ABSTRACT
In this essay, I argue that Japanese anthropological scholarship may
provide some interesting alternatives to the Euro-American model that has
been the dominant one within the ‘international community’ (Stocking 1982)
or the ‘world system’ of anthropology (Kuwayama 2004a). In a previous essay
written with Jan van Bremen (Ben-Ari and van Bremen 2005), we examined
the social dynamics by which anthropological knowledge about and within
Asia is produced. Here, building on my work with Jan, I focus my analysis
on the specifics of the Japanese case. While most previous works on the issue of alternative models of anthropological scholarship have focused on
power inequalities and the historical development of disparities, here I pre-
sent a more ‘constructive’ set of suggestions about possible options posed
by this case. The reasons for examining Japan have to do with the historical
and contemporary developments of its anthropological traditions. Whether
formulated as folklore, ethnology or social anthropology, a substantial part
of the Japanese theories and methodological tools has developed indepen-
dently or in interaction with Western centres. It is these developments, in turn, that may prod some of us – as members of the Euro-American
centres – to rethink some of our professional images and assumptions.
