A dual structure is a social structure which simultaneously contains elements of both modernity and tradition within itself. The uniqueness of Japanses society can be attributed to the fact that the family, one of the most fundamental institutions in society, exhibits the dual nature of both modernity and tradition.
Analyses of external and internal aspects of the Japanes family today reveal that it is not modern or traditional, but that it is a harmonious coexistence of both modernity and tradition. For example, external or demographic characteristics of the Japanese family examined in the present study all demonstrate the modern nature of the Japanese family today. The internal or structural nature of the Japanese family and household today, on the contrary, exemplifies the persistence of the traditional elements. These findings suggest that the uniqueness of the Japanese family today exists in the very fact that it is externally modern but internally traditional. This harmonious coexistence of traditional-modern nature of the Japanese family today in a certain sense parallels the history of Japan as a modern society, in that Western industrial technology was enthusiastically adopted, but at the same time traditional Japanese culture was retained. This duality is the essence of Japanese society today as well as the unique feature of the contemporary Japanese family.