This book enables readers to understand contemporary Japanese society and culture. Since it is written by experts, it allows readers to start with any chapters they are interested in. It also provides a unique way to introduce Japanese society and culture to those who have never visited or studied Japanese society by reading articles from various authors on topics such as gender, family, economy, natural disasters and politics and laws. It provides scholars, academics, graduate students and the general educated audience all the information required to understand contemporary Japanese society and culture fully and see the diverse perspectives available.
Part 1 Beyond numbers: Japan’s demographic challenges and future
1 Single and Unready to Mingle: The Insecure Lifeworlds of Never-Married Japanese Akiko Yoshida and Caitlin Meagher
2 Infertility in Relation to Japanese Prenatal Norms Chiaki Shirai
3 Patriarchy, Paternalism, and Politics of Reproductive Autonomy: Abortion Rights in Japan Eiko Saeki
4 Aging, Health, and Gender Yuka Minagawa
5 A Chronology of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan Takeshi Yoda
6 Hikikomori and Belonging in a Post-Pandemic Japan Naomi Berman
7 Migrant Long-Term Care Workers in Japan Rie Miyazaki
8 Will Guestworkers Save Japan? Findings from a Nationwide Municipal Survey Yunchen Tian
9 Precarity and Hope Among Asylum Seekers in Japan Taku Suzuki
10 Japanese Society in the Eyes of Immigrant Families: Focus on the Survival Strategy of Filipino Single Mothers Sachi Takahata and Frieda Joy Angelica Olay Ruiz
11 Depopulation Susanne Klien
12 Rural In-Migrants: Embracing Sustainable Lifestyles for a Post-Growth Society? Simona Zollet
13 A Regional Revitalization Strategy for Areas with Declining Populations: Transforming Tourists Into Local Actors Hiroki Tahara
14 Creating a Sustainable Society Beyond Times of Crisis Hiroki Nakamura
15 Displacement and Return: University Campuses as Ba and Ibasho for Sustainability Co-creation. Peter Hourdequin
Part 2 The myth of homogeneity: Ignorance, discrimination, and prejudice towards soto
16 Education, Cultural Capital, and Social Class Reproduction Yoko Yamamoto
17 Buraku Issues: Changes and Challenges Christopher Bondy
18 Toward “No Homeless” Public Spaces? Homeless Policy and a Crisis of Japanese Urban Society Mahito Hayashi
19 Kodomo Shokudo (Children’s Cafeterias): Changing Families and Social Inequality in Japan Junko Nanahoshi
20 Reimagining Japan Through the Experiences of Mixed Japanese Yuna Sato, Yu-Anis Aruga, and Sayaka Osanami Törngren
21 Redefining Japaneseness: Blackness, Whiteness, and the Discordant Discourse of Diversity in Japan John G. Russell
22 Questioning Xenophobia in Japan: Racism, Decolonization, and Human Rights Sara Park
23 Life Stories, Historical Background, and Current Situations of the Ainu: The Story of Noto Vince Okada
Part 3 Gender inequality: Challenging gender roles and the gender binary
24 Japan’s Gender Inequality in Economics and Politics Since 1945 and the Policies That Engineered it Emma Dalton
25 Japan’s Glass Ceiling: Contradictions in Gender Discourse and Institutional Support for Ie (Family) Robert C. Marshall
26 Surnames and Gender in Japan Hiromi Taniguchi and Gayle Kaufman
27 Family, Graves, and Gender in Japan Kimiko Tanaka
28 Male Caregivers in Japan: Between Care and Masculinity Mao Saito
29 LGBTQ Activism in Contemporary Japan: Prospects and Perspectives Patrick Carland
30 Nationalism and Queer Politics in Postwar Japan Kazuyoshi Kawasaka
Kimiko Tanaka is a Professor of Sociology in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at James Madison University. She has received her M.A. and Ph.D. in Sociology from Michigan State University. She has published articles on Japan to discuss aging, families, culture, rural depopulation, and gender. Her recent publication, Successful Aging in a Rural Community in Japan, provides the important insight that words such as “rural” and “depopulation” do not simply equate with negative outcomes for the elderly in rural Japan.
Helaine Selin was a Faculty Associate and Science Librarian at Hampshire College, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA, from which she retired in 2012. She is the editor of the Encyclopedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures (3rd ed. Springer 2016) and ten books in Springer’s Science Across Cultures series, on Astronomy, Mathematics, Medicine, Nature, Childbirth, Parenting, Happiness, Death, Aging and a second edition of the Parenting book.
This book enables readers to understand contemporary Japanese society and culture. Since it is written by experts, it allows readers to start with any chapters they are interested in. It also provides a unique way to introduce Japanese society and culture to those who have never visited or studied Japanese society by reading articles from various authors on topics such as gender, family, economy, natural disasters and politics and laws. It provides scholars, academics, graduate students and the general educated audience all the information required to understand contemporary Japanese society and culture fully and see the diverse perspectives available.