Satsuki Kawano, Glenda S. Roberts, and Susan Orpett Long (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824838683
- eISBN:
- 9780824868895
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824838683.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
What are people's life experiences in present-day Japan? This book addresses fundamental questions vital to understanding Japan in the first decade of the twenty-first century. Its chapters ...
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What are people's life experiences in present-day Japan? This book addresses fundamental questions vital to understanding Japan in the first decade of the twenty-first century. Its chapters collectively reveal a questioning of middle-class ideals once considered the essence of Japaneseness. In the postwar model household a man was expected to obtain a job at a major firm that offered life-long employment; his counterpart, the “professional” housewife, managed the domestic sphere and the children, who were educated in a system that provided a path to mainstream success. In the past twenty years, however, Japanese society has seen a sharp increase in precarious forms of employment, higher divorce rates, and a widening gap between haves and have-nots. The book examines work, schooling, family and marital relations, child rearing, entertainment, lifestyle choices, community support, consumption and waste, material culture, well-being, aging, death and memorial rites, and sexuality. The voices in the book vary widely: They include schoolchildren, teenagers, career women, unmarried women, young mothers, people with disabilities, small business owners, organic farmers, retirees, and the elderly.Less
What are people's life experiences in present-day Japan? This book addresses fundamental questions vital to understanding Japan in the first decade of the twenty-first century. Its chapters collectively reveal a questioning of middle-class ideals once considered the essence of Japaneseness. In the postwar model household a man was expected to obtain a job at a major firm that offered life-long employment; his counterpart, the “professional” housewife, managed the domestic sphere and the children, who were educated in a system that provided a path to mainstream success. In the past twenty years, however, Japanese society has seen a sharp increase in precarious forms of employment, higher divorce rates, and a widening gap between haves and have-nots. The book examines work, schooling, family and marital relations, child rearing, entertainment, lifestyle choices, community support, consumption and waste, material culture, well-being, aging, death and memorial rites, and sexuality. The voices in the book vary widely: They include schoolchildren, teenagers, career women, unmarried women, young mothers, people with disabilities, small business owners, organic farmers, retirees, and the elderly.
Peter Wynn Kirby
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824834289
- eISBN:
- 9780824870515
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824834289.003.0004
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
This chapter examines rhetoric and action regarding nature and Japaneseness that could be discerned in community festivals and in the leisure sphere, along with their connection to contemporary ...
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This chapter examines rhetoric and action regarding nature and Japaneseness that could be discerned in community festivals and in the leisure sphere, along with their connection to contemporary environmental engagement. It considers how codified nature-focused activities and eco-symbols such as manicured gardens, ikebana flower arrangement, and paper houses reflect apparent ecological sensitivity to Japanese social life but often contribute to a pervasive form of detachment in urban communities. It also discusses the intersection between conceptions of nature and rural nostalgia and argues that the Japanese lavish discourse on certain highly standardized forms of nature while ignoring— if not obscuring— elements of their own ecology such as waste and pollution, or irksome animal interlopers such as vermin jungle crows, that contradict the rhetoric.Less
This chapter examines rhetoric and action regarding nature and Japaneseness that could be discerned in community festivals and in the leisure sphere, along with their connection to contemporary environmental engagement. It considers how codified nature-focused activities and eco-symbols such as manicured gardens, ikebana flower arrangement, and paper houses reflect apparent ecological sensitivity to Japanese social life but often contribute to a pervasive form of detachment in urban communities. It also discusses the intersection between conceptions of nature and rural nostalgia and argues that the Japanese lavish discourse on certain highly standardized forms of nature while ignoring— if not obscuring— elements of their own ecology such as waste and pollution, or irksome animal interlopers such as vermin jungle crows, that contradict the rhetoric.
Jonathan M. Reynolds
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824834418
- eISBN:
- 9780824871239
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824834418.003.0013
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
This chapter examines the expression of Japanese cultural identity through architecture from 1850 to the present. It begins with a discussion of the birth of the architectural profession in Japan ...
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This chapter examines the expression of Japanese cultural identity through architecture from 1850 to the present. It begins with a discussion of the birth of the architectural profession in Japan based on ideas borrowed from the West, along with the role played by architects in the country’s modernization project that included the construction of structures inspired by Western architecture. It then considers the controversy regarding the Japaneseness of modern design stemming from the establishment of institutions for the training and promotion of Western architectural practices throughout Japan. It also assesses the architectural projects that were launched as Japan embarked on a rebuilding effort after World War II. Finally, it highlights the debate over modernist architecture versus the desire for more explicit connections with premodern Japanese architecture.Less
This chapter examines the expression of Japanese cultural identity through architecture from 1850 to the present. It begins with a discussion of the birth of the architectural profession in Japan based on ideas borrowed from the West, along with the role played by architects in the country’s modernization project that included the construction of structures inspired by Western architecture. It then considers the controversy regarding the Japaneseness of modern design stemming from the establishment of institutions for the training and promotion of Western architectural practices throughout Japan. It also assesses the architectural projects that were launched as Japan embarked on a rebuilding effort after World War II. Finally, it highlights the debate over modernist architecture versus the desire for more explicit connections with premodern Japanese architecture.
