Table of Contents

1. Historical backdrop: disintegration and restoration; 2. The Japan phenomenon: analysis and understanding; 3. Class: stratification and disparity; 4. Generations and geography: variations in an aging society; 5. Work: 'Japanese-style' management and cultural capitalism; 6. Education: diversity and unity; 7. Gender and family: challenges to ideology; 8. Ethnicity and Japaneseness: defining the nation; 9. The establishment: competition and collusion; 10. Religion: belief and secularization; 11. Culture: the popular and the cool; 12. Civil society: activism and friendly authoritarianism.

Promotional Information

Taking a sociological approach, this text provides a sophisticated, highly readable introduction to Japanese society.

About the Author

Yoshio Sugimoto is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Social Inquiry at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia.

Reviews

."..this important introductory volume successfully portrays the variety, disparity, and complexity of Japanes society and culture. In addition, it provides useful sections on the ways different groups in Japan are controlled through coercive and ideological means. Well written and orderly in its presentation, this introductory text is absed on a wide-ranging reading of research and scholarship on contemporary Japan.... In sum, I highly recommend this introductory textbook on Japan for the complex picture it depicts, for its secure foundation in contemporary scholarship, and for its clear and accessible style." Eyal Ben-Ari, Jrnl of Japanese Studies

"Sugimoto's book would be a fine supplementary text for any undergrdaute or graduate course on Japan." William Nester, Asian Thought and Society