Japanese Society

This is written by a sociologist and Japan's "most famous feminist", Chizuko Ueno. A discursive battle over how Japan's history should be remembered constitutes the most recent, and perhaps the most explosive, round in a struggle over the legitimacy of different "narrator's" understandings of the past and its focus on the "comfort women" issue. Feminist theorist Chizuko Ueno confronts head on, in her usual lucid and hard-hitting style, the various actors in the debate. She skillfully cuts through the argument of the neo-nationalist "historical revisionists" who have attempted to deny or minimize the reality of the former "comfort women". Ueno's equally biting treatment of her natural allies - left-wing historians and feminist supporters of the "comfort women" - has also made the book highly controversial.

She is not afraid of the authorities. She saunters in, inviting laughter and liveliness. With an open mind, not with a weapon, she redefines the world and the nation. She is Ame no Uzume, the half-naked dancing Japanese goddess. The author, Tsurumi Shunsuke, is one of Japan' s leading postwar thinkers and philosophers. Noting that the contribution of women' s humor and laughter have not received much attention in past studies, this collection of essays is his attempt to depict the generous " women' s power" in classical Japanese mythology and history. Tsurumi writes freely about women' s humor and its destructive power, irony, boldness and cheekiness. He writes of nakedness, Japanese mixed bathing culture, the history of stripping and kabuki, which was started by a woman, interweaving humorous and fascinating tales with deep philosophical musing on human nature and behavior throughout.

''It finally dawned on us. The government was unreliable. Politicians and bureaucrats were unreliable. The media were untrustworthy. The brutal reality hit us that we had to protect ourselves...otherwise bury our heads in the sand or give up altogether.'' *** Written in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake in Japan and the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, Koichi Hasegawa's Beyond Fukushima presents a compelling account of the events of 3/11 against the backdrop of the history and geopolitics of the nuclear industry worldwide. The book begins with the nuclear accident and its immediate impact on Japan, and then expands to form a critical analysis of the global nuclear power industry, providing a framework through which to explain Japan's continued reliance on nuclear power despite widespread public concern. Hasegawa's analysis is convincing. He argues passionately for de-nuclearization and is highly critical of the Japanese government for failing to phase out nuclear power in the wake of the Fukushima accident. In the final chapter of the book, Hasegawa outlines steps toward a post-nuclear society, arguing strongly that this transformation must be made to avoid further catastrophe. *** Choice Magazine Editors' Top 75 Community College Resources for July 2016 *** "With a sociological research background in public movement critiques of nuclear power dating back to 1988, the author is in the unique position of being able to present wide-ranging, up-to-date, pertinent data gathered over several decades. Hasegawa very effectively documents the multiple problems associated with the nuclear power industry in Japan in a global context. Highly recommended." -- Choice, Vol. 53, No. 10, July 2016 *** "...a scathing indictment of bureaucratic incompetence and the risks of nuclear power. Detailed, critical, and persuasive, 'Beyond Fukushima' is a 'must-have' for college library social issues and world history collections." -- Midwest Book Review, Library Bookwatch: March 2016, The Social Issues Shelf (Series: Japanese Society) [Subject: Energy Studies, Japanese Studies, Asian Studies, Politics]

After World War II, for a variety of reasons, some women in Japan had intimate relations with occupying US soldiers. These women were called ' panpan' , a derogatory label, and to this day have been forced by society' s overwhelming disapproval to remain silent about their experiences. Many of the women have now passed away and can no longer tell their own stories. To provide a voice for them, the author has gathered the oral histories of sixty-three of those called panpan to revive and reframe their experiences with Occupation soldiers, including rape, prostitution, love and marriage. There is an overwhelming asymmetry of power between victorious soldiers (men) and women in a defeated country. However, the author reinterprets this as a space where relations of interaction, understanding and practice can be nurtured, rather than one defined by division and confrontation. The author attempts to re-position panpan as women who use their agency (activism exercised under restricted conditions) despite being exposed to the violence of occupation. This book is another story of the Occupation, a history of the postwar period re-drawn from the perspective of stigmatized women.

Right-wing social movements have been increasingly active in Japan since around 2000. Female members of right-wing political parties and other women activists on the right, including "internet right-wingers," strongly criticize liberal statements by other women, slandering female victims of sexual violence and comfort women, and opposing gender equality initiatives. This work seeks to understand why this happens by comprehensively exploring the activities, mentalities and consciousness of women who participate in conservative activism, using discourse analysis, interviews and fieldwork observation. "I feel ' she' is not that far. While struggling with her relationships with her husband and mother-in-law, she has taken on domestic care labor for many years in an environment where housework, childcare, and nursing care are the responsibility of the wife, and by doing so, she wants to take care of "her own family" that she has built. The experience of a movement where, despite being her own motivation, a homosocial space is instantly created when a few men get together to talk about sexual jokes, and she is excluded from it. Rather than recognizing her as a "cult", I hope this book will help readers to think about the ways that she has something similar to us." (by the author)

