This book explores the social and cultural dimensions of Japan's global presence. Japan's expansion and presence as an economic giant is witnessed on an everyday basis. Both consciously and unconsciously, we regularly come into contact with Japan's industrial and cultural globalization, from cameras and automobiles to judo, cuisine or animation. Japan's presence in the popular imagination is heavily influenced both by the country's historical past and its global present. The book's panel of expert contributors use thorough ethnographic accounts to examine the country's influence and image...

Tracing the history of feminism in Japan from the end of the nineteenth century to the present, Vera Mackie offers a fascinating account of those who rebelled against convention in the dissemination of ideas which challenged accepted ways of thinking about women, men and society. This carefully documented analysis is for students of feminism and related areas where nothing comparable is currently available.

Nanette Gottlieb's comprehensive study considers the role of language in Japanese society, particularly in relation to the formation of national and personal identities. It covers important questions such as multilingualism, language and nationalism, language and technology, and literacy and reading habits. Written by a leading authority in this field, Gottlieb's work is essential reading for students and scholars wishing to know more about the Japanese language and the society in which it is spoken.

Tracing the history of feminism in Japan from the end of the nineteenth century to the present, Vera Mackie offers a fascinating account of those who rebelled against convention in the dissemination of ideas which challenged accepted ways of thinking about women, men and society. This carefully documented analysis is for students of feminism and related areas where nothing comparable is currently available.

"Japan's Diversity Dilemmas: Ethnicity, Citizenship, and Education" reveals how Japanese society is now in the midst of dramatic transformation brought on by demographic change and globalization. Foreigners are coming to Japan and many more will come in the near future to meet the demands of an economy that needs workers to compensate for an extremely low birth rate. The ramifications of this influx of foreigners into a society that has based its identity on a mythical ethnic purity are enormous.

This book examines the effects of globalization on both new and older ethnic communities. It...

Social policies reflect important ideas about the relationship between the state and the individual. This book examines this relationship in a number of unexplored areas in Japanese society, including policies relating to fertility, perinatal care, child care, sexuality and elder care. It concludes that a major transformation occurred during the 1990s as a result of Japan's changing economy, demography and civil society. The volume challenges many Western preconceptions about Japanese society.

Nihonjinron is the Japanese term for Japanese national character, or the way the Japanese characterize themselves. Befu, a bilingual anthropologist who has studied Japan for 40 years, examines hundreds of original Japanese sources, and argues that Nihonjinron is a civil religion for the Japanese and

This is the first English version of Tadao Umesao's classic, published first in Japanese in 1957, with a full description of his "ecological theory" of civilizations of Eurasia. Dividing the Eurasian continent into three major ecological zones consisting of Western Europe, Japan, and the region between them, he shows how the first two are basically similar and demonstrates fundamental differences between Japan and China. In 1964 a jury of ten intellectuals chose this treatise as one of the 18 most influential treatises since 1945 from among more than a hundred which were considered. In 1998,...