representation of this complex matter, a mixed methods approach, consisting of ethnograpic fieldwork and analysis of both sociopolitical measures and aggregate data, was utilised in this book. The results indicate that the institutional framework has positive effects on the social economy and local communities. But innovative strategies of local problem-solving for social capital activation are fostered as well. This book is intended for scholars in the fields of welfare, social and regional research. But it also provides new input for both the social economy and social policy.