Since the Fukushima nuclear accident in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake of 11 March 2011, Japan has seen a significant revival in its social activism. Large-scale social movements sprang up in response to such issues as denuclearization, proposed new US military bases in Okinawa, and the 2015 National Security Legislation, propelled by dissatisfaction with the national government's stance on these fronts. In the context of the broader 'amorphization' of Japanese society, this book characterizes these movements as 'amorphous' based on the phenomenon in which movements are formed by diverse and disparate people and display disparate, disorganized, and undefined elements in stark contrast to Japanese social movements of the past which were of a highly structured organizational type. The authors have direct, first-hand experience of these social movements and paint vivid pictures of their diverse activities. Chapters focus on issues such as opposition to hate speech and US military bases in Okinawa, and examine in detail movements such as SEALDs, Hangenren and Amateur Revolt, perhaps the most amorphous social movement in Japan of this period.

In developed countries, non-regular employment in the labor market is increasing and the gap between rich and poor is widening. Gender inequality in employment is also often an issue. Japan is no exception. In recent years, the dual structure of the employment market has become problematic. A unique systemic rigidity has created an employment environment that is so different between regular and non-regular employment, and between large and small enterprises, that it is difficult for employees to move up the hierarchy. This book has two main themes: first, statistically revealing the dual structure of employment that has been created by the Japanese-style employment system; and second, tracing the historical process to the formation of Japan' s unique employment practices under the influence of governmental bureaucracy and military culture. This process is compared with the history of employment systems in the US and Europe. Through this book, readers will gain a deeper understanding of the issues facing Japan by learning how the system of Japanese society, including employment, education, social security and welfare, and gender inequality, was established historically.

In 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake left more than 20,000 people dead or missing. On 11 March 2011, shortly after taking office as mayor, Futoshi Toba, mayor of Rikuzentakata in Iwate Prefecture, experienced firsthand the earthquake and tsunami which destroyed city hall and killed many of his subordinates. His wife was also missing, but despite the pain, he struggled to carry out his duties as mayor, leaving his two children with relatives, only to find his wife' s body on April 5. Mayor Toba, in order to rebuild his town, had to face down the government which was slow in making decisions. He tried to work with the residents who were opposed to his bold actions and measures. This non-fiction book focuses on the 10-year journey of the mayor of a city hit by an unprecedented tsunami. Mayor Toba' s account of the pain and trauma involved to rebuild his town is like no other story from the front lines. Toba built a professional working relationship with an American woman, Amya Miller, who showed up to volunteer. Together, they learn from, push and support each other as they traverse the roads that hopefully will lead to recovery.

For more than 140 years, Japan's koseki registration system has functioned as the official means by which an individual qualifies as 'Japanese'. Information concerning each family is entered into one koseki register record in a system that documents the status relationship information of Japan's population based on the notion of 'bloodline'. Tracing the history of the koseki registration system from its inception in the Meiji era through its use in Japan's colonial holdings in the pre-war era and to the present day, The State Construction of 'Japaneseness' challenges the very foundations of the system, arguing that it promotes prejudice and discrimination and fosters a divisive understanding of the 'Japanese' as a people. This significant work presents conclusive evidence on how the koseki registration system has used deeply problematic understandings of ethnicity, citizenship and the family to define 'the Japanese', excluding and discriminating against those unable to fit into the framework of this highly politicised bureaucratic system.

Much of the misunderstanding by foreigners about Japan arises out of their acceptance of certain stereotypes about the Japanese. Harumi Befu spearheaded the critique of the stereotypical and the essentialized characterization of the Japanese and their culture, often referred to as Nihonjinron. He now presents his summary statements in this book by reviewing the whole gamut of the Nihonjinron literature, ranging from ecology, rural community structure, personality, language, values and ethos. He shows the roles Nihonjinron plays for the identity formation of the Japanese and as the idealized norm of the society in orienting the public. Elaborating on the way in which Nihonjinron functions as a civil religion, the book outlines how a period of positive self-identity has alternated with a period of negative self-identity since the Meiji period.

This book presents a counter-argument to the Japanese belief that they are a homogeneous nation since the Meiji period. Eiji Oguma demonstrates that the myth of ethnic homogeneity was not established during the Meiji period, nor during the Pacific War, but only after the end of the war. The study covers a large range of areas, including archaeology, ancient history, linguistics, anthropology, ethnology, folk law, eugenics and philosophy, to obtain an overview of how a variety of authors dealt with the theme of ethnicity. It also examines how this myth of homogeneity arose and how the peoples of such Japanese colonies as Korea and Taiwan were viewed in the pre-war literature on ethnic identity. This is the first English translation of A Genealogy of "Japanese" Self-Images, which won the Suntory Culture Award in 1996.

