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This paper examines the practices of natural science researchers and the recognition authors receive in multi-authored papers at Japanese universities. The ' Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals: Writing and Editing for Biomedical Publication' by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, which sets global standards for authorship ethics in many natural science fields, notes problems in two areas in particular: with 'gift authors' (people who are indicated as authors, but who do not actually contribute to the work) and with 'ghost authors' (people, often students or researchers in lower positions, who are not properly represented in the paper even though they make essential contributions to it). We also note the recent complaints by junior researchers about these violations, which are claimed to be harassment or bullying using power differences. Our survey of researchers in natural sciences at 15 top Japanese universities shows that, despite the different specialized fields, few researchers actually meet the gold standard of authorship criteria of proper authorship and about half think that their violation might be condoned. The data are analyzed taking into consideration a particular local context. Through the exploratory research above, we speculate that most natural science researchers in Japan may be either confused about or struggle with the situation where the strict global criteria conflict with specific local cultures that often condone gift and ghost authorships. Those who are already socialized in such local cultures take unethical authorships for granted, while others view it as an intersection of harassment and misconduct. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tokyo, the capital city of Japan, has always been a center of national economic growth, and hence a focal point of political struggle between local and national government. There exist two kinds of political forces; the former desires strong concentration of economic activities in Tokyo based on market rationality and economic efficiency, and the latter counters the former claiming more decentralization based on the balanced national economic structure. This paper reviews the development of urban and regional policy in Japan over the last 20 years and examines how such political forces have played out. After the decade‐long sluggish economic performance and the challenge of inter‐urban competition by Asian mega‐cities, Tokyo Metropolitan Government formulated an aggressive promotional policy under the leadership of the then Governor Ishihara. He tactically created a political consensus to give locational favor to the central part of Tokyo at the expense of other regions. It was partially challenged by the election of the then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who insisted the need to revitalize the regions that were economically lagging. Despite his words, however, the centralization of Tokyo continued. This paper argues that the regional revitalization policy under the Abe administration was political rhetoric rather than reality, and Japan's economic fortune may still depend on the performance of Tokyo in the global economy under the neoliberal policy orientation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the importance of better recognizing and representing haafu students in Japanese education policies by using Fraser's tripartite theory of social justice. In today's transnational Japan, there has been a remarkable increase in the number of haafu, a term used in reference to children with Japanese and non‐Japanese parents. However, the educational experiences of haafu children have not been adequately investigated by researchers and the government for education policies. Central to these arguments are concerns that haafu children occupy a liminal space, and hence are potentially educationally "at risk." They are generally viewed as Japanese because of their nationality and are expected to perform like the majority of Japanese students with two Japanese parents due to their familiarity with Japanese culture. Yet, in practice there is a paradox that haafu students might be marginalized as a consequence of being viewed as not Japanese enough. In this context, how should public education respond to an increasingly culturally diverse student body? This paper argues why there is a need for public education, its policy and practices to more effectively recognize, represent and redistribute resources ‐ as Fraser frames the three dimensions of social justice ‐ in support of these students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When considering the trends in the Japanese sociology of education over the 70 years since the end of World War II, there have been several significant changes in the nature and social position of the sociology of education within the academic history of expansion and development. These changes can be further understood by focusing on: (i) the relationship between the sociology of education in Japan and research trends in Western sociology; (ii) the relationship between the sociology of education and pedagogy in Japan; and (iii) the relationship between the sociology of education and changes in Japanese society itself. This paper focuses on these three relationships to provide an overview of the characteristics and the future direction of post-war Japanese sociology of education. The keywords of this paper will be sociologization, pedagogization, resociologization, and the Galapagos syndrome. The post-war Japanese sociology of education has not suffered from the Galapagos syndrome. However, it is evident that it lacks transmission of research results to other countries. So, the future task for Japanese researchers in the sociology of education is to demonstrate the significance of their research on Japanese education to international sociology of education markets. To achieve a more generalized perspective and regain a sense of equilibrium within the Japanese sociology of education, a 'resociologization' will be required for the sociology of education in Japan, though the Japanese sociology of education especially seems to be experiencing a pedagogization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the experience of two severe disasters (the Hanshin Awaji Earthquake disaster of 1995 and the Great East Japan Earthquake disaster of 2011), I wish to consider 'subsistence' as human life, existence equaling the basic activities of life, an essential mutual act-like existence economy. In this paper, I pursue a positive development of 'disaster-time economics' as a research object under the larger framework of the formation of a 'moral economy,' as part of a critical process. In this paper, in order that a stricken area and society may aim at the realization of a new methodology about 'creative revival' for newly developing independent research involving the state of the revival fund of a wide sense is carried out. Nevertheless, there is an overall understanding of who, in what areas, and using what methodology, has conducted research in the restoration and revival process, as well as the weak points that tend to hinder the process. There is no research on the rationality and function of public finance expenditures or national sources expenditures. Therefore, in this paper, the term 'disaster-time economy' is newly prepared. From this concept, many activities of the project, service, support, self-efforts etc. of a social and private domain are grasped from a public sphere in connection