Configurations of Family in Contemporary Japan

In: Nissan Institute/Routledge Japanese Studies

Abstract

The middle-class nuclear family model has long dominated discourses on family in Japan. Yet there have always been multiple configurations of family and kinship, which, in the context of significant socio-economic and demographic shifts since the 1990s, have become increasingly visible in public discourse. This book explores the meanings and practices of ""family"" in Japan, and brings together research by scholars of literature, gender studies, media and cultural studies, sociology and anthropology. While the primary focus is the ""Japanese"" family, it also examines the experience and practi