Japan, the Sustainable Society: The Artisanal Ethos, Ordinary Virtues, and Everyday Life in the Age of LimitsBy the late twentieth century, Japan had gained worldwide attention as an economic powerhouse. Having miraculously risen from the ashes of World War II, it was seen by many as a country to be admired if not emulated. But by the early 1990s, that bubble burst in spectacular fashion. The Japanese economic miracle was over. In this book, John Lie argues that in many ways the Japan of today has the potential to be even more significant than it was four decades ago. As countries face the prospect of a world with decreasing economic growth and increasing environmental dangers, Japan offers a unique glimpse into what a viable future might look like—one in which people acknowledge the limits of the economy and environment while championing meaningful and sustainable ways of working and living. Beneath and beyond the rhetoric of growth, some Japanese are leading sustainable lives and creating a sustainable society. Though he does not prescribe a one-size-fits-all cure for the world, Lie makes the compelling case that contemporary Japanese society offers a possibility for how other nations might begin to valorize everyday life and cultivate ordinary virtues. |
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Japan, the Sustainable Society: The Artisanal Ethos, Ordinary Virtues, and ... John Lie Limited preview - 2021 |
Japan, the Sustainable Society: The Artisanal Ethos, Ordinary Virtues, and ... John Lie Limited preview - 2021 |
Common terms and phrases
achievement apprentices artisanal ethos Asahi Shinbun bathhouses become Bubble Bungei bureaucrats chap chapter cleaning contemporary Japanese corporations craft culture customers dankai decline desire dominant Edo period Edo regime Edo-era Edo-style sushi Edomae sushi everyday example fish global human idea ikigai individual industrial inequality Iwanami Shoten Japa Japan kabuki kaitenzushi kanpyō Kōdansha Kusatsu labor Liberal Democratic Party living lost decades maguro manga master Meiji regime Meiji Restoration ment military mixed-gender bathing modern Japanese Nihon norm novel one’s onsen ordinary virtues otaku oyakata percent political popular post-Bubble postwar period postwar regime practice prewar production protagonist rapid economic growth romantic love Salaryman sense sentō serve Shinchōsha Shobō shokunin Shōwa period Shuppan social society story sushi chefs sushi establishments sushi restaurants sustainable tempura things tion Tokugawa Tokyo told traditional twenty-first century University Press usually Western women workers York young younger