Koichi Takahashi

Abstract: Few studies have examined changes in network size during the past 20 years in Japan despite changes in many other aspects of Japanese society that could affect Japanese social relationships. I conducted a time-series cross-sectional survey to investigate changes in network size for married Japanese people from 1993 to 2014. Results follow: 1) core network sizes decreased slightly; 2) the number of married males with no core network outside their households increased slightly; 3) kin and neighbour network sizes decreased and friend network size increased among married females; 4) kin network size decreased among married males; and 5) the probability of younger married males having no network friends increased. Overall, changes in network sizes were small, and we cannot conclude that serious social decay occurs among married Japanese people.

Abstract: In recent times, many studies have been conducted to understand those who migrate to rural areas. However, few have investigated the psychological and behavioral factors that affect people's decisions to migrate to rural areas. This study identifies the psychological and behavioral factors that have been suggested in the psychology literature and in rural studies as factors affecting people's decision to move to rural areas. The study is unique in that it categorizes the psychological states during the process of rural migration decision into three levels and identifies how psychological and behavioral factors affect people at each level. Researchers collected data from 906 respondents in Japan, including 128 people who had migrated to rural areas. The findings show that environmental and health concerns were significantly associated with initiating the procedure of the rural migration decision, while motives related to spiritual growth and employment were strongly connected with completing the procedure by actually migrating to rural areas. These findings contribute to a better understanding of a question that attracts a great deal of political attention in Japan: Why are rural areas gaining popularity especially after the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011? This study represents the first time that the importance of psychological and behavioral traits, as measured by psychometrically sound scales, has been confirmed within a model explaining the decision to migrate to rural areas.

Abstract: Bu calisma babalik rol ve davranislarinin farkli ulkelerde ne kapsamda degistigini ve bu degisimin nasil aciklandigini analiz etmeyi amaclamaktadir. Ilk olarak, babalik calismalarinin kapsamli bir taramasi verilecektir. Bunu takiben, babaliga iliskin dinamik degisimler ve bunlarin sonuclari dort farkli ulke, Isvec, Amerika, Japonya ve Cin, cercevesinde degerlendirilecektir. Calisma son bolumde dort farkli cikarimla sonlanacaktir: (a) Isvec ve Amerika’nin her ikisi de akademinin ve kamunun toplumsal cinsiyet esitligine ve yeni babaliga guclu cagrilar yapan Batili Refah devletleri olarak one cikarlar. Ancak, Isvec Amerika’ya gorece daha baba dostu bir durus sergilemektedir; (b) Cin ve Japonya Dogu Asyali Konfucyuscu mirasi paylasan ulkeler olmalarina ragmen, degisen babalik cercevesinde farkli yollar izlemektedirler; (c) Ulkelerin her biri endustrilesme, modernlesme, sehirlesme ve post-modern globallesme deneyimleri ve toplumsal cinsiyet esitligi ve yeni babalik ideolojilerini benimsemis olmalarina ragmen, Isvec ve Amerika’da, Cin ve Japonya’ya gorece babaliga iliskin degerlerin onemi daha fazladir; (d) Bu dort model, dort farkli gorusu yansitir – Isvecli babalik Amerikanlasmanin otesine gecerek baba dostu bir yaklasim sergilerken Amerikali babalik, geleneksellesmis sosyal beklentiyi aciga cikararak erkegin isteki rollerine oncelik vermesine vurgu yapar. Bunlarin aksine, Japon babalik donusen babalik ile mucadele eden tartismaci bir model sunarken, Cinli babalik, aile ici muhafazakarlik soylemlerinin aksine annenin reisligine dayanan yeni esitlikci bir toplumsal cinsiyet duzeni cercevesinde sekillenir.