Abstract
With the introduction of the 40 hours workweek system, an intensive discussion was made among relevant departments. Building facilities does not necessarily guarantee more leisure activities and higher satisfaction for the public. It is essential to draft at the trend of leisure policy in Japan and learn from the experiences to set the policy direction best fitting future changes in Korea, as Japan has gone through comprehensive changes ahead of us. With this understanding, this study analyzed key leisure policies of Japan and examined the trend of changes of time. The followings are the findings of the research. First, Japan's leisure policies could be categorized into five stages and six terms. Second, leisure policies in Japan are being established as a local welfare system, not in the context of industrial perspective, to help people in local community. This is to make voluntary move by eliminating the factors that restrict social demand with an effort to expand leisure time and to secure and enhance access to leisure space. Third, Neighborhood leisure space has taken the center stage, in an effort to seek solutions to the issues of improving space utilization, restoring local community and encouraging participation of local residents. The conclusion drawn from the research is as follows. It is required to recommend the use of the specific term 'leisure' for leisure policies in Korea and for leisure space policies in Korea that are now facing sociocultural challenges similar to the ones emerging in Japan, measures are required to improve physiological access of local residents including information promotion, lifetime education and relationships enhancement along with the establishment of neighborhood leisure space.