First published in 1986, Interpreting Japanese Society became something of a classic in the field. In this newly revised and updated edition, the value of anthropological approaches to help understand an ancient and complex nation is clearly demonstrated. While living and working in Japan the contributors have studied important areas of society. Religion, ritual, leisure, family and social relations are covered as are Japanese preconceptions of time and space - often so different from Western concepts. This new edition of Interpreting Japanese Society shows what an important contribution research in such a rapidly changing industralised nation can make to the subject of anthropology. It will be welcomed by students and scholars alike who wish to find refreshing new insights on one of the world's most fascinating societies.
Author(s): Joy Hendry
Edition: 2
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 1998
Language: English
Pages: 291
Book Cover......Page 1
Title......Page 4
Contents......Page 5
List of illustrations......Page 8
List of contributors......Page 10
Foreword to second edition......Page 14
Acknowledgements......Page 16
Note on the text......Page 18
Introduction: the contribution of social anthropology to Japanese studies......Page 22
Time in the Japanese ritual year......Page 36
Spatial characterization of human temporality in the Ryukyus......Page 52
The Pythagorean view of time and space in Japan......Page 63
The question of space: from Heidegger to Watsuji......Page 78
Contested identities and models of action in Japanese discourses of place-making: an interpretive study......Page 89
Time, space and person in Japanese relationships......Page 112
Is the ie disappearing in rural Japan?: the impact of tourism on a traditional Japanese village......Page 138
Death rites in Japan in the twentieth century......Page 152
A child in time: changing adoption and fostering in Japan......Page 166
Gods, ancestors and mediators: a cosmology from the South-western Archipelago of Japan......Page 188
The importance of the left hand in two types of ritual activity in Japanese villages......Page 203
'Years of calamity': yakudoshi observances in urban Japan......Page 215
Redefining Kuzaki: ritual, belief and cho boundaries......Page 234
Science and religious movements in Japan: hi-tech healers and computerized cults......Page 243
Sakariba: zone of 'evaporation' between work and home?......Page 252
One over the seven: sake drinking in a Japanese pottery community......Page 264
Models of performance: space, time and social organization in Japanese dance......Page 280
Name index......Page 303
Subject index......Page 307
