Dear SSJ Forum members,
The March 2012 issue of Social Science Japan is now available online. The PDF file of this as well as past issues can be downloaded at the following URL:
http://newslet.iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp/. The theme of SSJ 46 is "Employment in the Near Future". Please see the issue's Introduction and Contents below.

Introduction

To create a society where people can work productively and happily has been a pressing issue not only for the Japanese government but also for every element of society including companies, labor unions, and local communities. The Institute of Social Science has been conducting research into the current state of employment systems under the auspices of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's "Project for the Creation of an Employment System that Enables Lifelong Growth for All People" (LGAP). Participants in the LGAP project have focused on 1) employment markets and education, 2) companies and organizations, and 3) legal systems and institutions. The project team has been sharing research results in academic settings as well as reporting to policy makers and personnel practitioners since 2008. This issue of Social Science Japan features reports from five of the project researchers.

First, the project leader, Yuji Genda, reviews the changes in Japanese-style employment since the 1960s, and proposes an employment system that will have the resiliency to meet future challenges to Japanese society. Sachiko Kuroda presents her recent research on the changing and perhaps surprising causes of long working hours in Japan. Iwao Sato received permission from the Supreme Court to conduct a broad survey of participants in the recently created labor tribunal system. He reports on workers' and employers' views of the new alternative dispute resolution process. LGAP was awarded funding under the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science's "Program for Promoting Social Science Research Aimed at Solutions of Near-Future Problems," and Naofumi Nakamura presents an interim report on the Fukui Project, an in-depth, cross-disciplinary study exploring the role of hope in regional development. Finally, Kotaro Tsuru discusses the recent polarization of the labor market between regular and irregular workers, and offers proposals for improving conditions for non-regular workers without increasing risks for employers.

In the next section, Social Science Japan presents a special contribution from Professor David Leheny of Princeton University, a former editor of the Social Science Japan, on his report on the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011 and his experience in Shaken since the mid- 1990s. In the "Research Report Section," Shiro Sakaiya, a new member of the ISS, presents his recent research into the regime transformation mechanisms of the collapse of the Tokugawa regime in 1867. We then present Questions and Answers with Professor Laura Hein, who conducted research into the postwar development of local educational and cultural institutions and local governments in Kamakura and was based in Shaken during Autumn/Winter in 2011.

Finally, in addition to abstracts of lectures by the ISS Contemporary Japan Group, information on "Reconsidering Governance" Seminars and ISS Seminars, and recently published books written by members of our research staff, this issue features a "Focus on ISS"
essay by Suehiro Akira, ISS director, that presents a brief outline of the New Kamaishi Project and addresses the questions: What should Shaken do? What can Shaken do? What kind of contributions can social science make in the midst of the disaster and struggle brought by the Great East Japan Earthquake?

Contents of SSJ 46

Employment in the Near Future

"The Near Future of Employment in Japan" Genda Yuji

"Expanding Access to Justice for Labor Disputes: The Impact of the Labor Tribunal System" Sato Iwao

"The Social Sciences of Hope: The Fukui Research Project" Nakamura Naofumi

"Is Overwork on the Decline in Japan?" Kuroda Sachiko

"Creating an Employment System that Sustains Lifelong Growth for All People: How to Solve the Problem of Irregular Employment" Tsuru Kotaro

Special Essay David Leheny

ISS Research Report Sakaiya Shiro

Questions and Answers with Visiting Professor Laura
Hein

Kuniko Ishiguro
Managing Editor
Social Science Japan