On Intermediate Groups in Japanese Sociology

Since A. de Tocqueville and E. Durkheim, intermediate group occupies an important position in sociology. In this paper, I will discuss a history of Japanese sociology and Japanese society by focusing on this aspect.

              There is a conceptual dichotomy between community and association in sociology. The former is based on common attributes of the members, whereas the latter is based on the will of the members to unite. It is theoretically said that old communities are diminishing and the importance of the individual is increasing with the process of modernization. Generally speaking, this process can be found in Japan especially after the World War II.

              It is said that the importance of intermediate group is rediscovered in Japan after the Great Hanshin earthquake in 1995. A law which prescribes to give the right of juridical person to a NPO, one of the forms of intermediate group, is founded in 1988. Since then, there are more discussions on NPO than before. I will reconsider these discussions to analyze the significance of intermediate groups in contemporary society and sociology in Japan. I will also treat other intermediate groups, such as neighborhood associations for example, to deepen the discussion.