The course offers a critical examination of the social structure as it developed in postwar Japan. We will conduct a through investigation of social institutions and also observe contemporary social and cultural issues, including the manner in which the state is involved in the production of the same "social problems." Among other themes we will touch upon "the lost decade", the crisis of fertility rate, "parasite singles," freeters and NEET. We will examine new concepts of work, self, gender and body. Reading materials are mainly anthropological and we will discuss the contribution of the anthropological perspective to the study of Japan.