Synopses & Reviews
Unique for its historical breadth and interdisciplinary orientation, \[I\]Multicultural Japan\[/I\] challenges the conventional view of Japanese society as monocultural and homogeneous. The book ranges from prehistory to the present, arguing that cultural diversity has always existed in Japan. It investigates the politics of Japanese identity, examining archaeological evidence, Japan's indigenous people, historical connections with Europe and Asia, ideology, family and culture. Critical of the myth of uniqueness, this provocative book reveals Japan's multicultural past.
Review
"...Donald Denoon, Mark Hudson, Gavan McCormack, and Tessa Morris-Suzuki have given us an eminently intriguing and compelling collection of essays." The Historian
Synopsis
This book challenges the conventional view of Japanese society as being monocultural and homogenous. Unique for its historical breadth and interdisciplinary orientation, this study extends from the prehistoric phase to the present. It challenges the notion that Japan's monoculture is being challenged only because of internationalism, arguing that cultural diversity has always existed in Japan. It is a provocative discussion of identity politics around the question of "Japaneseness". The paperback edition has a new epilogue.
Table of Contents
Part I. Archaeology and Identity: 1. The Japanese as an Asia-Pacific population Katayama Kazumichi; 2. North Kyushu creole: a language-contact model for the origins of Japanese John C. Maher; 3. Beyond ethnicity and emergence in Japanese archaeology Simon Kaner; 4. Archaeology and Japanese identity Clare Fawcett; Part II. Centre and Periphery: 5. A descent into the past: the frontier in the construction of Japanese history Tessa Morris-Suzuki; 6. The place of Okinawa in Japanese historical identity Richard Pearson; 7. Ainu Moshir and Yaponesia: Ainu and Okinawan identities in contemporary Japan Hanazaki Kohei; Part III. Contact with the Outside: 8. Some reflections on identity formation in East Asia in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries Derek Massarella; 9. Siam and Japan in pre-modern times: a note on mutual images Ishii Yoneo; 10. Indonesia under the 'Greater East Asia co-prosperity sphere' Goto Ken'ichi; 11. Japanese army internment policies for enemy civilians during the Asia-Pacific war Utsumi Aiko; Part IV. The Japanese Family: 12. Modern patriarchy and the formation of the Japanese nation state Ueno Chizuko; 13. The modern Japanese family system: a unique or universal? Nishikawa Yuko; Part V. Culture and Ideology: 14. Emperor, race and commoners Amino Yoshihiko; 15. Two interpretations of Japanese culture Nishikawa Nagao; 16. Kokusaika: impediments in Japan's deep structure Gavan McCormack; Afterword: diversity and identity in the twenty-first century Mark Hudson and Tessa Morris-Suzuki.