The main topic of the module of “Social Structure, Identity and Social Action in Contemporary Japan” for the Winter Term 2021/2022 is Gender and Sexuality in Contemporary Japanese Society. The course will introduce students to both theoretical and empirical perspectives on the various ways in which gender and sexuality are institutionally and individually perceived, shaped, and performed in Japan. Concerning the topic of gender, students will work with topics that trace the construction and developments of the Japanese gender structure/regime, Japanese perception and performance of femininities and masculinities, as well as how gender affects different aspects of people’s lives, from intimate relationships to their participation in work, family and other social institutions. Gender and sexuality are two topics that are closely intertwined and should be examined in relation. Therefore, the course also examines how sexuality is contoured under the influences of historical and social changes in Japan. By the end of the course, students will be provided with knowledge on how differences and inequalities based on gender and sexuality are created and sustained in Japanese society, and therefore possess sociological understandings of Japanese social structures at the intersection of many local, global and transnational forces.