ABSTRACT
People are brought together through connections, and bring others in their wake. The word ‘network’ is used in two senses in the anthropological and sociological literature. First it refers most commonly to informal social systems that operate alongside the more formal institutional structures in which people generally find themselves. Secondly, it is made to apply to a formalized methodology, as in ‘network analysis’. In Japan, though, because people tend to introduce people to others who share the same backgrounds, they quickly form dense networks which themselves often take on the form of factions. If networks are used to link people, things and events, and if they are characterized by their openness, they also have the parallel and simultaneous potential to close certain avenues of interaction. Networking and networks, then, are concerned with access to information, the timing of its dissemination, and the naming of people therein who might be able to help with another’s problem.
