Discussions of diversity and family life-style are closely linked to the social process in which the dominant family pattern has gradually been replaced by an expansion of culturally diverse family structures. The discussion of family and culture, however, has been likely to be based more or less upon a generalization of a particular family life-style which covers the society as a whole. These two different discussions can be integrated through social stratification theory. Socio-economic variables are keys to understanding both the relationship between the family and the external social system, as well as the individuals who support certain family cultures or subcultures.
While the personal concerns reflecting our own private life definitely place in the core of our family studies, we should pay more attention to the influence from the external world such as the social stratification variable when discussing issues of the current family life-style.

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This paper discusses connections between traditional family systems and institutional organizations in three East Asian societies. As many “ie-soiety” theorists have noted, the family unit in Japan served as a structural model for various institutions, most notably business corporations, during the early period of modernization in Japan. The ie (stem family) system, which emphasized continuity and seniority, but allowed for a flexible system of adoption, provided businesses with a structure that maintained a high level of integrity among its employees based on a system of seniority.
Similar trends can be observed in both China and Korea. The preponderance of small businesses typical to Taiwan and Chinese diaspora stem from the traditional Chinese family system, which placed less emphasis on seniority among brothers. Likewise, Korean chaebolscan be traced to the Korean family system, which placed a higher priority on blood relationships than the Japanese family system, and a greater emphasis on seniority than the Chinese family system.

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This study shows that women play an important role in the cultural reproductive process of the family. Using survey samples from Kobe, Japan, I explore how cultural capital is inherited from generation to generation by the family. Results are as follows. The level of cultural capital inherited during childhood is strongly correlated with the mother' s level of education rather than that of the father. In particular, cultural capital inherited during childhood tended to increase women's education level, and enables them to convert to the higher economic status of the families into which they marry. A significant class differential in cultural perceptions was also noted. Individuals with high social status evaluated various cultural activities according to a wide scale of prestige ratings, positively distinguishing high culture from popular culture. Those with lower social status discerned the same activities by a much narrower scale. Perception of cultural activities and the sense of distinction are culturally-based abilities. The effect intergenerational social mobility had on these abilities differed by gender. Men's cultural perception was determined by current occupational status, and not by family background. Upward social mobility proved to acculturate women to the same level as those from high social status backgrounds. However, women with downward social mobility did not lose their former sense of perception and distinction.

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To what extent do the Japanese recognize the transmission of value consciousness which occurs within the family? Do they recognize the influence of parents' to a greater extent than Americans do? This issue is explored through survey data from a sample of 1764 Japanese and 1500 Americans chosen by a random sampling method in both countries. Factor analysis was used to identify four commonly shared dimensions of value consciousness. The structure of transmission from parents was resulted in one dimension in both countries.
Results suggest that the Japanese respondents have a low level of transmission of value consciousness, if any at all, with the main route of transmission being covert (acquired through observation) rather than overt (verbally taught). The American respondents tended to put higher importance on parental influence than did their Japanese counterparts, and showed a higher inclination to influence their children during their educational years.
Japanese respondents felt less responsible for transmitting social values to younger generations than did the American respondents. This low level of transmission of value consciousness among the Japanese may have allowed for the difference in the perception of value consciousness between generations, and could also have widened it.

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This paper develops a theoretical model to measure marital power in present Japanese society. The Authority Model, which many Japanese researchers use, may be valid in cases when one spouse is socially assigned more authority over the other. In current Japanese society, however, husbands and wives have come to be assigned authority evenly. It therefore seems more appropriate to discuss power in terms of control of negotiations. While 1995 research data from the Hyogo Prefectural Research Institute of Family Issues reveal the limitations of the authority approach, they do not specifically address the approach of discussing power by measuring control in negotiations.
These results suggest that it is no longer possible to explain marital power through the decision-making process alone. Rather, it would be more valid to note how much one spouse' s preferences about his or her marital relationship in decision-making situations were realized over that of the other spouse in actual decision-making situations. With this approach, it would be necessary to follow-up on the bargaining process between spouses during decision-making, clarifying the preferences of each spouse, and seeing which spouse is able to realize preference.

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This paper investigates determinants of wives' perceptions of equity in the division of household labor in Japan. Running a regression analysis on data from 253 female respondents clarified the following five points. First, the greater the husband' s actual contributions to housework were, the less likely the wife was to see housework as unfairly divided. Second, the demand of housework as represented by the number of children, and the wife's human capital to conduct household labor also determined the sense of justice in the division of labor. Third, more egalitarian-minded wife tended to see her existing arrangement as unfair. Fourth, woman with less power in relation to her husband was less likely to view a given division of housework as fair, while woman who held more power evaluated the same division as unfair. Finally, the higher the husband's socio-economic status was, the less likely the wife was to see housework as unfair.

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Many studies on “Family Care and Stress” have been published in recent years using conceptual frameworks based on Lazarus' “Stress Coping Model”. This body of data makes it possible for us to understand family care and stress in some detail, but the conceptual problems have yet to be adequately addressed.
This paper reviews previous studies on family care and stress research. Key points to help refine the conceptual framework in future research are indicated.

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More people are choosing to remain single in Japan. Possible factors for this phenomenon may be sociological, demographic, or psychological in nature. This article reviews studies which explore these multiple factors. It is suggested that there is a need for greater clarification of factors as well as for an integration of research findings if we are to understand the reasons behind the changing situation of marriage in Japan.

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