The Editors: György Széll is professor of sociology at the University of Osnabrück and Director of its Japan Research Centre and professor at the Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo.Ken’ichi Tominaga is professor em. of the Musashi Institute of Technology, Yokohama, and vice-president of the German-Japanese Society of Social Sciences.

• Contents: György Széll/Ken’ichi Tominaga: Foreword – Ken’ichi Tominaga: Introduction: Environment from the Point of View of Action Theory – Erwin K. Scheuch: Nature as an Issue in Environmental Protection – Friedrich Fürstenberg: From Boundary to Symbiosis: Limits of the Systems Approach to Environmental Problems – Koichi Hasegawa: Environmental Sociology in Japan: Problems, Topics and Major Characteristics – Volker Linneweber: Environment: Thematic Career of a Social Construct – Gesine Foljanty-Jost: Environmental NGOs in Germany - The Question of Power and Influence – Harutoshi Funabashi: Intervention of the Environmental Control System in the Economic System and the Environmental Cluster – Rüdiger Kühr: Transnational Environmental Policies: Selected Cases of Japan and Germany – Kazuo Iwamura: Subconscious Awareness of Residents on Urban Design: An Analysis of the Group Interviews in Kohoku New Town, Yokohama – Takashi Namba: A Comparative Study on the Problems of Gentrification in German and Japanese Cities – Helmut Loiskandl: Christian Traditions and Ecological Challenge. Notes on Some Concepts in this Discussion – Makoto Kobayashi: Cultures as an Environment: Possibility of the Developmental Study focused on the Contextuality – György Széll: Environmental Kaizen: A German-Japanese Comparison – Yoshiki Otsuka: Industrial Food for Thought: Globalisation of Agro-Food-System and Environmental Concern – Akira Tokuyasu: Social Communications on Ecology and Risk: The Systems-Theoretic Analysis of Socially Responsible Investing – Seiichi Nishikawa: Problems in Japanese Forestry: The Present Situation and Future Aspects – Shuji Yamada: Environmental Measures in Japanese Enterprises - A Study from an Aspect of Socialisation for Employees – György Széll/Wiking Ehlert: Environmental Business Associations in Germany.