Following Changes and Consistency of Japanese Families:
Message to World Sociologists from the Japan Society of Family
Sociology
Japan Society of Family Sociology
I.

The History and the Organization of Japan Society of Family Sociology (JSFS)
The Japan Society of Family Sociology (JSFS) was established in 1991, and is still relatively

new with a little over 20 years of history. However, family sociology research in Japan has the long
history since before World War II. Although there were no professional organizations in prewar days,
the Council on Family Relations（Kazoku Mondai Kenkyukai）was formed in the postwar year of
1955. Thus, we will explain the formation and history of JSFS based on the history of familysociology research in Japan including the prewar era.
The prewar family research was not limited to sociology, but was performed in themultidisciplinary form with folklore, anthropology, and economic history, among others. Moreover,the main themes of the family sociological research were the Japanese traditional family system "ie"and "douzoku" which is the union of "ie". The research of "ie" and "douzoku" has been conducted inrelation with the social structure of a village or the ethnic feature of Japan. The representatives ofsuch research are ARUGA Kizaemon and KITANO Seiichi. On the other hand, TODA Teizou, thefounder of family sociology in Japan, analyzed Japanese family structure quantitatively, using
sample data from Japan’s first national census (1920). Toda’s research led to postwar familysociology research.
Family research in Japan changed greatly after the Second World War. The study of traditionalfamily system of "ie" and "douzoku" which were the main stream of family research in prewar days
became the research subjects of rural sociology after the war. The family research of Toda which wasa minority in prewar days was inherited by KOYAMA Takashi, and made a fresh start as postwar
family sociology. In 1955, Koyama organized the Council on Family Relations which was the first
professional society in Japan. The main activities of this society included a monthly researchmeeting, and the administration of a cooperative family survey by its members. The results of thefirst cooperative survey were published in 1960 as A Study of the Contemporary Family: Reality andAdjustments. This highly esteemed work is considered as the monumental work that used the modelof postwar family research. The purpose of postwar family sociology which Koyama proposed was
the clarification of family changes accompanying the drastic social changes from the prewar to thepostwar periods, and the elucidation and solution of family problems which arose in connection withsuch family changes. The Council on Family Relations included interdisciplinary members in order
to find solutions to family problems. While attracting mostly family sociologists, members also
included the researchers of adjacent sciences, clinical investigators and staff members of Family
Court. Based on these activities, postwar family sociology grew steadily. In 1965, under theco-sponsorship with the Japan Sociological Society and Japanese National Commission for283

UNESCO, the 9th International Family Research Seminar, which featured many prominent familysociologists, was held in Tokyo, and selected Koyama as chairperson.
The 9th International Family Research Seminar led to creation of the Seminar of Family
Sociology which preceded the present JSFS and started in 1968. The founder of this seminar was
MORIOKA Kiyomi who served as the director of International Family Research Seminar under the
Chair Koyama. According to Morioka’s ideal, the participants in this seminar were restricted torelatively small-scale specialists, and the purpose of the seminar was to exchange research results
and information. Therefore, the large-scale organization was not formed; instead, an annual
professional overnight seminar was held. Moreover, the results of the seminar were publishedperiodically in serial form. This newly started seminar has contributed greatly to the development offamily sociology research since the 1970s. This development occurred during a time of rapid
economic growth which ended the period of postwar chaos, and the research concerns had also
shifted from the solution of family problems to the aspects of ordinary family. The participants inthis seminar were specialized in family sociology and this was a departure from the interdisciplinary
researchers of an adjacent science. In the 1970s, the Council on Family Relations also became more
active. Membership exceeded 200, and publication of the bulletin, Kazoku Kenkyuu Nempo (Annalsof Family Studies), for which members waited eagerly, also started in 1975. Thus, unprecedented
prosperity was seen in family sociology research against the background of high economic growth ofJapan in the 1970s.
The members of the Seminar of Family Sociology were motivated to form a larger scale
professional organization. These efforts became clearer in the 1980s. In 1988, 20 years after the first
seminar, it was decided to form the Society in 1991, three years after the initial decision. Moreover,in advance of the Society’s establishment, the Kazoku Shakaigaku Kenkyuu (Japanese Journal of
Family Sociology, JJFS) was started in 1989. The Society has held an annual convention since 1991,
and the 2013 conference was the 23rd convention. As of 2013, the Japanese Journal of Family
Sociology is publishing its 25th volume. Although one issue of the journal was published per year for
approximately the first ten years, it became a bi-annual publication from the 12th volume in 2000.
To sum up, the institutionalization of family sociology in postwar Japan started with anestablishment of the Council on Family Relations in 1955. In addition, the Seminar of Family
Sociology started in 1968. The prosperity of family sociology research in the 1970s became possible
because many researchers in family sociology participated in both of these two organizations. The
JSFS which consists of over 700 members is the largest professional society of family sociology inJapan, developed from the Seminar of Family Sociology as the predecessor in 1991. The Japan
Society of Family Sociology intends to guide and support family sociology in cooperation with theCouncil of Family Relations.

