How can historical sociologists construct generalizable theories through in-depth single case analysis? Inspired by theory-oriented ethnography, this paper proposes a framework for historical sociologists to construct externally valid theories. In recent years, ethnographers have attempted to construct causal and generalizable theories while maintaining their interpretive and descriptive character. These theory-oriented ethnographersʼ constitutive arguments provide a detailed description of “how” certain phenomena and characteristics arose to develop a theoretical explanation of “why” these emerged. This paper refines the constitutive argument and develops a method for historical sociologists to produce an externally valid theory from a single case study. Historical sociologists focusing on the possibility sphere of actors develop generalizable theories of why certain outcomes emerged and changed, by describing how certain explanatory variables were put forth and abandoned as possible options for historical actors, at each point in time.

Studies examining the association between educational attainment and class destination have mainly revealed that years of schooling and school rank affect oneʼs social destination. However, to further investigate this relationship, it is necessary to analyze and interpret the following three factors related to oneʼs educational attainment: (1)the differences in the upper secondary level, such as high school rank and type, (2)whether one enters higher education or not, and (3)the differences in higher educational institutions, such as college and major selection. To distinguish these three effects, it is important to focus on upper secondary education.

Therefore, this paper examines the manner in which individual educational attainment affects oneʼs social destination by focusing on the influence of high school rank and type, considering the effects of entering a higher education institution and its differences. The paper particularly focuses on whether higher ranks in high school directly lead to the attainment of higher social class.

The analysis shows that the effect of high school rank and type on class destination is still substantial despite considering the effects of entry into higher education institutions and their differences. Moreover, the hierarchical levels of higher rank in high school do not fully correspond to those of class destination; the influence of the high school type is more significant for attaining non-upper classes. This suggests that there are two types of class attainment in Japan. One is achievement-based attainment, in which those who enter a higher-ranked school and attain higher education reach higher class positions. Second is occupationbased attainment, in which one aims to enter specific occupations related to school type.

This paper investigates the social construction of aging to determine the prospects for a new sociological approach to super-aged societies. Scholarly literature on super-aged societies considers aging as a fundamentally inevitable physiological process that results in a defined and universal social condition. Thus, medical or physical interventions for individuals are mainly adopted for social deals with the super-aged society. The same rationale applies to sociological studies, which have hitherto focused on the paradigm of old age and not aging itself, investigating the derivative social situations that the elderly are placed in as they age.

This study summarizes the relevant previous research on the sociology of the social construction of old age. From this, it develops a possible theoretical explanation for the social construction of aging to bridge the gaps in the literature. This study takes up M. Powell Lawtonʼs ecological model of aging, which examines the relationships between an individualʼs functioning or competences and the environment. It further uses the actor–network theory to overcome the theoretical limitations of the ecological model, which considers aging as a substantial reality.

Finally, this paper examines the social construction of aging, investigating this ideaʼs unique place in the context of the theoretical development of social constructions. Its uniqueness can be seen in the observation that it proposes the possibility of constructionist analysis of the physical and functional domain in place of the semiotic one, which discourse analyses generally deal with.

This study aims to show the direction of the analysis of interviews on career choices, which reveals how people determine reasons and assign responsibility for the same. Past research has found subjective or internal factors to affect career choices and has also argued the issue of responsibility for（especially risky）career choices. However, previous research has ignored how people themselves find and explain the factors behind their choices while neglecting the fact that people also face the issue of where to assign responsibility for their choice. This study shows that, from an ethnomethodology standpoint, peopleʼs methods of figuring out reasons and assigning responsibility for their career, as well as drawing their experience of career choice, are analyzable.

The study analyzed data derived from interviews with vocational high school students. The first studentʼs answers revealed their reasoning behind their high school choice, based on an underlying pattern of a common process of choosing a vocational high school. The second student took responsibility for being a jobhopper by explaining her lack of effort to gain a full-time job. Finally, the third student, who had been interviewed every three years, showed changes in his career plans and evaluation of career choice by modifying his description of external circumstances（his motherʼs retirement）and his volition. By describing what students and interviewers do in an interview, the analysis revealed the manner in which they explicate reasons for their career choices and clarify who is responsible for the same.

In Japan, the trends toward gender egalitarianism, which proceeded after the war, have stalled, and some recent studies find the reversal turning downward, in the recent cohort or period. To understand the longitudinal change, we focus on the issue of how and to what extent the change in social status composition contributes to the change in gender role attitudes, and conduct a decomposition analysis of the period, cohort, and composition effects. We also conduct a mediation analysis investigating the relationships among cohort, social status variables, and gender role attitude using SSM survey data for 1985, 1995, 2005, and 2015. The findings reveal the significant indirect effects of the cohort on gender role attitudes mediated by social status variables. Among women, in younger cohorts, the composition changes, including the popularization of higher education, or growth of professional and managerial workers, contribute to the increases in gender egalitarianism. Among men, the increase in regular employment for their mothers and change in education and job status for their wives are significant contributors. These results highlight a value change through multiple ways that the composition changes of various social statuses such as education, work, and family, liberalized gender beliefs with gender differences, while in some cases, were influenced by the significant othersʼ status. Besides, our results clarify the mechanism behind the recent reversal in gender attitudes as follows. Although in younger postwar cohorts, there are no significant changes in gender role attitudes（total effects）, when we control for the above indirect effects or the increase in gender egalitarianism caused by the composition change, we find the direct cohort effect that younger cohorts are coming to believe in a traditional gender role among women.

