An Introduction to Japanese Society

While no book is able to entirely encapsulate a culture, Yoshio Sugimoto's "An Introduction to Japanese Society" manages to showcase the ethnic and economical diversity alongside pop culture and "Friendly Authoritarianism," something that one can see every day in Japan. Scholarly in tone, this is a competent book for serious students of Japan, who want more than can be offered by "culture" books and such. An impressively wide examination, each of the ten chapters examines a particular face of Japan. Economic class and stratification, varieties in work and labor, diversity and unity in education, minority groups and gender stratification, almost every possible angle is seen. Popular and folk culture are examined in detail, with the "Four Japanese Phenomena" described as manga, pachinko, karaoke and the sex industry. As someone who has spent considerable time in Japan, I can assure that these four areas have more impact on modern Japan than the tea ceremony and the Japanese garden! Although it is packed with information, "An Introduction to Japanese Society" is also small enough as to not be intimidating. It is only an introduction, but it should be a gateway to those seeking insight into a fascinating culture.

This book should be required reading for any introductory course for Japanese Studies. Sugimoto presents a very unbiased view of Japanese society, and covers many different aspects, such as gender, hierarchy (the vertical society), and education that play daily roles in the maintaining of the structure and implement of Japanese ways. Excellent reading for anyone with an interest in Japan, necessary reading for any student of Japanese Studies.

An Introduction to Japanese Society is a book no serious student of Japan (or East Asia generally) can afford to pass up. It affords an unflinching and incisive look at the nature of Japanese democracy by a Japanese scholar who pulls no punches. While quite a few Western scholars have characterized the Japanese elementary school classroom, for example, as less authoritarian than its American counterpart, Sugimoto contends that authoritarianism is pronounced but subtly pervasive throughout Japanese society. Instead of accentuating top-down coercion by authorities, as Korean and Chinese societies do, Japanese authoritarianism is more subtle, relying heavily on indirect controls such as small group pressures, extensive surveillance, moralistic ideologies, positive reinforcements, mythologies of benevolent leadership, and pleasant rituals to mask underlying and potentially coercive power. As Sugimoto persuasively demonstrates, "Japanese friendly authoritarianism does not normally exhibit its coercive face." But when all else fails, it can and does exercise the full measure of its power. Sugimoto's book should inspire more Western scholars to take a closer look at the informal mechanisms of control in Japanese society. If Sugimoto is right, Japan has far to go before it becomes a full-fledged democracy.