with the process of maintenance/restoration under the disaster. The feature and subject point of the process are clarified. The market economy order that is going to be produced in this process does the basic work and determines the economic order for another self-subsistence over life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the way in which the anime industry has developed since the mid-1960s, by looking at transnational production systems and the international division of labor. First, it tries to demonstrate that anime, though seen both as a cultural product originating from Japan and as an export within the recent Cool Japan project promoted by the Japanese government, has, from the beginning of its history, been a very hybridized product due to the transnational production system, in particular among Japan, Korea and China. Second, the paper also shows how this transnational production system has led to the lasting poor labor conditions suffered by Japanese animators, one of the prototypes for freeters in the 1990s. Third, by examining the anime promotion policy led by the Chinese government, I would like to discuss the possible future of anime production systems in the age of digital production in Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines whether the Japanese youth labor market has become more unstable, particularly since the 1990s. To address this problem, I suggest that we consider the transition rate of job exit to be the benchmark of instability in the labor market and focus on workers’ career histories until they reach the age of 34 years. This paper presents six hypotheses that explain the instability of the youth labor market as follows: the total increase in the job-exit transition rate, the higher risk of job exit for provisional workers, the increase in the number of provisional workers, the increasing transition rate for provisional workers and stable regular workers, the impact of firm size, and the impact of the collapse of the bubble economy. I present the summary statistics of job exit rates and the results of the Cox partial likelihood estimation models. A conspicuous phenomenon of the 1990s entailed an increasing number of provisional workers who ran a higher risk of job exits compared to regular workers. However, the job exit transition rates are generally stable. Moreover, the transition rates for regular female workers have decreased since the 1980s due to the increasing realization of gender equality in society. Although partial likelihood estimation states that firm size and the type of officer concerned (public/private) had significant effects on the transition rates, their effect did not intensify after the collapse of the bubble economy. In sum, the evidence that the Japanese youth labor market changed in the 1990s is limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, Japanese researchers conducting social surveys encounter several difficulties such as restricted access to official registers and a decrease in current response rates. These researchers may expect these difficulties to be solved by the survey techniques or methods developed outside Japan, such as computer-assisted interviews (CAI) and Internet surveys. It is unclear whether the numerous technical differences between survey methodologies developed in Japan and elsewhere imply the backward-ness of Japan or cultural differences. This paper discusses the potential of various recent survey methods, focusing on the culture and paradigms in Japan and the UnitedStates. First, this paper presents an overview of survey techniques, such as computer-assisted personal interviewing, Internet surveys, and mixed modes. Second, it points out the fact that the existence of the registers and different survey concepts might have created the different survey paradigms. In addition, reference is made to the linguisticdifferences between the US and Japan. The results indicate that survey research is more dispersed in Japan than in the US and that survey research adapted to the uniqueness of Japanese culture is not accumulated sufficiently, although such an accumulation is required. Finally, it is stated that not only surveys, but also the concept of methodology, is not very popular in Japan. Furthermore, the development of survey research in the US is likely to be related to pragmatism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the possibility of the mixed-mode survey in Japan in order to ensure a wider range of respondents, focusing on the specific type of mixture that is designed to make contact with a respondent by more than one mode and in which a respondent can choose an alternative mode convenient for him or her. The dataset mainly used comes from the survey Study on the Social Composition of the Urban Local Community conducted in Shinagawa Ward of Tokyo in 1999. Three other studies are introduced for additional information. As an indicator of the effectiveness of a mixed-mode design, the response rates of four studies are examined and some improvement in the response rates is observed, compared to that of a single-mode design. Another indicator is the representativeness of a sample and it is evaluated using the data of the Shinagawa survey. When the discrepancy between valid respondents and the population on some demographic characteristics is regarded as representation bias, a mixed-mode design is found to reduce the bias. An inherent problem in a mixed-mode design is “mode effect.” In order to control for the mode effect in analyses, the inclusion of an additional variable indicating “mode” in the model is recommended. It is further suggested that the interaction effects between the “mode” and the respondents’ traits should be checked, on the assumption that the survey mode affects respondents differently. The attempts are made and discussed in this paper using two variables drawn from the Shinagawa survey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the development potential of rural and highly peripheral areas of Japan, focusing on local factors of development, together with local identity and cultural commodities, as these are incorporated into what has been called the culture economy. Based on a survey of informed local residents and another of local cultural commodities producers, the paper alludes to what constitutes a culture economy for rural settings and identifies several key aspects related to the process of such a cultural commodities-based approach to development. While confirming the importance of identity and cultural commodities in the local development profile of rural settings, the paper sets the groundwork for further research concerning the complex process for how such development can be achieved. The main themes identified for further research include both the nature and role of residents’ solidarity together with the combinative nature of government support and local entrepreneurship in the local culture economy on the one hand, and the character of the advertising and media representation by which cultural commodities are created and maintained on the other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there have been few studies on Yaeyama (the southern end of Ryukyu Archipelago) locals’ migration during the pre Asia-Pacific period, a significant number of people went from there to colonial Taiwan, in particular during the 1920s and 1930s. In this paper, I discuss why many locals of Yaeyama worked in colonial Taiwan by analysing narratives of former migrants in autobiographies and my own interview research. First, this paper demonstrates how Yaeyama