Arbitraging Japan

"Based on fieldwork with derivatives traders, Miyazaki's Arbitraging Japan is a brilliant reexamination of finance that goes beyond simple sloganeering or calls for more (or less) regulation. Miyazaki's compelling and timely contribution to the anthropology, sociology, and philosophy of finance illuminates its actors' philosophical commitments and emphasizes its human and social aspects."

--Bill Maurer, Professor of Anthropology at University of California, Irvine



"Miyazaki's superbly crafted ethnography, Arbitraging Japan, follows the lives of a small group of Japanese arbitrageurs as they create instruments designed to exploit the relentless generation of pricing difference emanating from the heart of financial markets. What starts as a technical exegesis on the operation of finance, yields a vibrant account of the dreams and the predicaments of our time. The narrative is restrained, perhaps even understated, and yet what is achieved is exhilarating."

--Doug Holmes, author of Integral Europe: Fast-Capitalism, Multiculturalism, Neofascism

Hirokazu Miyazaki is Director of the East Asia Program and Associate Professor of Anthropology at Cornell University.