The title links in each part of the course will bring you to session details, reading assignments, and other materials.
Part One | On Studying Contemporary Japan
9/3 Thurs | A first view of the course
9/8 Tues | What Japan will we study?
9/10 Thurs | Reading and writing anthropology: Context, concepts, and comparison
Part Two | Growing Up in Late 20th-Century Japan
9/15 Tues | Workplaces and corporate cultures: The “Japanese company” and the Toyota assembly line
9/17 Thurs | Company workers in the mainstream: The “salaryman” and the “office lady”
9/22 Tues | Working without security and restraint: The cushions around the core
9/24 Thurs | Schooling: Japan as a “credential society”
9/29 Tues | Schooling: Tracks and levels
10/1 Thurs | Match-making and marriage
10/6 Tues | Family matters
Part Three | Coming of Age in Early 21st-Century Japan
10/8 Thurs | Is 21st-century Japan neoliberal?
10/13 Tues |The new workers: Service, sales, and slackers
10/15 Thurs | Schooling in crisis
10/20 Tues | Universities in turmoil
10/22 Thurs | FALL BREAK
10/27 Tues | Drop-outs and loners
10/29 Thurs | Solo living, young and old
11/3 Wed | Families, from dating to divorce
11/5 Thurs | Death, dying, and “McFunerals”
11/10 Tues | Still second-class: Koreans in Japan
11/12 Thurs | Is Japan becoming multi-ethnic? The case of Brazilian-Japanese
Part Four | New Horizons
11/17 Tues | New humanoids: Robots and pets
11/19 Thurs | Japan after “3.11”
12/1 Tues | New realms: Digital worlds and social media
12/3 Thurs | Is ramen Japanese?
12/8 Tues | New sports: From baseball to soccer
12/10 Thurs | Can regional Japan survive?
12/15 Tues | The Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Japan’s future