Japanese Numbers Game

by Thomas Crump

An almost obsessional use of numbers characterizes Japanese popular culture. A wide variety of numerical formulae and strategies provide the means for explaining events and solving problems occurring in everyday life. These include such matters as the choice of the name for a child, ranking in almost any game or sport, the diagnosis and cure of illness or the decision to accept a new job. This text provides a general study of the field of Japanese popular numeracy. It introduces the reader to a world of numbers in which fortune-telling, the abacus and games involving numbers, as well as curious numerical names (of both people and places), illustrate the importance of systems of counting, calculation and forecasting. The study explores the cultural roots of attitudes towards numbers and makes suggestions about the contemporary implications of a culture in which mechanical numeracy (and number obsession) is general but the highest levels of academic mathematics still fall short of world standards.

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 9, 1992

About the author

Thomas Crump, born into a family of authors, published his first book in 1963. In the course of more than 40 years spent mainly as an academic, Thomas Crump has published many books. Since retirement in 1994 he has extended his range to write new books about history, science and medicine.