Fujisawa, in the Shonan area of Kanagawa, is another municipality where Social Welfare Corporation Shinkou Fukushikai (社会福祉法人 伸こう福祉会) has welfare-sector operations under the Cross Heart name. JCC uses that Kanagawa-centered background while defining in-person support by scope and availability.

As everywhere in Japan, care runs on the national long-term care insurance system. The local difference in Fujisawa is the front door, and it is genuinely distinct. The city does not use the usual generic name. Its community comprehensive support centers (地域包括支援センター) are branded ikiiki support centers (いきいきサポートセンター).

If you search for the standard term you may miss them, so this is worth knowing before you start. The city runs 19 of these across a base of 13 districts.

The higher-population areas of Kugenuma, Tsujido and Fujisawa each have two. Branch offices cover the Zengyo, Rokue and Shonan-Oba districts. As in other cities, the center that handles your case is determined by your parent's home district.

Each center is staffed by a team that typically includes a senior care manager (主任ケアマネジャー), a certified social worker (社会福祉士) and a public health nurse (保健師). That mix is the point of these centers. A medical-leaning question, a benefits question and a care-coordination question can all be handled by the same office.

For most families the path is a call to the assigned ikiiki support center, an assessment and then a care-needs certification (要介護認定) to start services.

For a foreign family, the obstacle is the same as elsewhere in Kanagawa. The centers operate in Japanese, and the local naming alone can be confusing. Kanagawa Prefecture runs a foreign-resident consultation service in many languages including English for general orientation. It does not do care planning, and it will not know which of Fujisawa's centers covers your parent's street.

That is where JCC helps. We identify the correct ikiiki support center for your parent's Fujisawa address, prepare you for the assessment and translate what the team proposes and what it costs. If your parent lives in Fujisawa and you are overseas, the process can start online. In-person attendance is confirmed by scope and availability.

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Official local references

Local specifics on this page are drawn from official sources:

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