ABSTRACT

First published in 1986, Interpreting Japanese Society became something of a classic in the field. In this newly revised and updated edition, the value of anthropological approaches to help understand an ancient and complex nation is clearly demonstrated.
While living and working in Japan the contributors have studied important areas of society. Religion, ritual, leisure, family and social relations are covered as are Japanese preconceptions of time and space - often so different from Western concepts.
This new edition of Interpreting Japanese Society shows what an important contribution research in such a rapidly changing industralised nation can make to the subject of anthropology. It will be welcomed by students and scholars alike who wish to find refreshing new insights on one of the world's most fascinating societies.

chapter |12 pages

Introduction

The contribution of social anthropology to Japanese studies

part |75 pages

Kinship and social relations

chapter |14 pages

Is the ie disappearing in rural Japan?

The impact of tourism on a traditional Japanese village

chapter |19 pages

A child in time *

Changing adoption and fostering in Japan

part |64 pages

Religion, science and cosmology

chapter |15 pages

Gods, ancestors and mediators *

A cosmology from the South-western Archipelago of Japan

chapter |19 pages

‘Years of calamity'

Yakudoshi observances in urban Japan

chapter |9 pages

Redefining Kuzaki

Ritual, belief and chō boundaries

chapter |7 pages

Science and religious movements in Japan

Hi-tech healers and computerized cults

part |53 pages

Leisure

chapter |12 pages

Sakariba

Zone of ‘evaporation' between work and home?

chapter |16 pages

One over the seven

Sake drinking in a Japanese pottery community

chapter |23 pages

Models of performance*

Space, time and social organization in Japanese dance