ABSTRACT
In this highly personal account Joy Hendry relates her experiences of fieldwork in a Japanese town and reveals a fascinating cross-section of Japanese life. She sets out on a study of politeness but a variety of unpredictable events including a volcanic eruption, a suicide and her son's involvement with the family of a poweful local gangster, begin to alter the direction of her research. The book demonstrates the role of chance in the acquisition of anthropological knowledge and demonstrates how moments of insight can be embedded in everyday activity. An Anthropologist in Japan illuminates the education system, religious beliefs, politics, the family and the neighbourhood in modern Japan.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part I|42 pages
Settling in and making contacts
chapter Chapter 1|6 pages
Arrival…and an invitation
chapter Chapter 3|7 pages
The hospital…and a strange encounter
chapter Chapter 4|7 pages
The school…and a fight
chapter Chapter 5|6 pages
A pilgrims' trail
chapter Chapter 6|7 pages
Shiroyama, the Satomi legend and a new look at power
part II|38 pages
Events to attend
chapter Chapter 8|7 pages
The housewives' ‘Club for Life’
chapter Chapter 9|7 pages
Cubs, sports and a shock
chapter Chapter 10|6 pages
Suicide, funerals and the well-wrapped gift
chapter Chapter 11|8 pages
Paper walls and flowers at the bank
part III|37 pages
The role of experts
chapter Chapter 12|8 pages
A foreigner at the ‘Culture Festival’
chapter Chapter 13|7 pages
‘Your Japanese is psychological torture’
chapter Chapter 14|5 pages
A volcanic eruption
chapter Chapter 15|7 pages
Tennis and the ‘surreal’ dinner
chapter Chapter 16|8 pages
Concerts, cakes and spiritual communication
part IV|35 pages
Building a framework for analysis