This article focuses on the production of knowledge regarding the differences between the Japanese and Koreans during Korea's colonization by the Japanese Empire. The information used to identify Koreans as having distinct physical and cultural characteristics was generated for anthropological purposes, specifically to determine the racial origin of the Japanese, and for practical applications in implementing colonial policies on the Korean Peninsula. Korean laborers and their families in Japan faced ethnic discrimination and endured poor working and housing conditions in large cities. Additionally, municipal governments labeled Korean communities as an urban issue requiring resolution by the government. Whenever the distinction between the Japanese and Koreans became blurred, justifications for colonization emerged, ethnic markers were maintained, or Koreans were lumped together with other groups deemed hazardous, so that the differences between the Japanese and Koreans survived.

In recent years, there has been a growing focus on the relationship between transgender and sports. Specifically, there has been increasing criticism of transgender women participating in women's sports, leading several international governing bodies such as World Athletics to effectively exclude transgender individuals. In the United States, numerous laws have been passed since 2020 that effectively exclude transgender athletes from interscholastic athletic activities, placing transgender sports participation rights in crisis. Protecting women's sports is often cited as a reason for transgender exclusion; however, the logic and systems behind transgender exclusion mirror those of gender discrimination. This study begins by examining the history of sex control systems in sports. It then examines the logic and systems of transgender exclusion in sports, focusing on the rapid spread of so-called ‘anti-trans laws’ in the United States since 2020, and aims to examine the relationship between transgender exclusion and gender discrimination. Furthermore, this study considers the issue of excluding transgender children and youths from school sports, which are provided as part of their education.

With the growing attention to intersectionality as a key concept in discussions on structured discrimination, there appears to be confusion about its purpose and application. Questions arise about whether this concept should be operationalized through interaction effects in statistical analyses and whether it promotes the segmentation of people's social locations into numerous categories to elucidate differences in their experiences. In an effort to resolve these ambiguities, an examination of extant literature reveals that this concept has never been intended to simply delineate differential experiences based on finer social location categories or levels of disadvantage resulting from structured discriminations. Originating in feminist movements and research, this concept has been employed to address whose experiences of such discriminations are considered normative, shedding light on the unequal societal treatment of the voices of women of color and individuals in other marginalized positions as well as interdependent relations among multiple forms of discriminations.

Recently, the idea that “sex” should not be inquired about in documents and surveys as a consideration for gender minorities is spreading. This paper examines the process of considering sex and gender identity questions and pertinent discussions from the position that it is necessary to capture sex and gender identity in surveys. This is essential not only for gender statistics, but also to produce diverse and inclusive statistics, and to conduct representative large-scale surveys using such questions in order to undertake comparative analysis between gender minorities and other groups of people.

Researchers involved in international gender statistics have been examining Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity（SOGI）questions since the 2010s. Based on the careful considerations undertaken in other countries, a two-step method that asks the sex assigned at birth and the gender one identifies with is considered the best way to identify gender minorities. The two-step method has been used in several national censuses, and the results have been published. In Japan, the author's research group recommends a three-step method that asks first the respondent's sex at birth, and next, whether the current perception is the same. If the answer is another gender or is incongruent, a further question asks about the current gender identity. While asking about sex and gender identity is essential for showing the reality of gender minorities, queer methodology recommends that we confront the possibility that categorizing and quantifying in surveys may lead to the normalization and stabilization of gender. Notwithstanding this potential issue, it is hoped that the questions of sex and gender identity will be considered and integrated into government surveys, accompanied by the sociological community's investment in such efforts and applying the fundamental principles of social research to consider “sex.”

The traditional discrimination theory takes into account the distinction between direct discrimination（a traditional concept）and reasonable accommodation（a new concept）and introduces the key concepts of the sameness and difference models of discrimination. This paper clarifies that such a theory cannot appropriately explain the relationship between direct discrimination and reasonable accommodation and the relationship between reasonable accommodation and affirmative action. This paper also opines that a new discrimination theory, based on several of my previous papers, should replace the traditional discrimination theory to explain these relationships more adequately.

