Anthropologies of Japan ─ Culture, Society, and Nation on a Global Stage

Anthropologies of Japan provides a comprehensive, up-to-date coverage of significant phenomena, institutions, and trends in Japan today, on issues ranging from gender and family, the environment, race and ethnicity, and urban life, to popular culture and electronic media, emphasizing the diversities of social and cultural experience that define contemporary Japan. This textbook draws on recent ethnographic research to illustrate major trends in contemporary Japan, with an eye toward countering persistent stereotypes about uniformity and conformity in Japanese life.

Pedagogical features of this book include:

• listing of suggested readings at the end of each chapter

• links to digital media

• overviews of key theoretical perspectives

• case studies

• glossary of key Japanese language terms

• appendix on digital resources in English and Japanese

• Companion website featuring additional information, links, maps, illustrations, updates of suggested readings,

Introducing and employing a variety of anthropological perspectives and interpretive approaches for understanding Japan today, this is an essential text for courses on Japanese culture and society and related courses in the fields of Asian studies, anthropology, sociology, cultural studies, contemporary history and politics.

Theodore C. Bestor is Reischauer Institute Professor of Japanese Social Anthropology at Harvard University, Director of Harvard’s Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies and President of the Association for Asian Studies.

Victoria Lyon Bestor divides her time between writing and research on Japan and serving as Executive Director of the North American Coordinating Council on Japanese Library Resources, an international nonprofit that serves as an umbrella for open access to library and information resources on Japan.