This paper critically examines the theory of “charisma as lifestyle” (Charisma als Lebensform), expounded by Winfried Gebhardt, a contemporary German sociologist. Initially, I will summarize the concept of “charisma as lifestyle.” It expresses the “pure” charismatic lifestyle maintained through a “specific institution” which is resistant to institution building as a consequence of the routinization of charisma. Secondly, I emphasize that, in comparison with the existing literature, Gebhardt's theory is unique. Its uniqueness lies in his belief that social orders can “coexist” with charisma, and that the institutions can derive their “legitimacy” through “reflection” forced from the “outside.” Thirdly, I will discuss the kind of cases to which the theory of “charisma as lifestyle” can be applied. I will then argue that we can apply this theory to an explanation of the process of legitimating institutions in a modern “individualized-pluralized” society. Gebhardt develops a new way of thinking on charisma by turning attention to the implications and aspects of this concept that have been neglected in earlier studies.

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Shortly after the “55-regime” was established in Japan, it was expected that support for reformist parties would increase because of the growth of blue-and white-collar workers, the rise in the number of people receiving tertiary education, and urbanization resulting from industrialization. In fact, however, this support significantly decreased. The purpose of this paper is to examine value-oriented and social-strata related factors in explaining the fall in support for reformist parties, stressing the efficacy of the latter. Little attention has been paid to the effect of social strata on party support in Japanese political sociology. Focusing on social strata instead may be beneficial in explaining the fall in support for reformist parties. Furthermore, it can be argued that rational choice, which has not been sufficiently researched, influences party support. The analysis highlights two findings. Firstly, the change of estate distribution can explain the decrease in support for reformist parties. Secondly, it is better to argue that rational choice, based on changes in estate distribution, offers a better explanation of changes in party support than theories of value orientations or social networks.

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In recent years, nation-states have been questioned from such diverse perspectives as globalization, multiculturalism, and constructionism. These perspectives, however, have not sufficiently criticized nation-states and their boundaries. Therefore, we have to consider the process of constructing national boundaries from people's experiences. This paper examines the process of constructing national boundaries based on narratives of the experiences of 67 Japanese working in Hong Kong, and how these constructions are used in their everyday lives. The research uncovered two findings. Firstly, these Japanese often interpret and construct the meaning of boundaries between Japan and Hong Kong in the context of globalization and multiculturalism. Secondly, their interpretations and constructions are extremely diverse and they autonomously choose an appropriate meaning of the boundary in response to different situations. This analysis not only clarifies the process of contemporary global movements, but also the process of reconstructing/deconstructing the national boundaries to suit individual needs.

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