I am the Reischauer Institute Professor of Sociology and am also currently the Director of the Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies. I became fascinated by Japanese society when I was an undergraduate, and pursued a PhD in sociology (with many years of language study!) to gain the background necessary to study gender inequality, labor market structure, and family in Japan in comparison to the U.S. and other postindustrial societies. I am currently working on two books. The first one argues that persistent gender inequality is one of the reasons for Japan’s low birth rate; this book is meant to be translated into Japanese and distributed to a broad audience, including policymakers. The companion book (in English) will put Japan in comparative perspective with four other postindustrial societies.