Table of Contents

Introduction Victoria Lyon Bestor, Theodore C. Bestor, and Akiko Yamagata Part 1: Social Foundations: Showa-Era Japan and Beyond: From Imperial Japan to Japan Inc. – Peter Duus Four Cultures of Japanese Politics David Leheny The Cultures and Politics of Language in Japan Today Nanette Gottlieb Japanese Education and Education Reform Roger Goodman Religion in Contemporary Japanese Lives Mark R. Mullins Law and Society in Japan Lawrence Repeta The Urbanization of the Japanese Landscape Paul Waley Part 2: Class, Identity, and Status: Social Class and Social Identity in Postwar Japan – David Slater The Politics of Gender in Japan Robin M. LeBlanc Change and Diversity in the Japanese Family Merry White Japan’s Queer Cultures Mark McLelland Race, Ethnicity, and Minorities in Japan Richard Siddle Life on the Margins in Japan: Homeless, Migrant Day Laborers, and People with Disabilities Carolyn S. Stevens Aging and Social Welfare in Japan Leng Leng Thang The New Prominence of the Civil Sector in Japan Akihiro Ogawa Part 3: Cool Japan: Contemporary Architecture in Japan – William H. Coaldrake Japanese Film and Television Aaron Gerow Manga and Anime: Entertainment, Big Business, and Art in Japan Susan Napier Popular Music in Japan Ian Condry The Sportscape of Contemporary Japan William Kelly Cultural Flows: Japan and East Asia Koichi Iwabuchi Cuisine and Identity in Contemporary Japan Theodore C. Bestor

About the Author

Victoria Lyon Bestor is Executive Director of the North American Coordinating Council on Japanese Library Resources. Theodore C. Bestor is Reischauer Institute Professor of Social Anthropology and Japanese Studies at Harvard University. Akiko Yamagata is a Museum Educator, focusing on East Asian art, at the Harvard Art Museums.

Reviews

'This is a tremendous book and should jump the queue of all those books on contemporary Japan you have been intending to read. The editors deserve kudos for putting together a stellar group of specialists and our gratitude for making them abandon the usually scholarly trappings. The chapters are written in an accessible and thoughtful style and focus on explaining various aspects of culture and society for nonspecialists. This academic-lite approach is a welcome relief from the usual trudge through a specialists' tome, jettisoning the disciplinary discourse without sacrificing the insights. Lucidly written, this is an ideal book for undergraduate classes as it includes a glossary, bibliography and comprehensive list of relevant websites. Experts will also find this a rewarding collection.' -- Jeff Kingston, Director of Asian Studies at Temple University, Japan 'Few books offer such a broad and kaleidoscopic view of the complex and contested society that is contemporary Japan. Students and professionals alike may use this as a stand-alone reference text, or as an invitation to explore the increasingly diverse range of Japan-related titles offered by Routledge.' -- Joy Hendry, Professor of Social Anthropology and Director of the Europe Japan Research Centre at Oxford Brookes University, UK 'This is the first reference work you should pick up if you want an introduction to contemporary Japanese society and culture. Eminent specialists skillfully pinpoint key developments and explain the complex issues that have faced Japan and the Japanese since the end of World War II.' Elise K. Tipton, Honorary Associate Professor of Japanese Studies in the School of Languages and Cultures at the University of Sydney, Australia 'An invaluable interdisciplinary compendium of contemporary Japan. This Handbook contains a series of insightful essays dealing with such diverse areas as aging and social welfare, popular music, religion, sport, law, politics and education. The collection is also informed by theoretically sophisticated analysis of subjects that will be of major interest to all scholars of Japanese society.' -- Dixon Wong Heung Wah, School of Modern Languages and Cultures, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong