ABSTRACT
THETWOOFUS,aJapaneseandanAmerican,setouttowritethissmall
bookwithseveralspecificgoalsinmind.Forsometimebothofushad
beenlookingforawaytoexploresituationsandproblemsfacingordinary
Japanesepeopleandtoshareourowninsightsconcerningthesesituations
withpeopleoutsideofJapan.Wewantedtolookbrieflyintosomeofthe
interestingdifferencesbetweenthetwoculturesinamore,whatwemight
call,"colloquial"mannerthanisusuallydone.Wedecidedthatone
interestingrouteintosomeofthemoreintimateareasofJapanesesociety,
onethatwouldprovidebackgroundforanalyzingcertainaspectsof
everydaylife,wouldbethroughafavoritepieceofreadingforbothofus,
JinseiAnnai,thecolumnthatappearsdailyinthemostpopularnews-
paperinJapan. JinseiAnnai,"Life'sGuide,"isanadvicecolumnappearinginthe
double-pageKazokutoKurashi"FamilyandLife"sectionofthemorn-
ingedition1oftheYomiuriShimbun,oneofJapan'sbigthreenational
newspapers.Ourconceptentailedreadingovercarefullyaboutayear's
Turningpopularcultureofthatsortintoparodyisnotonlyeasy,ittakesa consciousefforttoresistdoingso.Nevertheless,thepurposehereisto reviewaseriesofpiecessomewhatsimilartoanAnnLanderscolumn, butwitharathermoredignifiedimageintheirJapanesecontext,notatall asparody,butasseriousculturalanalysis.
