Japan health ministry highlights technology and workforce pressures ahead of 2040

Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) has highlighted technology adoption, workforce shortages and productivity as key issues for the country’s healthcare, long-term care and welfare sectors as it looks towards 2040.

The ministry published its 2026 Health, Labour and Welfare White Paper on 29 September, with its first section focused on the future of working in healthcare, nursing care and welfare. The report examines how the sectors can continue providing services amid Japan’s declining birth rate and ageing population, including through greater use of information and communications technology (ICT), artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics.

The 2026 edition is the 25th Health, Labour and Welfare White Paper published since the series began in 2001. It is divided into two sections: the first examines the year’s main theme, while the second covers recent developments across areas including employment, pensions, healthcare, nursing care and welfare.

A key focus of the first section is how technology could contribute to productivity improvements while supporting the delivery of high-quality services. The ministry’s discussion covers healthcare, nursing care and disability welfare, with ICT, AI and robotics identified as technologies that could play a role in addressing the challenges facing frontline services by 2040.

The white paper draws on a survey conducted by the ministry between 29 January and 3 February 2026 to examine public perceptions of healthcare, nursing care and welfare work, attitudes towards the introduction of technology in healthcare and care settings, and expectations of government.

The survey received 3,000 valid responses from people aged 20 to 74 living in Japan.

The findings suggest broad public acceptance of technology in healthcare and nursing care. More than 70% of respondents were positive about the introduction of technologies including ICT, AI and robotics in medical settings. The ministry also found that reducing the workload of healthcare and care professionals was the leading expectation associated with technology adoption.

For example, 82.6% of respondents said they were either in favour or somewhat in favour of introducing ICT such as electronic medical records and online consultations in medical settings. Around 72% expressed support for the introduction of AI to assist doctors with diagnosis, while approximately 74% supported the use of surgical-assistance robots.

The findings come as Japan considers how technology can help its health and care systems respond to demographic change. The white paper notes that medical, nursing care and welfare services are services that anyone may eventually need, making the question of how they can be sustained a broader societal issue rather than one limited to healthcare professionals.

The same survey found significant concern about the availability of future workers. According to the white paper, 74.5% of respondents said they were either concerned or somewhat concerned about future shortages of workers in the medical sector. The figure was higher for nursing care and welfare, at 81.3%.

Concern also increased with age. Some 82.1% of respondents aged 60–74 expressed concern about future shortages in healthcare, compared with 58.3% among those aged 20–29. For nursing care and welfare, the corresponding figures were 87.3% and 69.6%.

The ministry presents technology as one component of the response to these pressures, alongside efforts to secure and retain workers and improve working environments.

The emphasis is not solely on replacing human labour with technology. The white paper links productivity improvements with reducing the burden on staff and maintaining or improving the quality of care. The ministry is also conducting separate work to collect evidence on the effects of technology and other productivity measures in care settings, including their impact on staff workloads and quality of care.

Japan’s demographic outlook is placing increasing pressure on the sustainability of its health and social care systems. The 2026 white paper uses 2040 as an important reference point for considering how healthcare, nursing care and disability welfare services will be delivered and supported.

The ministry’s approach combines technology adoption with broader changes to the way services are organised and delivered. The white paper examines initiatives already being undertaken in frontline settings and considers the conditions needed to improve productivity while continuing to provide services to patients and care recipients.

The accompanying survey indicates that the public is broadly receptive to this technological shift, while the high level of concern about future workforce shortages underlines the scale of the challenge facing Japan’s health and care sectors.

For Japan, the question over the coming decade will therefore be not simply whether technologies such as AI, ICT and robotics can be introduced, but how they can be integrated into frontline services in ways that support workers and help sustain access to care as demographic pressures intensify.