locals’ attitudes to “work” and “occupation” were converted into more modern attitudes between the 1900s and the 1920s. Yaeyama locals often mention there being “no jobs” in their home islands, which justified their decision to go to Taiwan; but the discourse of “unemployment” should not be understood as a mere reflection of Yaeyama's economic condition, but also as a mark of change in people's attitude to the world. Since “work” and “occupation” are not just a matter of economic necessity, it could be said that Yaeyama locals searched for jobs in Taiwan not strictly in terms of economic profitability. Yaeyama locals went to colonial Taiwan, in search of “employment”; this action was closely associated with a financial motive, but it also implies development of self-worth as a social being. Although Yaeyama locals in Taiwan sometimes suffered ethnic discrimination from Japan proper, they were usually treated better than Taiwanese; Colonial Taiwan was an attractive destination to Yaeyama locals not only because Taiwan was more affluent and modernized, but also there were more opportunities for them to achieve social promotion in the context of the Japanese Empire. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To adequately approach the question of migrant women's citizenship claims, sociological studies of “family problems” of migrants need to be linked with theoretical discussions in feminist citizenship studies. This paper makes such an attempt by using “family” as a vantage point for understanding migrant women's location within the Japanese citizenship regime. I will tentatively use the concept of “citizenship regime” (J. Jenson) to designate a matrix of institutional rules and arrangements that regulate relations among different categories of citizens, as well as citizens and non-citizens. The aim of the paper is to show in what ways the dimension of “family” is constitutive of Japanese citizenship regime. “Family” will be approached in its aspect of empirical family situations on the one hand and on the other, in its aspect of legal and ideological construct that assures “intergenerational identities” of the nation. The paper will be divided into two parts. In the first section, I will examine the status of the two largest groups of migrant women (Filipinos and Nikkei Brazilians) within the citizenship regime, particularly in reference to labor and “family”. In the second half of the paper, drawing extensively on the findings of collaborative research conducted from 2001 to 2003, I will trace the endeavors of migrant women to enhance their autonomy through economic as well as associational activities. In conclusion, I shall discuss briefly the significance of these endeavors in relation to the transformative politics of Japanese women's citizenship in the last two decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Responding to the pressure of internal internationalization, some local communities and schools in Japan started to generate and practice a new philosophy known as "multicultural coexistence" (tabunka kyousei). Based on a long-term ethnographic research in one of the most progressive multicultural communities and elementary schools in Japan, this paper elucidates the shape of an emerging "multicultural coexistence" education model in Japan and provides some implications for its further development. By focusing on returnee and newcomer students enrolled, the paper argues the transformation of school culture, which will be delineated as an interaction among different agencies at the school: "the margin", "the top", "the outside" and "the inner core". From these ethnographic findings, the paper draws five main features of the emerging model--three that are positive and two that are potentially problematic: (1) community-based school reform movement, (2) teachers as decision makers, learners, and cooperators, (3) students' knowledge and experience as a shared resource, (4) country-oriented approach in difference/similarity framework, (5) treating all differences equally same. Referring to the critiques of multicultural education in the United States of America, the discussion suggests that the issue of social justice should be addressed more in the model by highlighting the issue of ethnicity in Japanese society. Changing teachers' attitudes toward such direction is vital and the paper proposes that coherent set of institutional changes, which centre around social justice, are necessary to raise teachers motivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to clarify why people continuously live in places where a specific natural disaster comes with apparent frequency. Even after a natural disaster of tremendous scale occurs, some victims attempt to remain or later return 'home' while inviting the risk of experiencing further catastrophe. Why do people opt to continuously live where they are prone to natural disasters instead of living at a distance from the coastline? Especially for those who have just experienced the tsunami; what motivates them to make the decision to go back to the coast? As the case study of a community in a fishing village indicates, people know that life near the coast is inevitably entwined with both the severity and fertility of the sea. In other words, what people know is that they cannot have one without the other. Both sides of the sea have conditioned the life of people and that is what they have adapted to. Because of their closeness to the sea, the fertility they have enjoyed and the vulnerability as a coastal community are inseparable for them. When the tsunami struck, they did not know how to save all members of the community, their homes, nor their ships. Whereas, they did know how they should adapt to the inherent instability of their coastal community and how they should revive the community. This process would unfold only after having an understanding of the way in which they needed to adapt to their local bay. As a coastal community they were ready to accept their vulnerability, even immediately after the destruction of the tsunami, as it was the condition in which to enjoy the fertility of the sea as their ancestors had done throughout history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents preliminary results of an analysis of trust in governmental institutions and social networks after the disaster of 11 March 2011, as well as an investigation of the implication of such trust resources for subjective well-being. Using data from a postal survey carried out in the Tōhoku and Kanto region in September 2011, differences in trust resources are explored by regional proximity to the disaster area as well as by personal affliction. Levels of social trust prove to be generally high, whilst trust in governmental institutions is low, especially when personally affected by the disaster. Trust resources are shown to contribute positively to subjective well-being and thus to constitute an important asset in the process of coping with disaster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to analyze representations of 'the West,''Japan,' and 'the Periphery' in the discourse of research on Lafcadio Hearn ('Hearn studies') from pre-war Japan. The nature and construction of nationality will be analyzed by examining where the representations of 'the West,''Japan,' and 'the Periphery' intersected. During the 1900s, researchers in the field of Hearn studies recognized that 'Japan' lacked-and thus sought-a universality similar to what existed in 'the West.' The tone of the discourse shifted during the 1910s through 1920s however, and what came