As a result of globalization, the number of people with immigrant backgrounds has increased for decades, globally. Along with the influx of immigrants to Japan, children with immigrant backgrounds attending Japanese public schools face serious challenges. One is the educational achievement disparity between native Japanese students/pupils and students/pupils with immigrant backgrounds.

This article examines how an immigrant status influences educational achievements through a TIMSS analysis. It focuses on the effects of immigrant generational status and whether parental birthplace is in Japan or not, on educational achievement.

The result suggests that the educational achievement disparity between native Japanese and first- generation immigrants is significant, but that between native Japanese and second-generation immigrants is not. Pupils with both parents who were born outside Japan score significantly lower than Japanese pupils, after controlling householdsʼ socioeconomic status. Though, this effect of parental birthplace is mediated by generational status. Therefore, generational status is more crucial for the educational disparity in Japan compared with parental birthplace.

This study empirically examines the preferred characteristics of foreign employees by Japanese companies. Research on highly skilled foreign workers in Japan has been dominated by policy and ideological discussions, with few empirical studies on the kind of highly skilled foreign workers needed by Japanese firms. In addition, the kinds of citizenship derived for them in industrial and civil society needs to be scrutinized. This paper qualitatively examines the kinds of foreigners that are appropriate for Japanese companies to grant industrial citizenship as career-track positions through interviews with nine large Japanese firms. According to the interviewees, foreign workers in fast-track positions must be able to: adapt to the current organizational systems, and utilize diversity to promote future internal changes. This reveals the multi-layered expectations of the companies that look for foreigners with the same abilities as the Japanese careertrack employees but with the heterogeneity of diversity-based innovation.

These results highlight the difficulties for foreigners in acquiring industrial citizenship as career-track employees in Japan, and vividly reflect the logic of corporate citizenship that creates social and organizational exclusion in Japanese companies. The analysis of “dual” citizenship for foreign career-track workers makes it possible to link migration studies and organizational studies, which were previously unassociated. Future research should consider additional factors such as Japanese company characteristics, their distribution in the labor market, and social norms.

This paper analyzes interviews with young people who return to their hometowns in rural areas where the population continues to decline. In particular, we focus on the mezzo-level factors that influence homecoming and examine their contemporary characteristics. The results show that the current social context in rural areas is related to the diverse values of the young people, which causes them to return to their hometowns.

The study area is Osakikamijima Town, Hiroshima Prefecture, where numerous internal migrants have arrived in recent years. However, this area has various problems caused by the decrease in the population, as many young people leave the area for higher education or employment. Nevertheless, the young returnees seem to have a positive evaluation of their hometown. First, even though the majority of their age group has left the area, the memories of life in their hometown, which are built by family and community ties, are the reason for their return. Second, family members and relatives are connected to the local informal labor market and function as a social resource by introducing these young people to work opportunities and providing child-rearing support. As a result, the locality is a relatively better living environment for young people, whose life course is unstable in terms of employment and family formation. Third, local social conditions that make sustainability difficult call for new businesses to solve local problems, rather than simply inheriting family businesses. Finally, their awareness of numerous local problems encourages young people to return to their hometowns to seek solutions, linking them to their self-realization.

In traditional views of discrimination or exclusion, it is usually taken for granted that the object of marginalization is differentiated from the majority group. However, some people are marginalized or made invisible in a way that does not differentiate them. This paper conceptualizes such marginalization as “erasure,” and theoretically considers the erasure through a reading of discrimination studies in phenomenological sociology as well as Alfred Schutz`s text.

One of the pioneering discussions on this topic is Judith Butler` s theory of “foreclosure,” which differs from overt prohibition. However, Butlerʼs theory is about sexuality that is socially differentiated as an object of disgust, and thus, fails to capture the erasure conceptualized in this paper. Therefore, this paper focuses on phenomenological sociology that theorizes processes of generating/non-generating meaning or type.

First, referring to Schutzʼ account of “untypified,” this paper defines erasure as “marginalization involving untypification. ”Next, through a re-reading of Schutzʼs text about “the idealization of the congruence of relevance systems” and “topic disappearing,” this paper discusses the problem of relevance which maintains erasure. Then, this paper explains that erasure causes a“denial of subjective meaning-world” and indirect marginalization. Finally, this paper briefly discusses situations in which erasure may be reconsidered.