Asia in focus: Japan

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

ECONOMY

The rise of the Japanese economy from the ashes of World War II is one of the most important world events since that conflict. Today, Japan ranks with the U.S. and China as one of the world’s largest economies. The United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan respectively have the world’s three-largest stock markets, and Japan ranks among world leaders in manufacturing and international trade. After more than two decades of high-speed growth and another decade of slower but still impressive economic advancement, in 1990 Japan began a period of economic malaise that would last until 2005. Although serious problems remain from the recent period of stagnation, Japan appears to be back on course. However, like the rest of the world, Japan suffered from the 2008 global financial crisis.

Even when Japan and other nations recover from recent economic difficulties, the archipelago faces its own unique economic challenges. These include the aging of its population, a shrinking workforce, too many inefficient small manufacturers and service providers, and business restructuring that threatens traditional cultural practices. In subsequent sections of this chapter, readers will gain a basic understanding of both Japan’s economy and potential barriers to economic prosperity that the Japanese must successfully overcome.

SOCIETY

Religion and Thought

Social Classes and Ethnicity

Introduction: Social Classes and Ethnicity in a Non-Western Society
The Group and the Vertical Society
Group Socialization: The School
Workplace Groups
Social Class and Mobility
Pressures to Conform
Ethnic and Minority Groups

Women and Marriage

Introduction
Women in Classical, Early Modern, and Imperial Japan
Women in Postwar Japan
21st-Century Changes and Challenges for Women
Conclusion: Women and Social Issues

Japan’s Educational System

Introduction
Historical and Cultural Foundations of Learning
The Structure of Japanese Education
Administrators and Teachers
Entrance Examinations
Student Life and Behavior Patterns
Higher Education
Educational Reform

CULTURE

The Japanese Language

Introduction
Written Japanese
Spoken Japanese
Loanwords
Language and Japanese Culture
Learning Japanese Language

Etiquette in Japan

Introduction
Cultural Beliefs and Etiquette
Survival Etiquette
Conclusion: Japanese Tolerance and a Changing Japan

Japanese Literature

Introduction: Understanding People and Culture
Japan’s Literary Tradition: Pre-20th-Century Authors
Giants of 20th-Century Japanese Literature
Conclusion: Japanese Literature and the 21st Century

Japanese Art

Introduction
The Arts: Prehistoric to Heian (11,000 BCE–794 CE)
Art and Heian Japan (794–1185)
Medieval Arts (1185–1600)
Tokugawa Japan (1600–1868): ‘‘Classic’’ Japanese Arts and Western Contact
New Directions and Global Arts (1868–Present)
Conclusion: Japanization and Westernization

Japanese Music

Introduction: World Music
Music in Early and Medieval Japan
Music in Tokugawa Japan
Encounters with Western Music: 1868–1945
Post–1945 Japan: World Music Flourishes
Conclusion

Food

A Cultural and Social History
Food as Art
Eating in Restaurants and Homes
Common Japanese Dishes
Common Beverages

Sports and Leisure in Japan

Asobi
Traditional Sports and Leisure: Past and Present
Contemporary Japan: Sports
Major Popular Culture Pursuits: ‘‘MASK’’ and More
Pachinko
Manga
Anime
Karaoke
Conclusion: Cell Phones

CONTEMPORARY ISSUES

Introduction: Is Japan Facing Massive Changes?
Japan’s Foreign Policy and China: ‘‘A Middle Power?’’
Japan and the Korean Peninsula
Japan, the United States, and Contemporary International Challenges
Japan and the World
The Views of Two Foreigners
Can Japan Become a Genuine Multicultural Society?
Glossary
Facts and Figures
Holidays
Organizations
Annotated Bibliography of Recommended Works on Japan