An Introduction to Japanese Society is a provocative, insightful and highly accessible book comprehensively examining contemporary Japanese society. It provides a thorough and critical analysis of the dominant view that Japanese society is strongly characterised by 'groupism and homogeneity'. Yoshio Sugimoto contests the notion that Japanese society comprises an extremely uniform culture, drawing attention to the subcultural diversity and class competition that exists within it. Sugimoto's views as an 'insider/outsider', having spent many years both in Japan and overseas, are insightful and probing. The book's accessibility and coverage of a broad range of issues, such as education, cultural diversity, power relations, politics and gender and family, makes it essential not only for students of Japan worldwide, but also for professional and lay people seeking a general introduction.

An Introduction to Japanese Society (Contemporary Japanese Society)

Politics & Social Sciences

Sugimoto, Yoshio

Social Sciences

Cambridge University Press

An Introduction to Japanese Society, Second Edition

This revised edition has been updated to cover developments in the five years since the first edition was published. Yoshio Sugimoto challenges the traditional notion that Japan is an homogeneous society with few cultural and social disparities.

An Introduction to Japanese Society

Essential reading for students of Japanese society, An Introduction to Japanese Society now enters its third edition. Here, internationally renowned scholar, Yoshio Sugimoto, writes a sophisticated, yet highly readable and lucid text, using both English and Japanese sources to update and expand upon his original narrative. The book challenges the traditional notion that Japan comprises a uniform culture, and draws attention to its subcultural diversity and class competition. Covering all aspects of Japanese society, it includes chapters on class, geographical and generational variation, work, education, gender, minorities, popular culture and the establishment. This new edition features sections on: Japan's cultural capitalism; the decline of the conventional Japanese management model; the rise of the 'socially divided society' thesis; changes of government; the spread of manga, animation and Japan's popular culture overseas; and the expansion of civil society in Japan.

History

Asia

Sociology

Essential reading for students of Japanese society, An Introduction to Japanese Society now enters its third edition. Here, internationally renowned scholar, Yoshio Sugimoto, writes a sophisticated, yet highly readable and lucid text, using both English and Japanese sources to update and expand upon his original narrative. The book challenges the traditional notion that Japan comprises a uniform culture, and draws attention to its subcultural diversity and class competition. Covering all aspects of Japanese society, it includes chapters on class, geographical and generational variation, work, education, gender, minorities, popular culture and the establishment. This new edition features sections on: Japan's cultural capitalism; the decline of the conventional Japanese management model; the rise of the 'socially divided society' thesis; changes of government; the spread of manga, animation and Japan's popular culture overseas; and the expansion of civil society in Japan.

The popular image of Japanese society is a steroetypical one - that of a people characterised by a coherent set of thought and behaviour patterns, applying to all Japanese and transcending time. Ross Mouer and Yoshio Sugimoto found this image quite incongruous during their research for this book in Japan. They ask whether this steroetype of the Japanese is not only generated by foreigners but by the Japanese themselves. This is likely to be a controversial book as it does not contribute to the continuing mythologising of Japan and the Japanese. The book examines contemporary images of Japanese society by surveying an extensive sample of popular and academic literature on Japan. After tracing the development of "holistic" theories about the Japanese, commonly referred to as the "group model", attention is focused on the evaluation of that image. Empirical evidence contrary to this model is discussed and methodological lacunae are cited. A "sociology of Japanology" is also presented. In pursuit of other visions of Japanese society, the authors argue that certain aspects of Japanese behaviour can be explained by considering Japanese society as the exact inverse of the portayal provided by the group model. The authors also present a multi-dimensional model of social stratification, arguing that much of the variation in Japanese behaviour can be understood within the framework as having universal equivalence.

Images Of Japanese Society

Mouer, Ross

Reference

Routledge

First Published in 1996. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor &amp; Francis, an informa company.

Japanese Encounters With Postmodernity (Japanese Studies)

Arnason, ohann P.

This title was first published in 1986:  This is a study of "karayuki-san", impoverished Japanese women sent abroad to work as prostitutes from the 1860s to the 1920s. It follows the life of one prostitute, Osaki, who is persuaded as a child of ten to accept cleaning work in Borneo and then forced to work as a prostitute in a brothel.

Democracy in Contemporary Japan

McCormack, Gavan

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Sugimoto, Yoshio. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Sugimoto, Yoshio

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Sugimoto, Yoshio. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

An Introduction to Japanese Society (Contemporary Japanese Society)

An Introduction to Japanese Society (Contemporary Japanese Society)

An Introduction to Japanese Society, Second Edition

An Introduction to Japanese Society

An Introduction to Japanese Society, Second Edition

An Introduction to Japanese Society

Images Of Japanese Society

Japanese Encounters With Postmodernity (Japanese Studies)

Democracy in Contemporary Japan

Democracy in Contemporary Japan