The Japan Sociological Society (JSS) celebrates its centennial in 2024, and Key Texts for Japanese Sociology (KTJS) was published to commemorate this milestone. Japanese sociology has evolved along a unique path. During its formative years after the Meiji Restoration, Japanese sociologists were eager to import Western sociology, such as Herbert Spencer’s theory of social evolution, to envision a new society. However, they encountered significant differences and discrepancies between the social realities observed in Japanese society and those described by Western sociology. For example, the functions and structures of traditional families in Japan differed from those proposed in Western models. Similarly, Japanese specialists argued that firms were an extension of Japanese families, a concept that Western sociology, with its assumptions about the modernity of firms, failed to explain.
Japanese sociology then began its intellectual struggle with Western sociology. Some Japanese sociologists attributed these differences to the 'premodernity' of Japanese society, implicitly assuming the universal applicability of Western sociology once Japan modernized. In contrast, other sociologists sought to modify and revise Western sociology to better describe and explain the social reality in Japan, arguing that Western models missed social mechanisms and factors unique to Japanese society.
This struggle has spanned various subfields in sociology, including family, firm, economy, village, city, and education, to name a few. In my field, social stratification, for example, Western models primarily focus on occupations as the main component, using occupational stratum or class for analyzing mobility. However, in Japan, the size of the firm also significantly influences social inequality, leading Japanese sociologists to develop a stratification model that includes both occupation and firm size to more accurately reflect social stratification in Japan.
I am confident that this struggle has substantially contributed to the unique evolution and enrichment of Japanese sociology over the past 100 years. Thus, it seems almost impossible to encapsulate its 100-year history for global readers in a single book. However, Dr. Hideo Nakazawa, the editor of KTJS, made every effort to achieve this. As the president of the JSS, I fully appreciate that he devoted all his energy and time to creating KTJS as an excellent introductory book that showcases the vibrant academic activities of Japanese sociologists to the world.
KTJS is divided into four parts. Part I explores how Japanese sociologists study social realities in contemporary Japan, such as immigrants and female workers with children. Part II covers high-level original sociological inquiries by Japanese sociologists who have grappled with social realities in Japan. Part III includes works on representative social surveys in Japan and institutions unique to Japanese society. Part IV showcases classical studies on postwar Japan by eminent Japanese sociologists.
I hope that KTJS will stimulate sociological dialogue between Japanese sociologists and their global counterparts, enhancing sociological exploration worldwide for the next 100 years.