to be emphasized was 'Japan's' peculiarity. By the 1930s through 1940s, 'Japan' aimed to show to 'the West' a new universality that was different from what existed in Europe and America. Yet simultaneously, in order to legitimize its representation of its self, 'Japan' portrayed 'the Periphery' as an object that was both excluded and absorbed or appropriated into that image. On the one hand, 'Japan' received and internalized the Orientalist viewpoint of 'the West.' In fact, 'Japan' was always conscious of its self-image as something to display to 'the West.' On the other hand, in order to create that self-portrayal, both a representation of 'the Periphery' and a reflection from that same 'Periphery' were essential. While representations of 'Japan' were produced, reproduced, and reinforced through interactions with 'the West' and 'the Periphery,' the intersecting behavior of these three entities also points to a residual ambiguity in 'Japan's' nationality. By analyzing the discourse in Hearn studies, this paper reveals how the interaction between 'Japan' and the two others of 'the West' and 'the Periphery' helped construct and destabilize its nationality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How are multiple identities of Japanese people rank-ordered? Previous studies on multiple identities almost exclusively focus on people in the USA. Little is known about the structure of multiple identities of people living in other countries. Japan is a good comparative case because it has both similar and different social contexts than the USA. Analyzing a recent survey of a nationally representative sample of Japanese adults, I examine how multiple identities are rank-ordered by their salience among the Japanese. The results suggest that among ten identities, the most salient are the family-marital status identity, the occupational identity, and the national identity, while the least salient identities are social class, religious, and political identities. This identity rank-order differs from that found in a comparable study of Americans in that the rank-orders of national and religious identities are reversed. The observed patterns also seem to contradict an emerging line of cross-cultural research that suggests national identity is less important for the Japanese than for Americans. Overall, this paper empirically demonstrates the fundamental dictum of symbolic interactionism that self reflects society, and suggests the importance of specifying and examining country-level factors to study identity structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper outlines the life and academic accomplishments of the largely internationally unknown but foremost innovative and leading sociologist of Japan considered as the 'unknown master' of Japanese sociology, Tamito Yoshida. (i) Emphasizing originality and creativity, Yoshida's success was free from the existing sociological frameworks and he liberated theoretical study from the yoke of historical perspectives that had long governed Japanese theoretical sociology. (ii) Yoshida's uniform scientific approach that used the keywords of information, selection, and variation based on evolutionist ideas was consistent throughout his life from proposing the 'design of information science' in his mid-thirties to proposing the concept of 'program sciences' in his later years. (iii) One of Yoshida's major sociological contributions was in identifying the close relationship between subjectivity and the structure of possession. (iv) Yoshida's 'A Historical Perspective on the Forces and Relations of Production' is an original and critical re-creation of the Marxist possession theory located within his own theoretical framework, and is an excellent critique of the central arguments of Marxism. It successfully illustrates Yoshida's superlative critical and creative skills of theoretical dialogue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Professional socialization and training, informal peer influence, and professional norms and sanctions were once regarded as effective tools in the social control of medicine. However, these intraprofessional controls over medicine have come to be seen as ineffective and new extraprofessional controls have been considered requisite for several decades. In this paper, I focus on the historical development of governmental controls over biomedical research in Japan. A general characteristic of Japanese regulations is the existence of numerous subdivided guidelines and laws. This situation was prompted by the governmental response to bioethical issues on a case-by-case basis. While this response has advantages in speed and flexibility, it also has disadvantages in that it lacks consistency, and frequent revisions lead to complicated provisions that cannot be understood by researchers. Another feature of the Japanese situation is excessive reliance on non-binding guidelines published by various administrative agencies. One reason for the government to rely on these guidelines is that they are formally non-binding but regarded as 'effective' measures because regulated parties perceive them as having binding power. Indeed, some guidelines have their own sanctions against researchers or institutions, which include public announcement of the names of violators. However, if this measure is actually taken without basis in the law, it can be illegal. In this case, Japanese experiences show that excessive reliance on 'soft' regulations can lead to paradoxical situations concerning social control of biomedical research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the two characteristics of the way the issue of euthanasia/death with dignity has been discussed in Japan, compared with the situation in Europe and the USA. The two characteristics are: (i) that the concept of 'euthanasia' is sharply distinguished from that of 'death with dignity' in Japan in that the former only refers to the killing of a patient by administration of a lethal drug while the latter refers to letting a patient die by withholding or withdrawing life-prolonging medical treatments; and (ii) that the view that it is sinful to commit suicide is not as common in Japan as it is in the West. In order to clarify these characteristics, I examine the nature of suicide and murder in relation to the issue of euthanasia and death with dignity while briefly reviewing the history of the debates in Japan in order to see how the characteristic understanding of 'death with dignity' has generated. I also clarify, by giving examples, the structure of those narratives with regards to the 'good manner of dying,' which excludes from society the elderly and people with incurable diseases and ones with motor and intellectual disabilities. In the end, I describe how biopolitics functions in the current Japanese situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global criticism of organ trafficking and transplant tourism requires many countries to pursue legal protection of living organ donors for organ transplantation. Japan is one of the criticized countries: more than 26 000 people have become living organ donors. This paper presents an exploration of living liver transplantation in Japan from legal, social and ethical perspectives. Since the first living liver transplantation in 1989, the cases have increased, with extremely high dependency in spite of a few deaths and cases of severe disability. Government and professional guidelines stipulate that living donors be 'relatives' so that living organ transplantation can be privatized and regarded as a family issue, although it