The rationale for the existence of home economics in Japan's school education today is under question. The essence of that issue lies in the relationship between formal home economics education and the fostering in children of a consciousness about being a member of a family and the recognition of living a family lifestyle in both formal and informal ways outside the formal school curriculum (in particular, "Period for Integrated Study" as established by recent educational reforms), as well as in the home and in society generally. In addition, the issue lies in whether home economics can express can express its own originality and its own rationale of being as opposed to such forms of education. This thesis aims to respond to that issue, by taking up a comparative examination of theories related to the fostering in children of a consciousness as being family members by comparing "Home economics based on the Japanese course of study formulated in 1989" and the United States of America "Teen Guide (Sixth Ed.)", which are documents that indicate a contrasting relationship and a way to proceed in the future. In the first report, we carried out an analysis on the report "Home economics based on the Japanese course of study formulated in 1989", and we found that the attitudes and methods used in the aim to form a family lifestyle recognition and a consciousness of family structure were essentially the same as those found in formal and informal education in areas outside formal education curriculum, and in the family and in society.

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Based on the concerns described on the first report, in the second report, we carried out an analysis of the United States of America "teen Guide (Sixth Ed.)", in which it was revealed that the recognition of living a family lifestyle aimed at that formation was of a different character from that formed in formal and informal education in areas outside formal education curriculum, and in the family and in society.

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In the third report, as a result of our comparative analysis of the results of the analysis of the United States of America "Teen Guide (Sixth Ed.)" in the second report and with the results of the analysis of the "Home economics based on Japanese course of study formulated in 1989" in the first report, it was found that, as indicated in the Teen Guide, home economics in "education toward the fostering of a consciousness as a family member" indicated that (1) the fostering of self-consciousness and attitude in children as being members of a family is entrusted to education outside the formal education curriculum, to the family and to the society, and that the role of home economics education should be limited to scientific research and scientific consciousness of home lifestyles based on the study called home economics ; (2) and if it is not a curriculum aiming at the formation of guardians responsible for managing the lives of children, or in other words, if it is not "Science of Living as School Subjects", there would be no rationale for including home economics in the school education curriculum.

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We tried to make a teaching plan to form future oriented torchbearers of dietary culture. Then we found out a dietary culture created with the future in mind, about wieners. We examined the wieners by interviewing makers, distributors, and cooperative societies, and by surveying literatures. The findings were as follows : At the beginning of 1970', wiener sausages without nitrous acid were made by the medium makers, and supplied by the cooperative society. The same tendency was found in Kumamoto. In March 1995, its wieners that were made by the major makers were sold at the market. The makers said that its wieners came onto the market as an answer to the request of consumers who desired to reduce food additives. In July 1997, its wieners came onto the market by the medium distributors. The distributors said that its wieners were made by the medium makers in answer to the request of the small distributors who desired better quality of wieners than that of the major's making. 4. We think that this is a future oriented dietary culture about wieners, because its culture was formed through the process of solving the problem, which exists in the present dietary culture.

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