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- Convenor:
-
Lynne Nakano
(The Chinese University of Hong Kong)
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- Stream:
- Anthropology and Sociology
- Location:
- Bloco 1, Piso 1, Sala 1.10
- Sessions:
- Thursday 31 August, -
Time zone: Europe/Lisbon
Short Abstract:
The panel explores the relationship between the material and immaterial worlds in Japan and considers how material contexts impact perceptions. Panelists consider whether there are any recognizable patterns in the interplay of material and immaterial spheres in Japan.
Long Abstract:
The panel explores the relationship between the material and immaterial worlds in Japan and considers how material contexts impact perceptions in a Japanese context. While the material and immaterial are often viewed as discrete spheres, the panel explores their interconnection through the ways that people talk about their lives and values. The panel considers how the material world intersects with perception in three major areas of life in Japan: physical and nonphysical disability in children, material conditions of marriage and marital happiness, and materiality and views of death and the afterlife. The first paper examines how disability in children, both visible and invisible (for example, developmental disorders such as ADHD and autism), is interpreted by parents and educators, and how educators and parents discuss the relationship between the material disability/ability and the immaterial value of their child. The second paper examines how housing and material contexts shape marital happiness among couples in Tokyo. The third paper explores how materiality shapes perceptions of death and the afterlife. By exploring individuals' appraisal of material contexts in shaping life positions and values, the panel considers whether there are any recognizable patterns in the interplay of material and immaterial spheres in Japan, and thereby generates discussion on how the anthropology of Japan may contribute to theories of materiality.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Thursday 31 August, 2017, -Paper short abstract:
Life after death is portrayed in writings and by those I've interviewed as a realm apart from the Japanese social and material world: an escape from that world. But ano yo ["that world"] continually interpenetrates with kono yo ["this world']: this world is materially linked to the world to come.
Paper long abstract:
There is, at present, a great upsurge of interest in life after death in Japan, with bookstores carrying dozens or hundreds of volumes telling readers what may happen to them after they die, in interpretations ranging from traditional Buddhism to contemporary science fiction. Many of these books, whether whimsical or serious, present in their depictions a realm distinctly apart from this world—death and its aftermath are realms where, as one book has it, "you are free from the constraints of this world," in all its material and social restrictions. Indeed, ano yo ["that world"], however it may be envisioned, is thought of by many Japanese as being unconstrained by the limitations of the physical and social limitations of kono yo ["this world'], as I have found from two decades of interviewing Japanese as to their senses of what, if anything, happens to them after they die. For the half or so of Japanese who claim to believe in life after death, "that world" is often envisioned as representing freedom from the constraining social shackles of this world. Nonetheless, "that world" is interpenetrated with "this world" in many ways. This is certainly true in Buddhist temples; it is also true around the family butsudan [altar], where departed family members are given offerings of food and regular greetings, in an intrusion of "that world," however much its reality may be denied by some Japanese ("it's only custom, that's why we do it"). More than this, thoughts of "that world" or its absence enter into daily life in countless ways, from the money many pay to the New or Old Religions they may belong to, money at least indirectly linked to their adherence to these religions' post-life doctrines, to the contributions that some who believe in reincarnation make to charities, to the consumption patterns of those Japanese who believe in nothing after death: "I only live once, so I should enjoy my life buying the things I really want to have." The vagaries of "that world" help shape the materiality of "this world" in Japan today.
Paper short abstract:
This paper explores the how educators and parents in Japan have made the argument for government support of special education; an argument that promotes the value of the growth and well-being of children who might never be able to "pay back" or contribute to society in a recognizable way.
Paper long abstract:
This paper explores the how educators and parents in Japan have made the argument for government support of special education that has resulted in changing policies and improved support over time. The argument for the financial support of special education requires that educators and parents promote the immaterial value of the growth and well-being of a child who might never be able to "pay back" or contribute to society in a recognizable way; these children may never be able to work or even live independently. The paper thus considers the parents' and educators' strategies for obtaining financial support for the abstract values of human growth and well-being. These strategies are noteworthy given that the Japanese government has subsequently developed a relatively high level of educational support for children suffering from severe disabilities. The paper also considers how disability in children, both visible and invisible (in the case of children suffering from autism and ADHD), is interpreted by parents and educators, and how parents and educators discuss the relationship between the material disability/ability and the value of their child. The paper shows how discussions regarding special education embody tensions between arguments for the potential for developing social usefulness (developing children into productive members of society) and arguments for the inherent value of the human being apart from any possible ability of making a material contribution to the society.
Paper short abstract:
This paper employs housing as an example to explore how the material and immaterial realms intersect in the sphere of marriage in contemporary Japan. It reveals how the more tangible attributes of housing at once reflect and determine its occupants' less tangible sense of marital happiness.
Paper long abstract:
When being asked about one's sense of marital happiness, most married young people I encountered in Japan went in great length to talk about the immaterial aspects of marriage: love, intimacy, bond and care. On the other hand, the material aspects of marriage, such as income and property, were often either downplayed or taken for granted. This tendency for people to prioritize immaterial value over material conditions when elaborating happiness in one's marriage coincides with the mainstream discourse in Japan over the past half century that emphasizes love and companionship as the base of a happy marriage. However, by no means I am claiming that in Japan today the material contexts have nothing to do with young people's sense of marital happiness. On the contrary, in this paper I argue that notwithstanding seemingly being obscured either consciously or unconsciously in most of the narratives, the material conditions of marriage indeed powerfully shape people's perceptions of martial happiness. Mainly based on the in-depth interviews that I conducted with 26 married middle-class Japanese in their 30s and subsequent participant observation at several informants' homes during my six-month stay in Tokyo from December, 2015, this paper uses housing as an example to explore how the material and immaterial realms intersect in the sphere of marriage in contemporary Japan. It shows how the more tangible attributes of housing, such as its size and price, its location (eg. at city center; suburb; close to/faraway from the parents' house, etc.) and type (eg. condominium; detached family house; two-generation housing, etc.), and its interior arrangement and decorations, at once reflect and determine its occupants' less tangible sense of marital happiness.