is strictly limited to altruistic cases in some countries. Based on results of the Living Liver Donor Survey conducted in 2004, Japanese liver donors have had various experiences. Most male donors were employed, felt some obligation and had concerns about financial effects or employment during decision-making. In contrast, only a quarter of female donors were employed, felt guilty for their children, and did not have opportunities for regular health checkups after donation. Severe tensions and family break-up were observed in adult-to-adult cases, although donors were satisfied with donation overall. The author suggests that we should rethink privatization of living organ donation and that independent advocates should support potential donors. Further research is necessary to explore the reasons why organ donation is privatized even in some forms of cadaver cases in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to present and discuss social change and social policy in Japan after the mid-20th century from a sociological viewpoint. Japanese social change and social policy from the mid-20th century onward can be categorized into three models in chronological order: escape from mass poverty by means of industrialization, improvement of the social security system to establish a welfare state, and parallel progress of aspiration for a welfare society and workfare. Defined concretely, these are (1) the period that established and improved social security, which started immediately after the end of World War II and ended in 1973, when Japan began to suffer from low growth after enjoying high growth; (2) the period in which finance for social security was adjusted, halfway through which the country experienced a bubble economy; and (3) the period after the 1990s, in which the structural reform of social security went hand-in-hand with labor policy and the advent of globalization. In each of the three periods, the direction of social policy was affected by factors that caused changes in such areas as industrial structure (the decline of agriculture), demographic structure (an aging society), and family structure and work pattern (the growing trend of nuclear families, single-person households, and irregular employment). In Japan, life security now attracts increasing attention, and employment security rather than social security has been the central issue. As it is greatly affected by globalization, employment security grows less conspicuous and makes the vulnerability of social security grow more conspicuous. Social policy has the potential to become an area with which to struggle for national integration and fissures between social groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on childlessness in Germany and Japan and its sociological meanings in family formation in postmodern societies. First, it shows the trends of fertility decline and increasing childlessness, and clarifies the similarities and differences in both countries, by comparing parity composition, educational attainment, and other socioeconomic correlates of childlessness. Second, using the data of attitudinal surveys, such as the 2003 Population Policy Acceptance Study (PPAS) in Germany and the 13th National Fertility Survey (JNFS; 2005) in Japan, the reasons for having no children are observed. Third, referring to the discussions of German scholars, it tries to explain the sociological meanings of childlessness and to describe the development toward a childless society (even if it's demographically not sustainable) as one of the possible consequences of the Second Demographic Transition. Important findings are as follows: (1) In Germany the fertility decline began early in the mid-1960s but in Japan later from mid-1970s so that the increase of childlessness has been a little delayed. The proportion of childless women in Western Germany increased to 28% for the 1967 cohort. In Japan, it has increased to 12.7% for the 1960 cohort, but is expected to reach 30% for the 1970 cohort. (2) The educational gap in childlessness is clearly observed in Germany; however, this is not so simple in Japan. Corresponding with the increase of childlessness, the desired number of children in average is declining. The emergence of a child-free culture is observed in Germany by PPAS, but not yet in Japan by JNFS. (3) Polarization may proceed further in both countries, between childless people and people with many children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we look at the history of social survey development in Japanese sociology. First, the history of social research in Japan before World War II is explored. Second, the introduction of survey research to Japan during the American occupation after World War II is examined, and third, the present state and roles of social survey research in Japanese sociology is discussed. Social research was introduced as an administrative tool for the government. Sociology and social research were developed under British empiricism and American pragmatism, but Japanese academia has been based on a metaphysical approach. Social research introduced as a practical tool long had difficulty in being accepted by Japanese academia. For this reason, most sociologists in universities did not use social survey research for practical purposes, but pursued qualitative methodologies for analyzing data to gain academic prestige even after Social Stratification and Mobility (SSM) and Sabro Yasuda's research projects spread social survey methods in the field of Japanese sociology. Such academics did not think that findings acquired through qualitative case studies had to be confirmed through quantitative data to serve a practical purpose, nor did they believe that quantitative data could be better understood when examined along side qualitative data. Social survey methods have been opposed by those who have favored case-study analysis methods in Japanese sociology. Needless to say, this opposition is fruitless. I propose that professional sociologists in Japanese universities should use social survey research for practical problems more frequently. This is the best way to establish sociology and social research as a science in Japanese society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sociologists in Japan recognize that the circumstances under which social survey research is conducted have been deteriorating and have become critical since 2000. Social survey research is understood as a large-scale survey that mainly draws samples by a random sampling method, using a questionnaire as a measurement tool. The crises of social survey research are summarized as following: (1) the increasing difficulty of conducting accurate sampling and (2) the decline in response rates to drawn samples (planned samples). This paper focuses on the decline in response rates to social survyes by examining recent trends in relation to social surveys conducted by the Japanese government and local government (prefectures). In summary, there has been a landslidedecline of the response rate between 2005 and 2006 in surveys conducted by Japanese government. This decline was thought to mainly come from the declining of response rates among the elderly and women, groups that had previously had high response rates. This seems to be the result of the growing level of the crime involving the abuse of the personal information. However, there did not appear to be a serious decline in the response rate for surveys conducted by local governments. Given that it is not easy to restore response rates, it is important to develop research methods and