Multicultural Japan
Palaeolithic to Postmodern

Challenges the conventional view of Japanese society as monocultural and homogenous.

Donald Denoon (Edited by), Mark Hudson (Edited by), Gavan McCormack (Edited by), Tessa Morris-Suzuki (Edited by)

9780521003629, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 20 November 2001

312 pages, 6 b/w illus. 4 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.8 cm, 0.46 kg

"...Donald Denoon, Mark Hudson, Gavan McCormack, and Tessa Morris-Suzuki have given us an eminently intriguing and compelling collection of essays." The Historian

This book challenges the conventional view of Japanese society as monocultural and homogenous. Unique for its historical breadth and interdisciplinary orientation, Multicultural Japan ranges from prehistory to the present, arguing that cultural diversity has always existed in Japan. A timely and provocative discussion of identity politics regarding the question of 'Japaneseness', the book traces the origins of the Japanese, examining Japan's indigenous people and the politics of archaeology, using the latter to link Japan's ancient history with contemporary debates on identity. Also examined are Japan's historical connections with Europe and East and Southeast Asia, ideology, family, culture and past and present.

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.

Subject Areas: Sociology & anthropology [JH], Asian history [HBJF], Biography: historical, political & military [BGH]