Sociologists in this lab are analyzing the substance of social life, with focus on ethos or habits among people, relationships and communications, as well as dynamics between ideology and existence. Methodological characteristics are: 1)intensive reexamination into the movements of social theory from such classics as Marx, Durkheim, Weber, Mead, Parsons, Goffman, and Habermas to the development of cultural studies, phenomenological sociology, and symbolic interaction, and 2)qualitative inquiry using purposive selection, intensive case study, semi-structured interview, and monographic representation, and participant observation. Each student is encouraged to choose his/her subject within the laboratory specialty. Close reading of texts and firsthand explorations in the field are essential in this lab.

Following a publication of Color Vision Discrimination and Difficulty to Talk (2016) based on interactionism of experience and language, Prof. Tokugawa is engaged in a research applying "difficulty to talk" to issues on food-agricultural communication and dominant representations. Prof. Okada is exploring the significance of nonprofit organizations and giving behaviors in contemporary society. Assis.Prof. Zhou  conducts field research on social relations (“guanxi” in Chinese) and farmers orientation in Japanese and Chinese rural communities.Assis.Prof. Zhang focuses on the development of symbolic interactionist gender theory and the narration of women's experiences.