First published in 1986, Interpreting Japanese Society became something of a classic in the field. In this newly revised and updated edition, the value of anthropological approaches to help understand an ancient and complex nation is clearly demonstrated.
While living and working in Japan the contributors have studied important areas of society. Religion, ritual, leisure, family and social relations are covered as are Japanese preconceptions of time and space - often so different from Western concepts.
This new edition of Interpreting Japanese Society shows what an important contribution research in such a rapidly changing industralised nation can make to the subject of anthropology. It will be welcomed by students and scholars alike who wish to find refreshing new insights on one of the world's most fascinating societies.

Joy Hendry is Professor of Social Anthropology at Oxford Brookes University. She has 25 years experience specialising in the anthropological study of Japan and is the author of Understanding Japanese Society and Wrapping Culture

Introduction, Joy Hendry; Part 1 Time, space and models of action; Chapter 1 Time in the Japanese ritual year, Laurence Caillet; Chapter 2 Spatial characterization of human temporality in the Ry?ky?s, Patrick Beillevaire; Chapter 3 The Pythagorean view of time and space in Japan, Thomas Crump; Chapter 4 The question of space, Augustin Berque; Chapter 5 Contested identities and models of action in Japanese discourses of place-making, Eyal Ben-Ari; Part 2 Kinship and social relations; Chapter 6 Time, space and person in Japanese relationships, Jane M. Bachnik; Chapter 7 Is the ie disappearing in rural Japan?, Okpyo Moon; Chapter 8 Death rites in Japan in the twentieth century, Jan van Bremen; Chapter 9 A child in time, Roger Goodman; Part 3 Religion, science and cosmology; Chapter 10 Gods, ancestors and mediators, Teigo Yoshida; Chapter 11 The importance of the left hand in two types of ritual activity in Japanese villages, Kazuto Matsunaga; Chapter 12 'Years of calamity', David C. Lewis; Chapter 13 Redefining Kuzaki, D.P. Martinez; Chapter 14 Science and religious movements in Japan, Mary Picone; Part 4 Leisure; Chapter 15 Sakariba, Sepp Linhart; Chapter 16 One over the seven, Brian Moeran; Chapter 17 Models of performance, James Valentine;