techniques to cope with the decline. Further, informing respondents of the purpose of the research and its benefit to may help raise response rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Niigata Minamata disease is the result of environmental pollution. In the present paper I discuss the activities conducted thus far by victims (uncertified patients) of Niigata Minamata disease to receive the necessary physical and medical examinations, as well as requests for administrative appeal. Such activities, stemming primarily from efforts being made in Sentoji of Yasuda Town (Agano City at present), have had relevance in the lawsuits of uncertified patients of Minamata disease. Those who participated in these activities, even those who are not plaintiffs in the corresponding court cases, were able to receive a set amount of financial and medical support following a political settlement related to Minamata disease. As of 2005, the movement has been assisting people who visit the Agano River basin area to learn about Niigata Minamata disease, and approximately half of all victims manifesting symptoms of the disease have had some association with the Sentoji movement. I also examine how the activities being conducted in Sentoji have helped victims learn more about their own bodies, and how these activities have also helped people understand the significance of taking the initiative to become involved in such movements. And I examine how victims of the disease have received empowerment through victim movements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I examine river governance or river policy in Japan through the process of modernization over one century and analyze three hidden paradigms, “modern technicism”, “nature conservationism” and “life environmentalism”, with the theory of environmental value. Japanese rivers were governed traditionally by local people (life environmentalism) but the river management was put under the control of administration and the specialist (modern technicism) in the tide of modernization, and in order to confront this situation a new paradigm of “nature conservationism” was born. In the analysis of the stages of river policy development, the development of economic and political power will be traced according to an environmental sociology point of view. This means analyzing people's initiatives resulting from their recognition and value in the political and economical arena. Structuring of river governance through the interactive process of “government and self-government” is also analyzed by putting an emphasis on local residents as a political body and second, I will describe the theoretical direction of environmental sociology. Lake Biwa and The Yodo River Basin system, which have historical importance in Japanese river policy, will be taken as an example. From the position of environmental sociology, river governance as an interactive process of “government and self-governance” based on independence of people, is one practical model that can give us important keys for the new river governance, transcending difference of social conditions. Consider learning the spirit of traditional communal structure as a process of practice for building a new communalism, life environmentalism model, which fits today's society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The subject of this paper is to describe the complexity of relations between man and wild monkeys, which causes difficulties in forming a social consensus related to their conservation and management. To present how the relations are in everyday life, and how they are simplified in universal discursive spaces, interviews and a questionnaire survey have been conducted. As a result, it is clarified that there are three kinds of discursive spaces, that of politics, natural science, and residents. People who share the land with wild monkeys have various terms and stories about their relations with monkeys. The monkeys have various values in the discourse of residents, including many troubles. The existence of monkeys is vivid and close, and can be described as “accessible” nature. However, in discussion of politics or natural sciences, there is less diversity in monkeys’ values. In these discursive spaces, monkeys are described simply in the framework of “distant” nature, and wild monkey issues are constructed as a “pest animal issue”. The simplified protocol between accessible and distant nature makes the wild monkey issues simple. And the attitudes of residents are shown as controversial through the contradiction between simple-complex issues. In conclusion, this contradiction cannot be solved only by filling the gap between accessible and distant nature with social consensus, but also by connecting the two and enhancing the dynamism of society as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japan has undergone drastic changes in ecological policy and practice over the past 40 years. Although this short history began with significant levels of pollution, notoriously termed “kogai”, the country seems to have achieved great ecological improvements, both technologically and institutionally, and now is one of the most highly ecologically modernized countries. But can this process really be posited as a simple, linear one of ecological modernization, a sort of natural, historical progress toward ideal environmental governance? This paper proposes some questions that cast doubt over this view. It focuses on local struggles for environmental governance, particularly in the city of Kamakura, which proclaimed itself an “environmental municipality” in 1993, a designation that seemingly fell by the wayside in 2001. Investigating this 8-year case we can extract some lessons concerning the contradictions between global and local, and consequently about the inherent difficulties of top-down environmental ordinances and insufficiently decentralized environmental governance. At the same time, through this case readers may also discover a new type of civic activity: cities with agriculture. After a short sketch of agri-environmental movements, I will suggest that such movements are converging with more conventional ones and prevailing throughout the country. Therefore, the ecological modernization process can be seen to include a sort of restoration process: an updated return to perma-cultural sustainability. Consequently, this essay contributes to international environmental discussion, not only by uncovering the cleavages between global and local, but also by suggesting the possibility of environmental governance alternative to technologically and institutionally driven ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the ways in which the department store has become a key site for the constitution of Japanese modernity through the introduction of images and goods taken from the West, along with the emphasis on “Western design” and “Western taste”. These new consumer spaces have become aestheticized in various ways so that we can speak of an “aestheticization” of everyday life. Yet this was also a modernizing learning process for Japanese consumers, hence a key problem was how these new experiences were to be classified and ordered into a relatively stable habitus. The rise of the department store has had an important mediating function here. Department stores not only provided new goods along with interpretations of how to use them, but also acted as theatres, as rehearsal spaces, with front and back stage areas where one can watch the performance, try out for oneself new roles. This is especially the case for