(IKEOKA Yoshitaka)

II. Current Research in Family Sociology
1. Current status of the Japan Society of Family Sociology
The Japan Society of Family Sociology has been one of the most active academic sociological284

societies in Japan. Major work of JSFS is the publication of the scholarly journal JJFS andsponsorship of annual meetings and other academic activities.
JSFS members have made public many academic products, ranging from journal articles,
paper presentations, books, book chapters and various academic reports. Not much seems to be
known in English-speaking countries about these scholarly publications because most of them are
written in Japanese. Because limitation of space does not allow us to give a comprehensive review,
we would like to introduce to the readers the characteristic trend of these academic products
focusing on the papers which appeared in JJFS1. The first part deals with research topics, and thesecond part with methodological issues.
Japanese families have undergone significant changes such as the delay in the timing ofmarriage, declining birth rate and rapid population aging during the last half of the twentieth century.
These changes appear to have influenced the research trend of Japanese family sociology. IKEOKA
Yoshitaka argued that these changes in families started in the 1970s, and that against this backdrop
Japanese family sociology experienced a “turning point” in the 1980s, when researchers began to
criticize the “nuclear family paradigm” (Ikeoka 2010). In a similar vein, in a recent review article on
the history of Japanese family sociology, OCHIAI Emiko pointed out that the 1980s marked the“paradigm shift” in the history of family sociology in Japan (Ochiai 2013). She argues that the newgeneration of family researchers, mainly prompted by gender studies and family historical studies,began to criticize the paradigm of modern nuclear family and to insist that we need to conceptualize“families” as networks of individuals interacting with macro-level factors such as social institutions.
According to Ochiai, many scholarly works based on this new paradigm appeared after the 1980s,
which “put the emphasis on individualism and diversity, and the interaction between the intimate andpublic spheres” (Ochiai 2013: 121).
What are the characteristics of the JSFS research trends after this “paradigm shift”? We selecttwo important research topics tackled by JSFS members, focusing mainly on the articles in JJFS.
The first topic to note is “care” and families. By the term “care” we refer to care for the frail elderly,
child care and care for adults with disabilities. Rapid population aging after the 1980s has resulted inhigher frequency and extended periods of caregiving between family members. Accordingly, familysociology in Japan has produced much empirical literature on how families manage the care for thefrail elderly. Social policies regarding “socialization” (Shakai-ka) of care for the frail elderly inJapan have made great advances in the 2000s, when mandatory “long-term care insurance” wasinitiated. This has changed the institutional context in which family care for the frail elderly isprovided. In a review article, IGUCHI Takashi noted that the literature on the elderly care in the past
two decades had begun to focus on how the individuals “choose” the arrangements of care (Iguchi2010). According to Iguchi, the “socialization” of care has shifted research topics to include thefields where members, other than families, play significant roles in the process of forming
arrangements of care. Sociologists who study social welfare and social policy now also play
important roles in this research area.
With regard to child care, with more women with infants entering the labor force, and withmore policy emphasis being given on curbing fertility decline, child care issues have attracted285