Olga Kanzaki Sooudi
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824839413
- eISBN:
- 9780824869090
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824839413.003.0005
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Cultural Studies
This chapter examines how migrants in New York City craft themselves as Japanese through their creative work and personal identities. More specifically, it considers how Japan—as an idea, an ...
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This chapter examines how migrants in New York City craft themselves as Japanese through their creative work and personal identities. More specifically, it considers how Japan—as an idea, an identity, and an object of reflection and crafting—operates among Japanese migrants in NYC. It shows that many migrant artists struggle with the idea of “Japaneseness” itself, as they may package themselves and their work as “Japanese” or “Asian” so as to be commercially successful. The chapter interweaves these artists' stories with parallel histories of Japanese migration from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It also juxtaposes the narratives with two texts: Natsume Sōseki's 1914 speech “Watakushi no kojinshugi” (My individualism) and Kuki Shūzō's 1930 treatise “Iki” no kōzō (The structure of “iki”).Less
This chapter examines how migrants in New York City craft themselves as Japanese through their creative work and personal identities. More specifically, it considers how Japan—as an idea, an identity, and an object of reflection and crafting—operates among Japanese migrants in NYC. It shows that many migrant artists struggle with the idea of “Japaneseness” itself, as they may package themselves and their work as “Japanese” or “Asian” so as to be commercially successful. The chapter interweaves these artists' stories with parallel histories of Japanese migration from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It also juxtaposes the narratives with two texts: Natsume Sōseki's 1914 speech “Watakushi no kojinshugi” (My individualism) and Kuki Shūzō's 1930 treatise “Iki” no kōzō (The structure of “iki”).
Shiho Imai
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824833329
- eISBN:
- 9780824870232
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824833329.003.0003
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Pacific Studies
This chapter examines how the claim to whiteness allowed Japanese Americans in Hawaiʻi to demonstrate their Americanization while preserving their Japaneseness. It first considers how the immigrant ...
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This chapter examines how the claim to whiteness allowed Japanese Americans in Hawaiʻi to demonstrate their Americanization while preserving their Japaneseness. It first considers how the immigrant press promoted the buying power of Nisei youths through advertising as a part of a concerted effort to better the image of the Japanese American community. In particular, it shows how the ethnic press leveraged the annual convention of the Pacific Advertising Clubs Association (PACA), held in Honolulu in 1928, to urge mainland manufacturers to recognize the benefits associated with courting Nisei consumers. The chapter also discusses advertisements in the Japanese American press promoting feminine beauty and personal hygiene products, using the language of “natural beauty” (shizenbi) to compete with the cosmetics industry. Finally, it looks at advertising trends for beauty products during the Great Depression and demonstrates how class-based notions of whiteness resonated for the Issei, at a time when Japanese advertisers used the term interchangeably with shizenbi to assert an ethnocentrism via the language of beauty.Less
This chapter examines how the claim to whiteness allowed Japanese Americans in Hawaiʻi to demonstrate their Americanization while preserving their Japaneseness. It first considers how the immigrant press promoted the buying power of Nisei youths through advertising as a part of a concerted effort to better the image of the Japanese American community. In particular, it shows how the ethnic press leveraged the annual convention of the Pacific Advertising Clubs Association (PACA), held in Honolulu in 1928, to urge mainland manufacturers to recognize the benefits associated with courting Nisei consumers. The chapter also discusses advertisements in the Japanese American press promoting feminine beauty and personal hygiene products, using the language of “natural beauty” (shizenbi) to compete with the cosmetics industry. Finally, it looks at advertising trends for beauty products during the Great Depression and demonstrates how class-based notions of whiteness resonated for the Issei, at a time when Japanese advertisers used the term interchangeably with shizenbi to assert an ethnocentrism via the language of beauty.
David L. Howell
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824836979
- eISBN:
- 9780824870973
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824836979.003.0007
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Asian Studies
This chapter discusses how Ainu history has been balkanized within the discipline of Japanese history. The idea that the Ainu are the subjects rather than merely the objects of history gained ...
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This chapter discusses how Ainu history has been balkanized within the discipline of Japanese history. The idea that the Ainu are the subjects rather than merely the objects of history gained credence in Japan in the late 1970s and by now has become a matter of common sense among scholars. Recent scholarship on Ainu history has contributed importantly to the revisionist literature on Japanese identity, but by the same token it has been limited by its tendency to reduce the Ainu's story to a critique of the hegemonic discourse of Japaneseness. Recognizing this limitation, specialists now are taking another look at the relationship between Ainu history and Japanese history in an effort to craft a narrative that endows the Ainu people with agency and subjectivity while also acknowledging the enormous influence of the Japanese state over the Ainu and their homeland during the past four centuries.Less
This chapter discusses how Ainu history has been balkanized within the discipline of Japanese history. The idea that the Ainu are the subjects rather than merely the objects of history gained credence in Japan in the late 1970s and by now has become a matter of common sense among scholars. Recent scholarship on Ainu history has contributed importantly to the revisionist literature on Japanese identity, but by the same token it has been limited by its tendency to reduce the Ainu's story to a critique of the hegemonic discourse of Japaneseness. Recognizing this limitation, specialists now are taking another look at the relationship between Ainu history and Japanese history in an effort to craft a narrative that endows the Ainu people with agency and subjectivity while also acknowledging the enormous influence of the Japanese state over the Ainu and their homeland during the past four centuries.