women in the city, who were able to explore a new identity space with a new set of competence experiences and pleasures. In this process, the department store also provided a form of women's public sphere where they could enjoy shopping, entertainment and learning opportunities. Department stores encouraged not only a sense of luxury and theatrical settings, but also help to teach women how to assemble new tastes and styles into their lifestyle. In addition, it should be emphasized that in the Japanese case, department stores also played an important role not just as a new cultural initiative on the part of the businessmen and cultural intermediaries who invented consumer culture, but also as a political initiative on the part of the government who sought to link them to the reform of everyday life and the production of good Japanese citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The social and political environments surrounding patient-physician relationship have been changing in Japan for the last few decades. This paper aims to illustrate social and cultural factors that underlie current situations and problems of patient-physician relationship in Japan through a comparison with those in western countries, and to consider how mutual participation model of patient-physician relationship could be applied and fostered in Japan as well as other Asian cultures. Four major sociocultural factors are discussed in relation to the patient-physician relationship in Japan: (1) individualism versus collectivism; (2) low context versus high context; (3) femininity versus masculinity; and (4) Christianity versus Confucianism. Two key issues in discussing the mutual participation model of patient-physician relationship in Japan have emerged; the family and the communication style. The patient autonomy in Japan should be considered within the context of the triadic relationship of patient, family, and physician. Also, since the communication style might differ between Japan and western countries, communication training programs and interventions for medical professionals as well as for patients should be tailored in a culturally appropriate way in order to improve the communication in medical encounters and to achieve the mutual participation. Beyond mere advocacy of the patient autonomy, the mutual participation model of patient-physician relationship should be pursued within our social and cultural context to be truly fruitful for patients and physicians in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper, by analyzing Internet usage via mobile phones in Japan, aims to clarify an aspect of information behavior in present-day Japanese society. Many discourses on the mobile Internet in Japan, either positive or negative, emphasize its novelty and describe this new media as an exotic phenomenon. These discourses can be divided into two categories. The nationalistic discourses and the moral panic discourses. Both types of discourse have built certain images of social influences of the mobile Internet in the future. However, it would be unwise to conclude that those images of the mobile Internet express the reality of this new medium, simply because they lack empirical ground. With these points in mind, based on the result of our national survey conducted in 2001, we would like to show the actual status of use of the mobile Internet and discuss that the ordinary usage is a critically important realm to understand the process of social reception of the mobile Internet. As our data shows, although the actual usage of the mobile Internet is not very conspicuous, it gives us a chance to understand how the mobile Internet has been integrated into our everyday lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the life world and ethnic identity of Vietnamese residents who entered and settled in Australia and Japan as refugees after the end of the Vietnam War. It focuses on how social and cultural conditions in the host countries and global influences affect the lives of overseas Vietnamese and consequently transform their ethnic identities. Through this comparative research study conducted in Australia and Japan, I have focussed on Vietnamese religion, social networks, perceptions of the homeland and the host country, notions of Vietnamese identity between generations, and images of Vietnamese in the media of the host country. I explore the features of each host society in accepting refugees and also the commonalities and differences in how the overseas Vietnamese construct their life world and ethnic identity, l also discuss the "location of Vietnamese identities" in Australia and Japan. I will also rethink the meaning of "settlement" and "crossing borders" related to the politics of Vietnamese identities that confirm the importance of investigating the effects of displacement on the life of the Vietnamese diaspora in contemporary world context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the late 1980s the Brazilian population in Japan has steadily increased, despite the long-term recession in the late 1990s. In this paper we will examine the mechanism of the constant increase of Brazilians in Japan, focusing on the institutional context of their incorporation into the Japanese labor market. On the demand side, Brazilians solved an acute labor shortage in the economic boom period, but long-term recession and casualization of the labor market made them compete with other peripheral workers such as Japanese women arid the aged. Thus Brazilians have been marginalized within the secondary labor market since the late 1990s. On the supply side, recruiting agencies and labor contractors established a "just-in-time" labor delivery system, which enabled "flexible staffing" in a highly fluctuating labor market. As a result, demand and supply for Brazilian workers is still on the increase. Working in Japan is getting less attractive for Japanese Brazilians but is more of a viable option for them, driving further migration from Brazil to Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extending the study of picture postcards beyond an analysis of their content demonstrates that changes in the material circumstances of the production of postcards, and the conceptual shifts that they catalyzed, fundamentally altered the visual field of late nineteenth–century Japan. Once the postal system began in Japan in 1870, government–issued prepaid postcards, and picture postcards collected and sent from other countries, did introduce the medium to a small degree. However, private production of picture postcards only started in 1900, when postcards to which stamps could be affixed were first allowed. Stores and periodicals first produced them as promotional gifts, opening an arena for print technology experiments. During this period, government–issued commemorative postcards officially encouraged soldier–civilian correspondence, sparking wartime collecting booms. Early postcards of “beauties”, bound by taboos against depicting ordinary women, featured only geisha; later ones depicted ordinary women, subsequently creating a constellation of national stars, setting the stage for later postcard–format bromide paper prints of movie stars’ photographic portraits. “Current–events postcards”, rather than prioritizing accuracy, served as commemorative memorials. However, it was the rise of photojournalism that rendered the genre obsolete. Railway travel, besides reconfiguring and expanding the landscape of tourist destinations, also shaped practices of communication, aided by the innovation of the fountain pen. Increased speed and