notable research interest among family sociologists in Japan. Work-family balance is a keyword inthis research area. Factors that are likely to facilitate fathers’ participation in child-care andhousehold labor have been widely researched and discussed. Research on the determinants of maritalsatisfaction has also paid attention to how fathers’ involvement in household labor and child careaffects marital quality.
The second topic chosen is concerned with family problems and family policies. Studies on“family problems” or “family pathology” have traditionally been important research areas inJapanese family sociology. According to SHIMIZU Shinji (1998) the 1970s and 1980s saw an
expansion of sociological research on family problems in Japan. Whereas Shimizu argued thatstudies on family problems seemed to be on the ebb in 1990s, YASUDA Tokio showed in his recent
review article that increasing number of articles appeared on JJFS after the late 1990s which dealt
with families with problems (Yasuda 2010). Yasuda stressed that in the 2000s research based on
qualitative methods seems to be increasing in number. Themes of articles which dealt with family
problems include domestic violence, truancy, drug abuse, and family suicide. As Ikeoka (2010)
argues, these studies appear to assume that these “problems” can be experienced by any family. At
the same time, the increasing economic instability of Japanese society indicates the need toaccumulate more research on how the changing economy and family problems intersect. Much
research has been conducted on the interrelationship between job insecurity and declining marital
rates among younger cohorts. As the family arrangements of the elderly continue to change, researchissues such as poverty and family life, and social exclusion and families will be of greater
importance in future research (featured articles in 2009 volume of JJFS dealt with social
stratification and families).
Family policy is another issue which has recently received increasing research attention.
Changing relationships between welfare states and families, and macro-level population changes
such as lowering birth rate and increasing population aging have led to increased research interest
into comparative studies of family policies. Increased interest in “care” may also have had a similareffect. Although papers directly analyzing family policies are relatively few in JJFS, research interestin family policy continues to be of significance in Japanese family sociology. It is worth noting thatfamily policy constitutes an interdisciplinary research issue in Japan. Scholars belonging to societies
such as Japan Welfare Sociology Association (Fukushi Shakai Gakkai, est. in 2003) and Society for
the Study of Social Policy (Shakai Seisaku Gakkai, est. in 1896) add important contributions in thisresearch area.
These two research topics obviously do not cover the wide ranging research conducted by
JSFS members. We were not able to mention empirical research targeting “ordinary” families, which
continues to take a great share. INABA Akihide showed that families composed of two adults andone or more children have been stable in their structure in the last decade, based on the analysis of
NFRJ data (mentioned in the next section) from 1998 through 2008 (Inaba 2011). Survey results onfamily values in Japan also seem to suggest that changes in attitudes toward families have been very
modest. Do these facts mean that the status of Japanese families is peculiar compared with otherdeveloped countries? We believe future research collaboration from comparative perspective by286

family scholars of Japan and other countries will be required in order to answer this question.
(TABUCHI Rokuro)
2. Methods and data
Methods used for sociological research of families in Japan are diversified. For example,
articles that appeared in the JJFS are based on studies ranging from empirical studies using
quantitative and qualitative approach, to theoretical discussion about the definition andproblematization of family that is based on classical sociological studies on families and family
institutions. Articles by family sociologists in other journals and books add more variety.
Reflecting increasing difficulties in accessing sampling frames such as a list of registeredvoters or residents because of privacy and cost issues, conducting quantitative research based on
random sampling has become more and more difficult for individual researchers and small researchgroups. While the proportion of empirical studies for family sociology in Japan is growing, thedifficulties in accessing sampling frames described above resulted in a relatively small increase ofquantitative studies (Yasuda 2010).
Public-use survey data and data archives as a platform for sharing those data have started tomeet the needs of access to national random samples for individual researchers.
Public-use (with approval) data sets that are used most frequently for sociological analysis ofJapanese families include National Family Research of Japan (NFRJ) and Japanese General Social
Survey (JGSS). Out of these two, NFRJ is more closely related to JSFS. The series of NFRJ surveys
has been planned and conducted by a group of researchers that comprise a committee within JSFS byreferring to National Survey of Families and Household conducted in the United States. NFRJ
includes cross-sectional surveys in 1998, 2003, and 2008, a retrospective survey with life course
questions and panel studies that follows the 2008 survey participants. On the other hand, JGSS,
which is modeled after GSS developed in the United States, is not specifically designed for family
research. However, since it contains many questions that can be used for family research, there aremany articles in family sociology using JGSS. Because of the large sample size, and the continuing
effort to promote the use of these data sets, in particular NFRJ, studies using multivariate models
have become more prevalent. While most of them use traditional models such as linear regression
using OLS estimates and factor analysis, some use other advanced models such as discrete-time andcontinuous-time event history analysis for panel or retrospective data and multi-level modeling forcomparative studies of micro samples in more than thirty countries.
Qualitative data sources include not only interviews, but documents such as diaries, court
records, obituary columns in the newspaper and articles in magazines for parents. These sources areused for qualitative approaches such as life history and discourse analysis as well as morequantitative approaches such as content analysis.
Comparative perspective also characterizes a significant proportion of the literature. While
research focusing on families in Western countries (including comparison with Japanese families)
still plays a significant part, there is an increasing number of papers and books with focus on
families in Asian countries. An international joint effort of research using quantitative surveys in287

