The view that marital fertility decline accounts for nothing of the decline in total fertility rate since 1970's has become most influential in Japan. We criticize the view and the component analysis using age-specific marital fertility rate, AMFR that yields the view.
     We observed the results of the component analyses decomposing the decline in TFR using period age-specific proportion married and period age-specific marital fertility rate, AMFR that were produced by the four simulations with cohort inputs of different levels or timings of first marriage rates and duration-specific marital fertility rates. We found that the decomposition produces the valid results only when cohort first marriage schedule is stable and that if the cohort marriage schedule is delaying, the decline in TFR is accounted for exclusively by the decline in the age-specific proportion married and the AMFR has the positive influence although cohort marital fertility for input is held stable, which may yield a misunderstanding.
     The issue can be stated more generally as the issue when analyzing behavior one using age-specific rate for those who have experienced behavior two when behavior one is conditional to behavior two.

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     The frequencies of kin were calculated based on the future reproduction level assumed in the official population projection for Japan. This reproduction level results in long-term population decline and considerably lower kinship resources than today's elderly population that experienced the regime of high fertility. Mean, variance, and probability of vacancy for various kin categories such as children, grandchildren, siblings, and so forth were estimated. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the decline in the number of children significantly reduces the probability of co-residence with a child for the elderly. The probability of extinction and the effect of timing in childbirths were also examined.

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     After continuous fertility decline over a few decades, the total fertility rate for Japan is recently below 1.4. In order to analyze the causes, economists have typically applied the new home-economics approach, which relates fertility to female labor-force participation and the opportunity costs of wives' time. In this paper, however, the applicability to the fertility in Japan is investigated and the negative results are obtained from different two aspects.
     First, for the period 1968-2000, the time-series analyses by the Butz-Ward type models are attempted. The applicability to the total fertility rate for Japan is denied for both of the two specifications, which were used in the former studies.
     Secondly, the relationship between fertility and the labor-force participation of wives, which is assumed to be negative within the new home-economics framework, is investigated by cross-sectional analyses. The data aggregated for the 47 prefectures of Japan are used. The number of women's own children, data taken from the 1995 Population Census of Japan, is utilized to measure fertility. The proportion of the employed is analyzed for ever-married women, while the proportion of the regular staff is analyzed for employed ever-married women. The prefectural data imply that the relationship between fertility and the labor-force participation of wives is rather positive.

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     Socioeconomic conditions of the elderly have changed in Japan since the mid-1970s. Social Stratification and Mobility (SSM) data enables us to analyze changing statuses of males' aged 60 to 69. First, this paper explores who exits from labor force, using work history data. It is shown that employees of big companies or public sector tend to be out of labor force at age 60. This is more evident in 1995 than before. Second, income distributions of not working males are compared in 1975, 1985, and 1995. Their annual income in 1995 distributed around the amount of retirement pensions. Third, economic conditions are compared between the elderly males living with children and those not living with children. In 1995, retirement pension makes it possible that the elderly live without the support from children. This paper concludes that the Japanese elderly has transformed from a dependent being to an independent being since the mid-1970s. The implication of the above changes is also discussed.

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     This paper, based on the Boolean role model originally proposed by Misumi (1998), analyzes conditions for dyscommunication between actors. We postulate that an actor constructs a role image X based on the finite set of role elements G. After we formulate X as Boolean equations, focusing on the coincidence between the performer's X' and the observer's X”, we introduce judgment rules for dyscommunication. The first level dyscommunication is caused by the discrepancies in G between groups. Based on the simplest two-element model, we prove three theorems about the conditions for it. The second level dyscommunication is the dyscommunication that occurs even when the common G is shared by the groups. It is caused by the diversity of the role image. In the extended three-element model, we investigate some “weighting principles” that extract relatively large specific sets of images, and we find that the “tolerant principle” is effective to avoid inter-group dyscommunication. After the general effectiveness of the principle is proved, the theoretical and practical implications are discussed. The real situation implied in this study is, especially, one of international marriages which have increased recently in rural areas of Japan.

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     Odds ratios are frequently used to measure the degree of relative mobility in social mobility research. European researchers have particular trust in them as an indicator of inequality of opportunity. However, it is not self-evident if their changes mean increase or decrease in societal openness. They often show a different trend from disparity ratios or absolute differences in proportion. In this paper, the author introduced the recent controversy in British mobility studies on the meaning of odds ratios, and presented a framework to explain the changes of odds ratios referring to the different growth of outflow mobility into an advantaged class. In addition, an ideological character of odds ratios and disparity ratios was considered. These analyses suggest that interpretation of societal change with a single indicator may be misleading, even when odds ratios are used.

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     Social network analysis in Japan is biased toward personal network research. More attention should be paid to structurally oriented researches. Social Network Analysis by Wasserman and Faust is a great textbook for learning structural analysis. However, this textbook is not totally exhaustive, and there have been further developments in social network analysis since this textbook was published. By looking over those aspects, I attempt to clarify the position of the book within social network analysis.

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