Cultural Anthropology

This paper tells a story about my life as an anthropologist who is both “native” and “alien” to Japanese society.  I am a native in that I was born to Japanese parents of prewar generation and was raised within a “genuine” Japanese family in Sendai, Japan.  I consider Sendai home, where I now live and work, and I love the city in its entirety.  I strongly identify myself with the people and culture of Sendai city and Tohoku region of Japan.  I am also an alien, however, in that I spent two years of my early life from five to seven years old in Buffalo, New York, USA, which fact tuned me into a “returnee kid.”  I later spent altogether five years at Michigan State University studying anthropology.  I am doubly “Americanized.”  I acquired American language and habits early on and I absorbed American anthropology in my early adulthood.  Both became part and parcel of my way of life.  As a result, I constantly oscillate between being a native and being an alien, between acting—as a native or an alien—and watching all that as an anthropologist.  In this paper, I shall examine several episodes in which my native side collides with my alien side under the watchful eyes of my anthropologist side and discuss what that all means to me and potentially to anthropology as a discipline.

"" This paper compares the usages of “culture” and “civilization” in the first edition of the Mind of Primitive Man published in 1911, and thereby re-examines Franz Boas’ conception of culture at the time of its publication.
George W. Stocking, Jr. (1968[1966]) maintains that by 1911 Boas has cast away the humanistic and evolutionary conception of culture in the singular and adopted the anthropological conception of culture in the plural.  Stocking (1968[1966]) further insists that he found no usages of the plural form “cultures” in writers other than Boas between 1890 and 1915.  Joan Mark (1980), however, found that Frank Hamilton Cushing used “cultures” in his writings in the 1890s, and Takami Kuwayama (personal communication) argues that Lewis Henry Morgan wrote of historically specific cultures in Ancient Society.
This paper found the use of “cultures” in John Wesley Powell (1988), William Henry Holmes (1890, 1897), Otis Tufton Mason (1896,1899), Daniel Garrison Brinton (1894,1895), Jesse Walter Fewkes (1894); they all had the notion of ethnically, regionally or historically specific cultures—if only within the evolutionary framework.
In the Mind of Primitive Man, 1911, Franz Boas used singular “culture” 96 times and plural “cultures” 7 times, while he used singular “civilization” 99 times and plural “civilizations” 9 times.  This paper found that none of Boas’ use of “cultures” denoted culturally distinct human groups; Boas does not use the plural “cultures” in modern anthropological sense.  His notion of culture has only two meanings: (a) something independent of and opposed to biology, and (b) achievements and advancement of humanity in general.  By contrast, his use of plural “civilizations” strongly indicates that Boas conceived of historically and regionally specific politico-religious entities as “civilizations,” sometimes in conflict and mutual contempt.  In order that humanity shall overcome such prejudice, Boas advocated civilizational—not cultural—relativism and tolerance.
The Mind of Primitive Man, 1911, was a powerful declaration of the independence of culture from biology—especially from race.  However, contrary to Stocking’s thesis, as of 1911, Franz Boas had not cast away the humanistic concept of singular “culture,” had not adopted the anthropological concept of plural “cultures,” and still conceived of the relativity of historically and regionally specific “civilizations,” which collectively were advancing in the course of human progress and were to do so in his days and beyond.""

The purpose of this essay is to question the conventional view that an increase in men's participation in household chores and childcare would promote women to get married and have children.  From the perspectives of masculinity studies, this essay explores historical changes in Japanese men's views on marriage and children and analyzes their impact upon shifts in marriage rates and birthrates.  First, this essay presents some statistical data to show that such vies are closely linked with a decline in birthrates.  the author argues that marriage is no longer a necessity for Japanese men but merely an option.  In fact, many of them do not wish to get married for economic and other reasons or postpone marriage (sometimes indefinitely) until they find "the most ideal" partner.  they choose marriage only when they decide to raise children.  furthermore, the majority of Japanese men today do not regard children as life security in their old age but as pure joy or as a source of happiness.  In economic terms, the utility of children is "consumption utility"; therefore, the "law of diminishing utility" applies to children.  Besides, the total cost, both economic and psychological, of having children is on a steady rise, especially for those house-making, child-caring men; hence they are reluctant to have a second child.  all these point to the conclusion that the Japanese government policy of encouraging men to participate in household work and childcare, by itself, is not likely to raise Japan's declining birthrates.