China and Korea that is comparable to NFRJ is an important example of the growing field ofcomparative family sociology in Asian countries. There is also an increasing number of qualitative
studies that focus on families in Asian countries such as Taiwan and the Philippines. An increasing
number of paper presentations at annual meetings of JSFS by scholars and students from Asian
countries also reflect this growing interaction with these countries.
After the impact of the “paradigm shift” mentioned above, historical analysis has importancein the study of Japanese families. Although most of the historical studies are based on qualitative
approach, there is important contribution by quantitative analysis using the method of historicaldemography with the data sets drawing from population registers.
(NAKAZATO Hideki)
III. Our Messages to World Sociologists
Members of the JSFS are wide-ranging in terms of their research agenda and activities. It isthus difficult to send one message representing our entire membership. This section, therefore,
focuses on three areas in which our messages to world sociologists can be made; our responses to the
3.11 Great East Japan Earthquake, research agenda and practices, and the need for global
collaboration.
1. Our responses to the Great East Japan Earthquake
In September 2011, our President WATANABE Hideki sent a call to gather information
concerning research and other activities related to the Great East Japan Earthquake. Several
members responded to this call, and their activities ranged from visiting and helping residents in
temporary housing in the Tohoku region, organizing a symposium that focused on children andfamilies living near the nuclear disaster areas to collecting interview data from staff in nursery andchild support centers. In our Newsletter of May 2012, IWAI Noriko, a JSFS member, described
relief-related activities of other professional associations and the government as well as the researchconcerning energy conservation, and community and volunteer activities. During the annual
meetings in September 2012, a theme session entitled “Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake and Great East
Japan Earthquake, and Families: Concerning Reproduction” organized by TAMA Yasuko included
three papers that focused on pregnant mothers, midwives, health professionals, and community
support network in the aftermath of the earthquakes.
Despite our observations of how families have been greatly affected by the earthquakes andnuclear disaster, we feel that our research is still limited, and thus we need to continue to study
families in the Tohoku area in an attempt to bridge the gap between our research findings andassistance efforts. For example, more family sociological studies are sorely needed to identify theeffects of the human and structural losses on parents and children, and to examine the family
separation caused by nuclear disasters in Fukushima.

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2. Research and practiceDiversity in Japanese families and the tasks that we, family sociologists, face are described by
Watanabe (2013) in JJFS. In this essay, Watanabe emphasizes the importance of expanding (rather
than converging) our paradigms. He further states that our organization needs to provide a place forfacilitating the development of various new paradigms on families. This “expansion” approach toaccommodate the coexistence of various paradigms is one of the most important tasks we arecharged with in an ever-diversifying society and its families. This perspective also allows us toengage in fruitful dialogue over different research topics and methodologies.
As outlined in previous sections, recent research topics in Japanese family sociology are
diverse. The accumulation of research findings related to families is voluminous, but there is a needfor these findings to be translated into the practice, policy making and education. ISHII-KUNTZ
Masako (2013) stated the important role of “social engineers” who can make use of the researchfindings for helping families and children, and for creating family-friendly policies and workplaces.
There is also a need to globalize our research by disseminating our findings in English
language journals. Our members are engaged in the top quality family research, but as describedearlier, not much has been widely known outside of Japan primarily because these studies are
published only in Japanese. Our message, therefore, is that we will be making utmost efforts to be
active members of family research community at the global level by disseminating our researchfindings in English.
3. Global collaboration
Various attempts have been made to globalize our membership including inviting family
researchers from overseas to our symposium and international sessions at our annual meetings, andconducting information sessions at professional associations’ annual conferences in other countries.
We have also sponsored the speech by Dr. Rudolf RICHTER, the president of Research Committee
06 of the ISA during our annual conference in 2011, and co-sponsored presentations by noted U.S.
family sociologists, Ralph LaROSSA, and Katherine ALLEN in 2005 and 2008, respectively, andU.S.-Japan Stepfamily Conference in 2011. In collaboration with researchers from other countries,
we have also organized international sessions and roundtables in our annual conferences on thethemes of the immigration of families and children in the global era (2006), international
comparative research on home education (2007), families in East Asia (2008), and life course andsocial change in Asia (2009).
The back numbers of the bi-annual JJFS are available free of charge for one year after
publication, and the number of online accesses to JSFS’s English abstracts is increasing. Although
the society’s English homepage provides only a limited amount of information, we are in the processof providing more online information in English with the hope of increasing overseas membership.
One notable activity that our association sponsors is the collection of NFRJ data described in
the previous section. Although many large-scale data have been collected from Japanese families by
the government and other research projects, few of them have been made available to researchers. In
contrast to these data, the NFRJ data have been collected with a clear intent to be shared with289