mobility changed travellers’ ways of seeing in a manner that, like postcards, altered visuality and transformed notions of time and space. Ultimately, picture postcards simultaneously offered intimacy with and distance from the object of the scopophilic gaze of an expanding audience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper traces feminist studies in Japan on mass media texts and the audience’s readings since the 1970s in the historical and social context, and reviews them from a perspective of gender identity construction. The four studies referred to examine differences in text readings by audience, and some also explore the audience’s livelihood as a background. Methodologically, the studies qualitatively analyse populations consisting of people who have been identified as representative or typical of each audience, based on quantitative surveys. The readings made by audiences are defined by characteristics of Japanese society, historical background including media environment, and living situations. In the 1970s, home–oriented adult women found common values in television dramas and identified their way of living as “woman”. The studies conducted after the 1980s, on hero shows for children and on girl–oriented novels, suggest that media experience, with some momentum towards promoting changes of gender roles, still function dominantly in reproducing the existing gender system through construction of gender–specific identities. In the current era, new studies and activities of media literacy have emerged in order to raise audiences’ critical awareness of text readings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines dilemmas inherent in the pursuit of the modern ideology of “authentic self”, which first emerged in the 1960s and is now widespread in contemporary cultures. The ideology is exemplified, in a religious scene, as “self-transformative” religions wherein seekers seek to transform themselves spiritually in order to realize their authentic, or “sacred” selves. Through an examination of Aum Shinrikyo, which began as a typical “self-transformative” religion but later transformed into a destructive cult, I will explain the intrinsic moral imperatives of the ideology of “authenticity”. This study of Aum explores the introverted lifestyle and extreme desocialization, which resulted in obsession with the central guru, being legitimated by the ideology. This search for “authenticity” resulted in the members cutting themselves off from the reality of the world. The final analysis suggests that possible consequences of the endless pursuit of the “authentic self” are a “vacuum” self and a loss of empathy with other people. The ontological conditions created by this bring about potential destructiveness, either internal or external. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the globalization of the economy has accelerated in recent years, the Internet has become an essential part of the infrastructure, primarily as a communications medium. In the Information Age society, the ADC principle (autonomy, distribution, and collaboration) has become an underlying assumption, which also applies to the institution of education. The fading power of Japan may come from its educational system, which emphasizes standardization and uniformity, while discouraging creativity and individuality. Now is the time for Japan to reevaluate its educational system at every level so that it better supports the societal and business needs of the Information Age economy. Therefore, this paper proposes five kinds of changes to the Japanese educational system. They are community networks, digital kids and participatory education, growing up digital and youth education, online higher education, and media literacy education for the elderly. First, community networks provide citizens with better and more convenient access to local services, activities, and information. Second, the notion of the digital kid suggests that it should be participatory, including all members of the community. Third, as digital kids grow up digital using the Internet would enhance both intergenerational and intra-generational communication in the twenty-first century. Fourth, online higher education should become widely available in Japanese society in the twenty-first century. Fifth, although media literacy education for the elderly in Japan is yet to come to its maturity, senior network groups are beginning to receive wider attention as they will provide Japanese elderly with a new avenue for communication. When and only when these educational reforms are pursued, will Japanese people be able to participate effectively in the global society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to define the organizational characteristics of voluntary associations and grass-roots organizations (NPO) in Japan by a quantitative survey and by clarifying their organizational structures. First, with respect to formalization of the organization, it appears that the differences in the scale of the organization are greater than the fields and forms of the activities. If the scale is related to the degree of formalization, we can consider that the “invisibility” which describes the present situation of voluntary associations as a result of being small. However, if we look at the changes in the organizational structure and their activities, one will know such a result is not always true. Over 80% of the organizations have begun new activities. As the structures of the organizations change, we cannot conclude that the voluntary associations are merely immature. More likely, the action of the formalizing process depending on the organizational scale competes with the action of changing the definition of formalization. Second, when we analyzed the actual situation of the innovation, we discovered that the emergence of the new activities was related to whether and how strongly they related externally. Particularly, in the case of providing human and social welfare services, the stronger the relationship with the caretaker (client) is, the more new activities emerge. If so, this leads to the next hypothesis, that the origins of the innovation in these organizations are demanded by what the external relationship should be. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to clarify how Japanese rural families have continued and changed from a viewpoint of generational succession. The survey from which data was collected was conducted principally in Yamanashi prefecture, Japan. Three main points will be focussed on: members, property, and ideology. Almost 40% of family members surveyed continued to live together with their parents after marriage. However, they did not necessarily succeed the family farm. The ways in which they live together and farm their land have become more diverse. It is still very common for the entire family property to be inherited and succeeded by only one child in accordance with the Ie system. Despite the fact that family structure is changing greatly in present times, many farming families continue to adopt this system of inheritance. Ideologies concerning ceremonial matters and human relationships remain strong, but have weakened with regard to land inheritance. Our results suggest that the family's desire for succession was stronger in cases where multiple generations cohabited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is present the issues facing social research in Japan and how the Certification Board for Social Researcher is trying to address these issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]