This case study investigates to what extent a specific theory and a practice of mathematics teaching − the Japanese structured problem solving, as formulated by K. Souma can be transferred and applied in a new context (Sweden). The analysis is based on tools from the anthropological theory of the didactic. It turns out that the Swedish teacher can manage the didactic techniques, which are supported by a didactic theory shared within the community of Swedish teachers. However, there are common didactic techniques within the Japanese structured problem solving approach for which this is not the case, and which were indeed difficult to manage for the Swedish teacher. Among these were techniques related to bansho (blackboard organisation); letting the students formulate a kadai (derived task) of the lesson; and kikan-shido (monitoring students’ work to plan a subsequent whole-class discussion). Further, the paper provides an ecological analysis on the underlying conditions and constraints that brought about this phenomenon − a discrepancy concerning the didactic praxeologies of teachers. In Japan, teachers focus on the students’ personal development in the processes of the reflective and collective way of learning, while the Swedish teacher focuses more on individual student’s achievement of the knowledge.