researchers and students in and out of Japan. These data are now archived by the Center for Social
Research and Data Archives, Institute of Social Science, The University of Tokyo.
The main objectives of the NFRJ project are to gather nationwide random sampling data, andto make them available to researchers and students worldwide. The project maintains a homepage inEnglish

which

also

contains

questionnaires

and

data

usage

rules

in

English(http://nfrj.org/index-e.htm ). We want to emphasize that the requests to use these data from overseas
researchers are strongly encouraged.
Finally, we hope to convey our message about the JSFS members’ strong interests incollaborative research at the global level. We believe that this international collaboration will allow abetter understanding of how families and children are affected by various social institutions indifferent cultural and social settings. We believe that identifying similarities and differences between
and among countries will enable us to enrich the lives of families and children not only in Japan but
also in other countries. The 2014 ISA meetings in Yokohama will provide us with valuable
opportunities to expand our family research network at the global level.
(ISHII-KUNTZ Masako)
Note
1

JJFS was launched in 1989 and it has been the leading journal in the field of family sociology inJapan.
(https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/browse/jjoffamilysociology)

References
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wo meguru kenkyuu wo chuushin ni (Sociology of care and support and family
studies: Focusing on studies on socialization of care for the elderly)”. Kazoku

Shakaigaku Kenkyuu (Japanese Journal of Family Sociology). 22:165-176. [inJapanese]
Ikeoka Yoshitaka. 2010. “Sengo kazoku shakaigaku no tenkai to sono gendaiteki isou
(The progress in family sociology in the post-war era and its contemporary phases)”.

Kazoku Shakaigaku Kenkyuu (Japanese Journal of Family Sociology). 22:141-153.
[in Japanese]
Inaba Akihide. 2011. “NFRJ 98/03/08 kara mita nihon no kazoku no genjo to henka(Trends and future direction of the Japanese family analyses of NFRJ 98, 03, and08 data)”. Kazoku Shakaigaku Kenkyuu (Japanese Journal of Family Sociology).
23: 43-52. [in Japanese]
Ishii-Kuntz Masako. 2013. Ikumen Genshou no Shakaigaku (Sociology of child caringmen). Minerva. [in Japanese]
Ochiai Emiko. 2013. “Paradigm shifts in Japanese family sociology”. International

Journal of Japanese Sociology. 22:104-27.
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Shimizu Shinji. 1998. “Kazoku mondai, Kazoku byouri kenkyuu no kaiko to tenbou(Review of a quarter century of research in Japan on family problems and family
pathology)”. Kazoku Shakaigaku Kenkyuu (Japanese Journal of Family Sociology).
10: 31-83. [in Japanese]
Yasuda Tokio. 2010. “Houhou ron kara miru nihon no kazoku shakaigaku no hatten
shishin (Guidelines for advancing Japanese family sociology from methodologicalpoints of view: A quantitative researcher's propositions)”. Kazoku Shakaigaku

Kenkyuu (Japanese Journal of Family Sociology). 23:161-169. [in Japanese]
Watanabe Hideki. 2013. “Tayouka no jidai to kazoku shakaigaku: Tayousei womeguru gainen no saikentou (Diversity of families and family sociology in Japan)”.

Kazoku Shakaigaku Kenkyuu (Japanese Journal of Family Sociology). 25: 7-16.[inJapanese]

Contact Information
Japan Society of Family Sociology Office358-5, Yamabuki-cho
Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-0801,
Japan
http://www.wdc-jp.com/jsfs/index_e.html

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