This paper reports what I tried in teaching about the "September 11" and its aftermath in my introductory anthropology classes at Japanese universities. Having watched the media coverage of the tragedies in New York and Washington DC and the US reaction to them, I was alarmed by their presentation of "terrorism" as if there was a particular culture or faith behind the mass murder committed on September 11. To counter such a media campaign, I tried three things in the fall semester last year. First, I tried to deconstruct the media induced image of "turban, beard and machine gun" that implanted unwarranted fear of the "unknown other" in the minds of students. Second, I tried to familiarize so-called "fundamentalism" by pointing out fundamentalist tendencies in students' own everyday life. Third, I assigned an ethnography on Muslim society and provided alternative interpretations of the lives of Muslim women in order to put the media frenzy on "oppression of Afghan women" in an anthropologically informed perspective. By such methods, I strove to place the "September 11" in a wider cross-cultural context. From their response, I found out that my effort helped students acquire more critical attitude toward media and more tolerant attitude toward cultural differences. I hope this paper will offer a positive example in anthropological pedagogy for tolerance, peace, and culturally informed sense of justice.

This paper presents my personal experience of the Great East Japan Earthquake and its aftermath and my reflection on the historically constructed political and economic inequalities that made the region peculiarly vulnerable to disasters.  I argue first that the reconstruction must include rectification of inequalities that existed prior to the disaster and second that reconstruction ought not create new inequalities in the disaster-affected communities.

This paper tells stories of my life as a returnee kid in Sendai, a foreign student in Michigan, and an American-trained anthropologist in Sendai again, examines how the author's social and cultural positionality has developed and changed, and discusses how such swinging positionality has influenced the author's attitude to Japan studies.

This article argues that the concept of sexual harassment poses a radical challenge to the principles of objectivity and universality that underlie modern law by putting the emotional state of the alleged victim (his/her feeling of “not wanting” or “unwelcoming” the sexual advance of the alleged offender) as the sole criterion of whether the victim’s right to sexual freedom is violated or not and thereby “subjectifying” the right claims.  This article also argues that the concept of domestic violence poses exactly the same challenge to modern law by defining violence as a means used by one spouse for generating fear in the other in order to dominate her/him.  Here again, subjective state of mind—fear—is postulated as the criterion of whether an act of violence is committed or not.  By “subjectifying” the right claims, the two concepts of sexual harassment and domestic violence radically individualizes and particularizes the criteria of wrongness of conduct.  Ostensibly same conduct may or may not be judged as harassment or violence by the alleged victim depending on his/her subjective assessment of violation.  The two concepts challenge the basic presupposition underlying modern law, namely, universal application of objective and conduct-based standards in deciding on the criminality or tort damages.  The two concepts call for a new radically victim-centered standard of misconduct that places the victim’s sense of repulsion and fear as the sole criterion of harassment and violence.  This article finally argues that in the context of a relationship of unequal power the stronger party is held liable for extra care not to offend or threaten the weaker party.

This article examines the duties and rights of men as the "siring sex" in the realm of reproduction from a progressive male standpoint. Men as producers and suppliers of sperm are part of the "human reproductive system." Recent studies have produced evidence of male-mediated developmental toxicology and reproductive hazards. Male sexuality as constituted now also has deleterious effects on men's mental and social health. More attention needs to be paid to male reproductive health. Reproductive rights were advocated originally as "women's right to self-determination." Men as the "siring sex" are obliged to recognize and honor women's autonomy. The fact that men contribute sperm to reproduction does not grant them the right to force abortion or delivery. The sexual asymmetry and inequality in reproduction precludes men from sharing equal rights with women in this matter. In order to overcome patriarchy and male domination, and to uphold gender equality and justice, men ought to fulfill their duty to respect women's rights and children's rights in the reproductive realm. To do so, however, men need certain resources and economic, social, and political support systems. This leads the author to propose that the state and society grant men the "rights to fulfill duties" as a new set of social rights, which should include men's (fathers') right to reproductively safe work, health, and environment.