ABSTRACT
This chapter uses the concept of sociocultural frames – derived from anthropological and sociological work on play, rituals, meetings and media events – as a heuristic device to analyze key social and cultural aspects of contemporary Japan. A key starting point is that frames are somehow analytically autonomous of their cultural and social environments. The logic by which frames are put together refers to the settings, props, actors, audiences, key actions and stages that emerge within them. The interior complexity of frames is revealed in their unfolding of stages and especially in events in which prior stages form preconditions for later ones. The experience of people in frames is qualitatively different from that of everyday, mundane life. A major means for creating such experiences is managing attention. Sociocultural frames are intentionally created by actors. This point is most obvious in events like parades, processions or spectacles. Over time these frames become native models that are available culturally to all Japanese.
