6th Edition

Understanding Japanese Society

By Joy Hendry, Emma E. Cook Copyright 2026
344 Pages 68 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

344 Pages 68 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

344 Pages 68 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

In this welcome new sixth edition of the bestselling textbook Understanding Japanese Society, Joy Hendry and Emma E. Cook take the reader into the heart of Japanese life. Providing a clear and accessible introduction to Japanese ways of thinking, which does not require any previous knowledge of the country, this book explores Japanese society through the worlds of home, work, play, health,... Read more

Introduction

1. Sources of Japanese identity: Historical and mythological foundations of Japan

 2. The house and family system

3. Socialisation and classification

4. Community and neighborhood

5. The education system

6. Status, hierarchy, and ethnic diversity

7. Healthcare and ageing

8. Religious influences

9. Ritual and the life cycle

10. Opportunities for working life

11. Arts, entertainment, and leisure

12. Government and the craft of politics

13. The legal system and social control

Conclusion

Biography

Joy Hendry is Professor Emerita of Oxford Brookes University, UK, and has held visiting associations with Tokyo, Dōshisha, and Keio universities, carried out fieldwork over 50 years, and published many books and articles on the social anthropology of Japan. A recent book An Affair with a Village (2021) tells a more personal story. In 2017, she was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun by the Japanese government.

Emma E. Cook is Professor of Modern Japanese Studies at Hokkaido University, Japan. Previous publications include a book titled Reconstructing Adult Masculinities: Part-Time Work in Contemporary Japan (2016), an edited volume with Allison Alexy called Intimate Japan: Ethnographies of Closeness and Conflict (2018), and articles in Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry, Asian Anthropology, and Social Science Japan Journal, among others.