ABSTRACT
The consumption of alcoholic beverages is very popular and widespread in Japan, among women and, increasingly, among under-age youths, as well as among men. This chapter examines drinking customs and their history, attitudes to drinking and its religious associations, and how drinking relates to gender issues. It attempts to demonstrate reasons for the apparent lack of concern. The chapter provides some of the social context of alcohol consumption and to suggest why alcoholism is apparently not an issue as prevalent in Japan as it would appear to be elsewhere. People drinking together express their conviviality by pouring drinks for those around them. It is considered rude to pour oneself a drink, so the routine is usually for one person to offer a drink to another who receives that drink and pours one back for the first.
