What is a Happy Family? German and Japanese Case Studies

In this forum we will present case studies from our research on family happiness in Japan and Germany. Carried out by international research teams from Free University Berlin and Kyoto University, this study presents transnational and transdisciplinary ethnographic findings.Some of the main research questions are: How do people experience family happiness and when do they feel happy? In what way do narratives influence and create feelings of happiness in families? What sorts of ritual performances do family members use to create feelings of togetherness and happiness? What is the role of religious practices, gifts, and meals for the creation of communal feelings and of feelings of happiness at family celebrations? To answer these questions, we research how German families celebrate Christmas and how Japanese families celebrate the New Year's holiday. We want to find out what the similarities and differences are in the staging of "happiness" in Japanese and German families and identify transcultural elements of happiness in families. These include elaborate dinners, exchanges of gifts, religious practices, collective narratives, time spent together, etc.