Living Japan: Essays on Everyday Life in Contemporary Society

Harumi Kimura

Global Oriental, Mar 12, 2009 - History - 251 pages

This volume forms a unique and remarkable enterprise in the context of contemporary Japanese literature, social studies and the nature of Japanese society. It comprises 70 essays by private individuals living in Japan today (members of a writing club) who have chosen a subject to write about with a view to projecting a genuine insight into the events, issues and aspirations that make them who they are - from life in a condominium to dealing with in-laws, early retirement and life after children. Edited and introduced by the distinguished best-selling author Harumi Kimura (winner of the Ohya non-fiction prize for her book Letters from Twilight London'), the book's objective is to make Japan'more accessible to the nonspecialist general reader and provide a counter-balance to Western media images and reporting as well as conventional academic theory and observation about modern Japanese society. By definition, it also offers an invaluable primary source for scholarly reference.

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Review: Living Japan: Essays on Everyday Life in Contemporary Japan

User Review  - Rachel - Goodreads

This collection of short personal essays by regular people in Japan is about various aspects of their lives. For instance, one man laments that he can only have one egg per day; another is about a ...

Contents

• At the Foot of Mt Fuji: 3
• The Most Popular Cherry Tree Variety: 9
• The Approach to Japanese Sanctuary: 16

Bibliographic information

• Title: Living Japan: Essays on Everyday Life in Contemporary Society
• Author: Harumi Kimura
• Editor: Harumi Kimura
• Translated by: Haruko Miyazaki, Yuriko Takahashi
• Publisher: Global Oriental, 2009
• ISBN: 1905246862, 9781905246861
• Length: 251 pages
• Subjects: Fiction / General; History / Asia / Japan; History / Modern / 21st Century; Literary Collections / Essays; Literary Collections / General; Social Science / General