Anatomy of Loneliness: Suicide, Social Connection, and the Search for Relational Meaning in Contemporary Japan (Ethnographic Studies in Subjectivity)

Ethnographic Studies in Subjectivity

by Chikako Ozawa-de Silva

Loneliness is everybody’s business. Neither a pathology nor a rare affliction, it is part of the human condition. Severe and chronic loneliness, however, is a threat to individual and public health and appears to be on the rise. In this illuminating book, anthropologist Chikako Ozawa-de Silva examines loneliness in Japan, focusing on rising rates of suicide, the commodification of intimacy, and problems impacting youth. Moving from interviews with college students, to stories of isolation following the 2011 natural and nuclear disasters, to online discussions in suicide website chat rooms, Ozawa-de Silva points to how society itself can exacerbate experiences of loneliness. A critical work for our world, The Anatomy of Loneliness considers how to turn the tide of the “lonely society” and calls for a deeper understanding of empathy and subjective experience on both individual and systemic levels.
 

Genres: Anthropology, Nonfiction

285 pages, Paperback

Published December 7, 2021

Reviews

[Kendra Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and thoughtful. As a Japan nerd, I like learning about the good and the bad. This book shows ways that Japan, along with other highly capitalist and neoliberal societies, have to make changes in certain areas.

[Kelsey Ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hands down one of the best books I have read this year. Review to follow.

[Soph Rees · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for Psychological Anthropology class. Interesting case studies and discussion of loneliness and resilience. Reading first-person experiences with suicide was a little rough though