Recreating Japanese Men (Volume 20)

Asia: Local Studies / Global Themes

by Sabine Frühstück (Editor), Anne Walthall (Editor), Luke S. Roberts (Contributor)

The essays in this groundbreaking book explore the meanings of manhood in Japan from the seventeenth to the twenty-first centuries. Recreating Japanese Men examines a broad range of attitudes regarding properly masculine pursuits and modes of behavior. It charts breakdowns in traditional and conventional societal roles and the resulting crises of masculinity. Contributors address key questions about Japanese manhood ranging from icons such as the samurai to marginal men including hermaphrodites, robots, techno-geeks, rock climbers, shop clerks, soldiers, shoguns, and more. In addition to bringing historical evidence to bear on definitions of masculinity, contributors provide fresh analyses on the ways contemporary modes and styles of masculinity have affected Japanese men’s sense of gender as authentic and stable.

Genres: Japan

360 pages, Hardcover

First published October 4, 2011

About the author

Sabine Frühstück is Professor of Modern Japanese Culture at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is the author of Uneasy Warriors: Gender, Memory, and Popular Culture in the Japanese Army and Colonizing Sex: Sexology and Social Control in Modern Japan.

Reviews

[Kendra Lawrence · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was looking forward to reading this, but I ended up dnfing. it had some interesting points, but it wasn't quite what I was expecting. I love learning about Japan (the good and the bad), but while there was some history, I was expecting more. It just wasn't holding my attention, and sadly, at this point, the "modern" chapters are a bit dated (sad to think of 2011 being dated, but on certain topics, it is).