The proposed new discrimination theory understands disability discrimination as referring to treating persons with disabilities and persons without disabilities differently by either considering or not considering the disability when it is a “nonessential part of the matter” and when both of them have the same aptitude that is an “essential part of the matter.” The legal rule prohibiting discrimination against persons with disabilities resists the “ability principle（ableism/disabilism）” in favor of the “matters principle” and distances itself from the “disability（positive inclusion）principle.”

The duty of reasonable accommodation is equivalent to the prohibition of direct discrimination in that it strictly adheres to the rule which requires people to be treated equally concerning the “essential part of the matter（aptitude）” under the “matters principle.” On the other hand, affirmative action differs from the duty of reasonable accommodation because the former violates the rule to positively correct the historical and structural disadvantages of persons with disabilities under the “disability（positive inclusion）principle.”

In the 1940s, the child welfare and mental hygiene movements merged, leading to the emergence of the category of autism, as childhood became a focus of psychiatric surveillance. This resulted in stigma placed on parents through psychoanalytic explanations attributing autism to an inappropriate upbringing. A social movement by parents emerged as a response to challenge this medical perspective, coinciding with the deinstitutionalization and community transition trend of the mid-1970s, expanding the authority of therapists rather than physicians. The redefinition of autism was made possible through collaborative efforts between parents and therapists. Against the backdrop of mid-20th-century norms in middle-class child rearing, the concept of Asperger`s syndrome spread with heightened sensitivity to minor deviations or delays. Parent groups seeking support for autistic individuals without intellectual or language impairments, and their families engaged with autism researchers, who were also parents, to influence academia, leading to conceptual expansion and geneticization. These actions provided legitimacy to parents advocating for children with language impairments within the same genetic community. The broadening of the diagnostic criteria inevitably gave rise to a group of autistic self-advocates who could assert themselves without linguistic impairments. In the early 1990s, a neurodiversity movement emerged, aiming to depathologize autism and promote inclusive societal realization, in contrast to the medical model-focused parent groups. This movement expanded in various directions and, like previous parent groups, sought to influence academia' s authority over defining “what is autism.” While many activists agree with the medical definition describing the core features of autism, some challenge the current autism concept because it is considering social communication difficulties as individual traits. Empirically grounded studies supporting these trends are also emerging. Sociology, which has studied the normativity of social communication, can potentially align with the neurodiversity movement by describing micro-level communication styles and macro-level social orders that have been customized for neurotypicals and exclude autistics.

Modern civil law has created an abstract image of individuals who act on the basis of reason and discard their social status. This has created a system of separation in which those who lack the capacity to make rational decisions are restricted in their legal capacity, and legal decisions are made by others in place of the individual. However, people's decision-making is supported by interdependent support relationships, and the disparity in abilities between people with and without disabilities is largely due to the disparity in interdependent support relationships. Article 12（3）of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities calls for rectification of this disparity to support the exercise of legal capacity. It is premised on a social model of psychosocial disability., which is viewed as more personal than physical disability. The disparity in interdependent support relationships is mainly because traditional social entitlement benefits aim only to meet welfare needs. Additionally, these relationships have created a framework that brings together those with similar welfare needs and provides aggregated benefits in a special framework that is separate from other citizens（Separate Parallel Tracks）. Based on the indivisibility, interdependence, and interrelatedness of human rights, the human rights model of disability requires that social welfare rights be provided with respect to other human rights values such as autonomy, equality, and respect for diversity and difference. It calls for removing the institutional barriers caused by Separate Parallel Tracks and for benefits to be provided in a manner that simultaneously satisfies other human rights values. The development of modern contract law―which is developing ways to reincorporate consumer vulnerability and social relations into contracts ―is on continuous grounds with the way people formulate their intentions, as revealed by psychosocial disabilities. Furthermore, it shows the possibility of eliminating the Separate Parallel Tracks that bisected legal actors by legal capacity and constituting a universal contract law theory.

