Interpreting Japanese Society: Anthropological Approaches

This updated and revitalized edition of a classic work demonstrates the depth and quality of an anthropoligical approach to the study of the Japanese people. It also shows the important contribution research in such a rapidly changing industrialized nation can make to the subject of anthropology. The contributors to this edition have all spent long periods living and working in Japan and they cover areas such as religion, ritual, leisure, family and social relations. Many of the chapters examine local perceptions of time and space, thus offering invaluable keys to understanding and interpreting indigenous ways of thinking not easily accessible to outsiders with more superficial experience. New topics for this edition include an original interpretation of the sinister Aum Sinrikyo, a Japanese view of Western philosophy, an account of hi-tech computerised healers, and an explanation of ghost marriages.