Unmasking Japan Today: The Impact of Traditional Values on Modern Japanese Society

(Hardback)

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Modern-day Japan has proven to be a complex nation struggling to combine traditional attitudes with the political and social demands of an advanced industrialized economy. This struggle to balance the past with the present has had a significant impact on the structure of human relations in contemporary Japan, particularly in the areas of the family and family dynamics, lifestyles, the education of children, the socialization of youth, women in the workplace, and the elderly. In all cases, we find a dual structure where traditional values and modern practices coexist. Based on a dual perspective that incorporates modern Western capitalism into Japan's traditional agrarian society, this book reveals a complex of cultural assumptions that determine the manners and customs of the Japanese people.

Reviews

"Interestingly, Kumagai, a Japanese sociologist who studied in the US and now teaches in Japan, came to see Japan as an outsider looking in... [she] discusses aspects of everyday life, such as the family, education, socialization of the elderly, and their changing patterns...Recommended for undergraduates."-Choice
Interestingly, Kumagai, a Japanese sociologist who studied in the US and now teaches in Japan, came to see Japan as an outsider looking in... [she] discusses aspects of everyday life, such as the family, education, socialization of the elderly, and their changing patterns...Recommended for undergraduates.-Choice

Author Bio

FUMIE KUMAGAI is a Japanese sociologist holding an American doctorate with extensive experience in the West. She is currently a Professor of Sociology at the Graduate School of International Cooperations and Department of Foreign Studies at Kyorin University in Tokyo. DONNA J. KEYSER is Associate Director of the Center on Japanese Economy and Business at Columbia University. Specializing in Japanese politics and international political economy, Keyser spent four years in Japan as a student, teacher, and Fulbright research fellow.