A companion to the anthropology of Japan / edited by Jennifer Robertson.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Robertson, Jennifer, 1953-

Series:

Blackwell companions to anthropology ; 5.

Blackwell companions to anthropology ; 5

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ethnology--Japan.

Ethnology.

Japan.

Japan--Social life and customs.

Manners and customs.

Physical Description:

xxiii, 518 pages : illustrations ; 26 cm.

Place of Publication:

Malden, MA : Blackwell Pub., 2005.

Summary:

A Companion to the Anthropology of Japan is an unprecedented collection of original essays by some of the field's most distinguished scholars of Japan which, taken together, offer a comprehensive overview of the field. Aiming to retire stale and misleading stereotypes, the authors present new perspectives on Japanese culture and society - past and present - in accessible language.

A Companion to the Anthropology of Japan covers a broad range of issues, controversies, and everyday practices, including the unacknowledged colonial roots of anthropology in the Japanese academy; legacies of nationalist research; eugenics and nation-building; majority and minority cultures; class and status; genders and sexualities; urban spectacle and rural "undevelopment"; domestic, corporate, and educational ideologies and practices; the mass media, leisure, and "infotainment" industries; women's and men's sports; fashion and food cultures; ideas of nature, life, and death; new and folk religions; and science and biotechnology.

Collectively, these chapters not only demonstrate Japan's significance for anthropological research but also help make Japanese society accessible to readers unfamiliar with the country. A Companion to the Anthropology of Japan is a reference volume for scholars, but is also designed to serve as a primary text for courses in anthropology and sociology, history, and Japan and East Asian Studies.

Contents:

1 Introduction: Putting and Keeping Japan in Anthropology / Jennifer Robertson 3

Part II Cultures, Histories, and Identities 17

2 The Imperial Past of Anthropology in Japan / Katsumi Nakao 19

3 Japanese Archaeology and Cultural Properties Management: Prewar Ideology and Postwar Legacies / Walter Edwards 36

4 Feminism, Timelines, and History-Making / Tomomi Yamaguchi 50

5 Making Majority Culture / Roger Goodman 59

6 Political and Cultural Perspectives on "Insider" Minorities / Joshua Hotaka Roth 73

7 Japan's Ethnic Minority: Koreans / Sonia Ryang 89

8 Shifting Contours of Class and Status / Glenda S. Roberts 104

9 The Anthropology of Japanese Corporate Management / Tomoko Hamada 125

10 Fashioning Cultural Identity: Body and Dress / Ofra Goldstein-Gidoni 153

11 Genders and Sexualities / Sabine Fruhstuck 167

Part III Geographies and Boundaries, Spaces and Sentiments 183

12 On the "Nature" of Japanese Culture, or, Is There a Japanese Sense of Nature? / D. P. Martinez 185

13 The Rural Imaginary: Landscape, Village, Tradition / Scott Schnell 201

14 Tokyo's Third Rebuilding: New Twists on Old Patterns / Roman Cybriwsky 218

15 Japan's Global Village: A View from the World of Leisure / Joy Hendry 231

Part IV Socialization, Assimilation, and Identification 245

16 Formal Caring Alternatives: Kindergartens and Day-Care Centers / Eyal Ben-Ari 247

17 Post-Compulsory Schooling and the Legacy of Imperialism / Brian J. McVeigh 261

18 Theorizing the Cultural Importance of Play: Anthropological Approaches to Sports and Recreation of Japan / Elise Edwards 279

19 Popular Entertainment and the Music Industry / Shuhei Hosokawa 297

20 There's More than Manga: Popular Nonfiction Books and Magazines / Laura Miller 314

Part V Body, Blood, Self, and Nation 327

21 Biopower: Blood, Kinship, and Eugenic Marriage / Jennifer Robertson 329

22 The Ie (Family) in Global Perspective / Emiko Ochiai 355

23 Constrained Person and Creative Agent: A Dying Student's Narrative of Self and Others / Susan Orpett Long 380

24 Nation, Citizenship, and Cinema / Aaron Gerow 400

25 Culinary Culture and the Making of a National Cuisine / Katarzyna Cwiertka 415

Part VI Religion and Science, Beliefs and Bioethics 429

26 Historical, New, and "New" New Religions / Ian Reader 431

27 Folk Religion and its Contemporary Issues / Noriko Kawahashi 452

28 Women Scientists and Gender Ideology / Sumiko Otsubo 467

29 Preserving Moral Order: Responses to Biomedical Technologies / Margaret Lock 483.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0631229558

OCLC:

56591988