The dynamics of inclusion and exclusion have operated for centuries in the island chain that constitutes Japan's southernmost prefecture, Okinawa - otherwise known as the Ryukyu Islands. Are the people of Okinawa 'Japanese' or not 'Japanese'? Answers to this puzzling question are explored in this richly-detailed volume, written by one of Japan's foremost public intellectuals, historical sociologist Eiji Oguma. Here, Oguma addresses issues of Okinawan sovereignty and its people's changing historical, cultural, and linguistic identity, over more than 150 years until its 1972 reversion to Japanese control, following its administration by the US from the end of the Pacific War.

This collection of twelve life stories delves into the experiences of families of Hansen's Disease (Leprosy) patients who tell their own stories in their own words. In detailed interviews spanning more than ten years, Ai Kurosaka presents their struggles from the previously neglected perspective of family members of patients. The storytellers tell how they were torn by experiences of separation, discrimination and broken relationships. Like fugitives, many spent years hiding the truth and deceiving others to protect themselves and their families, and they reveal how this affected their relationships with others, but also with themselves. These recollections reveal agony and repentance, but are also stories of resilience that show the courage of the storytellers in speaking up and in challenging the government's policy on Hansen's Disease. This book breaks the silence of families of Hansen's Disease patients and seeks to restore relationships for families of patients and the wider society.

Homelessness has been recognized as a serious problem in Japan since the 1990s, but the dominant model of a "homeless person" has been that of an unemployed male laborer-a model that has largely excluded women, who experience homelessness in different forms. This study gives the homeless women of Japan a voice at last. Based on extensive fieldwork, the author paints a vivid picture of the unique experiences of homeless women living in a diverse range of environments. By introducing a gender perspective to the analytic framework and challenging the conception of the homeless individual as a rational, autonomous subject, the author invites a critical reconsideration of homeless studies and of public policy.

In this the parallel volume to The Boundaries of 'the Japanese': Volume 1: Okinawa 1818-1972 (2014), renowned historical sociologist Eiji Oguma further explores the fluctuating political, geographical, ethnic, and sociocultural borders of 'Japan' and 'the Japanese' from the latter years of the Tokugawa shogunate to the mid-20th century. Focus is placed first upon the northern island of Hokkaido with its indigenous Ainu inhabitants, and then upon the mainstays of Japan's colonial empire-Taiwan and Korea. In continuing to elaborate his theme of inclusion and exclusion, the author comprehensively recounts and analyzes the events, actions, campaigns and attitudes of both the rulers and the ruled as Japan endeavoured both to be seen as a strong, civilized nation by the wider world, and to 'civilize' its disparate subjects on its own terms.

After World War II, Japanese popular culture was "banned" in Korea. However, despite the official ban, Japanese popular culture was introduced and circulated through hidden or unofficial channels. In fact, the author, born in Seoul in 1976, grew up watching the animated TV series Astro Boy with its theme song in Korean. He recalls that it was not until the 1990s that he learned that Astro Boy was produced in Japan. Why was Japanese popular culture banned? How did Japanese popular culture spread in Korea despite the ban and the changing political situation? This book analyzes the history of how Japanese culture has been accepted into Korean society, citing numerous animated and visual works as examples. Japan-Korea relations have undergone dramatic changes, and although Japan and Korea are increasingly linked in terms of politics, economics, and cultural production, the relationship remains fragile due to the colonial history of the two countries. This book is a unique attempt to rethink postwar Japan-Korea relations from the perspective of transnational cultural space.

This award-winning book brings together Chizuko Ueno's groundbreaking essays on the rise and fall of the modern family in Japan. Combining historical, sociological, anthropological, and journalistic methodologies, Ueno - who is arguably the foremost feminist theoretician in Japan - delineates in vivid detail how the family has been changing in form and function in the last hundred years. In each chapter, Ueno introduces the reader to a different facet of modern Japanese family life, ranging from children who fantasize about being orphans to the elderly who confront 'pre-senescence.' The central focus is on the housewife - her history, her ever-changing responsibilities, her ways of surviving mid-life crisis. This is an indispensable book for students and scholars seeking to understand modern Japan.

The artifice of gender performance - sometimes playful, mostly conscientious - has enthralled and entertained audiences of Japan's all-female Takarazuka Revue for more than 90 years. The dashing male-role players in its musical theatre productions enjoy the adulation of a predominantly female audience for whom these handsome idols represent ideal masculinity, while, at the same time, these 'men' in turn are reflected and magnified by the overwrought femininity of their female-role counterparts. This volume resounds with the voices of those closest to Takarazuka, the girls and women who have danced, sung, and acted in its limelight. Using exclusive interviews, historical records, autobiographies, and years of close-hand observations, former Revue translator and voice actor Leonie Stickland extensively explores the aspirations, endeavors, and experiences of Takarazuka's creators, performers, and adoring fans. Stickland's book simultaneously elucidates gender issues which have impacted upon the life-stages of women in Japan throughout the past century.