This paper examines the managerial and technological background to the increase in the number of animal funeral and cemetery services to reveal its impact on the practice of treating companion animals as family members. Although previous studies have focused on the reasons for increased animal funeral and cemetery services owing to companion animals being regarded as a substitute for family from the perspective of changes in family consciousness and religious views since the 1980s, this research sought to provide a more nuanced understanding of the trend by exploring the role of market competition and the spread of mobile pet crematories. The analysis drew on management information materials for animal funeral and cemetery services and newspaper articles. The findings suggest that the increase in the number of animal funeral and cemetery services since the 1990s has been driven by market competition associated with the spread of mobile pet crematories, which has lowered the barriers to entry for various business managers and diversified the forms of animal funeral and cemetery services. However, this has also intensified competition, leading some managers to engage in malicious and commercial-minded practices that have caused social problems. In response, some managers have sought to differentiate themselves by emphasizing the treatment of companion animals as family and have pursued a fixed income by adding value to their services. These findings suggest that the managerial and technical conditions surrounding animal funeral and cemetery services have influenced the familialization of companion animals.

Since the 2010s, the discipline of urban and regional sociology has increasingly debated whether the ideological underpinnings of regional development in Japan have shifted from “developmentalism” to “neoliberalism.” Although different perspectives have been proposed, a consensus has not been reached.

In this context, this paper argues that contemporary regional development in Japan has shifted towards neoliberal policies, while retaining substantial developmental attributes. This assertion is grounded in an analysis of the formation process of “public-private partnership” between a staffing firm and Hyogo Prefecture in the northern part of Awaji Island, and a theoretical view of previous research on the problematic aspects of the neoliberalization of urban and regional policies in Europe.

The paper has four parts. Firstly, it argues for reconstructing “developmentalism” and “neoliberalism” to overcome the impasse encountered in previous discussions on regional development in Japan. Secondly, it emphasizes the significance of neoliberal “public-private partnership” for regional development in the northern part of Awaji Island, highlighting how corporate activities are strengthened through close collaborations with local governments. Thirdly, it describes how this relationship has evolved as an extension of the historical lineage of regional development in postwar Japan, tracing, in particular, its roots through Hyogo Prefecture`s regional development history. Finally, the paper investigates the transition and continuity of “developmentalism” in Japan, as underscored by the case study, and explains the advantages of the analytical framework presented.

Previous studies have shown that occupational status in the career of older people determines whether they work beyond the pensionable age, and they have focused mainly on men. Using 2015 SSM data, I examine the gendered effects of past occupational status from the first job to pre-retirement on work beyond the pensionable age through the potential outcome framework. The approach from the long-term occupational status provides an explanation for work beyond the pensionable age of not only men but also women, who are more likely to experience interruptions in their occupational career.

The analyses reveal that occupational status has a negative effect on older men and a positive effect on older women. The results suggest that women who are temporarily out of work and continue to remain in a low socioeconomic status are exposed to durable opportunity cost losses and work in old age.

This study examines the continuing trend of long-term hospitalization in Japanese psychiatric hospitals from the perspective of hospital staff and discusses the background of delays in deinstitutionalization. Tokyoʼs Tama region, where several new hospitals were rapidly established from 1950s–1970s and of which many are still operating, was selected as the research site. Partly due to recent systemic changes and revisions in medical fees, psychiatric hospitals have been compelled to change their focus from the traditional emphasis on inpatient care. Moreover, from the perspective of a progressive reduction in the number of beds, some hospitals are entering a phase of gradual decline.

We investigated the current situation of transition in psychiatric hospitals by conducting interviews with two doctors and six psychiatric social workers and identified two types of hospitals: “hospitals promoting deinstitutionalization” and “hospitals continuing to receive long-term inpatients.” The former are characterized by their aim to reduce the number of beds and promote discharges. The latter emphasize the significance and necessity of providing a place for patients who have difficulty being discharged or transferred from hospitals as well as the trend toward deinstitutionalization. These hospitals tend to accept patients deemed as experiencing difficulties with community living and those who request admission or transfer from other hospitals, resulting in increased community dependence on the hospital（ “iatrogenesis” ）. Patients who cannot be admitted to “hospitals that promote deinstitutionalization” may be accepted by “hospitals continuing to receive long-term inpatients,” which suggests the existence of a community that needs hospitalization. This multilayered relationship may be one of the reasons for the delay in deinstitutionalization.