This article is an exploration of how assumptions about how welfare should
be provided can affect the conclusions one draws from studying the welfare
system of another society, and how immersion in a welfare system of another
country can lead to different conclusions about how welfare might best be
provided. It is based on an analysis of Japan's child welfare system, in pa
rticular homes (yogoshisetsu) for children whose parents cannot care for th
em, and seeks to compare a critique of them based largely on assumptions cu
lled from social work practice in north Europe with a more sympathetic anal
ysis in terms of Japanese practice. II concludes that, while neither analys
is should be termed 'correct', it is incumbent on any researcher to provide
both types of account (what might be termed an 'etic' and an 'emic' pictur
e) when describing the welfare system of another society.