David H. Slater September 15, 2020 Volume 18 | Issue 18 | Number 2 Article ID 5482 This is a collection of original articles on diverse vulnerable populations in Japan in the wake of the new coronavirus pandemic. The effects of COVID-19 are felt differently, with some among us at much greater risk of infection … Read more
Jane Cobbi, a founding member of JAWS, passed away in Paris on August 6, 2020. An obituary was put in Le Monde on Tuesday, 15 September, as follows: Jane Cobbi, docteur etnologue, chargée de recherche émérite au CNRS, directrice du programme Japon á la FMSH, présidente de l’asssociation Maison de Kiso She learned Japanese language, … Read more
Urban Migrants in Rural Japan: Between Agency and Anomie in a Post-growth Society By Susanne Klien **Awarded 2020 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title in the US** Summary Offers an in-depth ethnography of paradigm shifts in the lifestyles and values of youth in post-growth Japan. Urban Migrants in Rural Japan provides a fresh perspective on theoretical notions … Read more
Women Managers in Neoliberal Japan: Gender, Precarious Labour and Everyday Lives By Swee-Lin Ho Book Description This book, based on extensive original research, presents a detailed analysis of the varying opportunities and challenges experienced by Japanese women with professional careers, an important category of the population in Japan, whose lives remain little known. It … Read more
Family-Run Universities in Japan: Sources of Inbuilt Resilience in the Face of Demographic Pressure, 1992-2030 By Jeremy Breaden and Roger Goodman Book Description Globally, private universities enrol one in three of all higher education students. In Japan, which has the second largest higher education system in the world in terms of overall expenditure, almost … Read more
By Genaro Castro-Vázquez Book Description Drawing on the concept of the somatic self, Castro-Vázquez explores how Japanese men think about, express and interpret their experiences concerning body weight control. Based on an extensive ethnographic investigation, this book offers a compelling analysis of male obesity and overweight in Japan from a symbolic interactionism perspective to delve … Read more
Professor Yoshida was a visiting scholar at Oxford University when we held the founding meeting of the Japan Anthropology Workshop in 1984, and he agreed to become our honorary Japanese representative. This was a position he held for many years, attending our conferences in exciting locations, and contributing to deliberations on a huge variety of … Read more
Report Authors: Alastair LOMAS, University of Manchester, alastair.lomas[@]postgrad.manchester.ac.uk Antonia MISERKA, University of Vienna, antonia.miserka[@]univie.ac.at Sebastian POLAK-ROTTMANN, University of Vienna, sebastian.polak-rottmann[@]univie.ac.at Pilvi POSIO, University of Turku, pilvi.posio[@]utu.fi The JAWS conference 2019 took place at Aarhus University in Denmark from 15-17 April 2019. The conference gathered together anthropologists to sunny spring Aarhus to explore the … Read more
Caitlin MEAGHER Wentworth Institute of Technology, Boston meagherc[@]wit.edu At this year’s annual meeting, I presented a paper entitled ‘Rethinking community?: alternative housing as a response to alienation in contemporary Japan’ adapted from the final chapter of my doctoral thesis. The paper emerged out of the apparent gap between the rhetorical uses of ‘community’ … Read more
Nanase SHIROTA ns637[@]cam.ac.uk University of Cambridge What makes a good listener? What does it mean to be a good listener in contemporary Japanese society? My current ethnographic project investigates the art of listening in hostesses (escorts or contemporary geisha) and listening volunteers in Japan, in addition to analysing self-help literature on listening. In … Read more