This book enables readers to understand contemporary Japanese society and culture. Since it is written by experts, it allows readers to start with any chapters they are interested in. It also provides a unique way to introduce Japanese society and culture to those who have never visited or studied Japanese society by reading articles from various authors on topics such as gender, family, economy, natural disasters and politics and laws. It provides scholars, academics, graduate students and the general educated audience all the information required to understand contemporary Japanese society and culture fully and see the diverse perspectives available.

Autorentext

Kimiko Tanaka is a Professor of Sociology in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at James Madison University. She has received her M.A. and Ph.D. in Sociology from Michigan State University. She has published articles on Japan to discuss aging, families, culture, rural depopulation, and gender. Her recent publication, Successful Aging in a Rural Community in Japan, provides the important insight that words such as "rural" and "depopulation" do not simply equate with negative outcomes for the elderly in rural Japan.Helaine Selin was a Faculty Associate and Science Librarian at Hampshire College, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA, from which she retired in 2012. She is the editor of the Encyclopedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures (3rd ed. Springer 2016) and ten books in Springer's Science Across Cultures series, on Astronomy, Mathematics, Medicine, Nature, Childbirth, Parenting, Happiness, Death, Aging and asecond edition of the Parenting book.