Child's Play : Multi-Sensory Histories of Children and Childhood in Japan

A free ebook version of this title is available through Luminos, University of California Press’s Open Access publishing program. Visit (http://www.luminosoa.org) www.luminosoa.org to learn more. Few things make Japanese adults feel quite as anxious today as the phenomenon called the “child crisis.” Various media teem with intense debates about bullying in schools, child poverty, child suicides, violent crimes committed by children, the rise of socially withdrawn youngsters, and forceful moves by the government to introduce a more conservative educational curriculum. These issues have propelled Japan into the center of a set of global conversations about the nature of children and how to raise them. Engaging both the history of children and childhood and the history of emotions, contributors to this volume track Japanese childhood through a number of historical scenarios. Such explorations—some from Japan’s early-modern past—are revealed through letters, diaries, memoirs, family and household records, and religious polemics about promising, rambunctious, sickly, happy, and dutiful youngsters. "Few things make Japanese adults feel quite as anxious today as the phenomenon called the "child crisis." Various media teem with intense debates about bullying in schools, child poverty, child suicides, violent crimes committed by children, the rise of socially withdrawn youngsters, and forceful moves by the government to introduce a more conservative educational curriculum. These issues have propelled Japan into the center of a set of global conversations about the nature of children and how to raise them. Engaging both the history of children and childhood and the history of emotions, contributors to this volume track Japanese childhood through a number of historical scenarios. Such explorations--some from Japan's early-modern past--are revealed through letters, diaries, memoirs, family and household records, and religious polemics about promising, rambunctious, sickly, happy, and dutiful youngsters."--Provided by publisher

Few things make Japanese adults feel quite as anxious today as the phenomenon called the "child crisis." Various media teem with intense debates about bullying in schools, child poverty, child suicides, violent crimes committed by children, the rise of socially withdrawn youngsters, and forceful moves by the government to introduce a more conservative educational curriculum. These issues have propelled Japan into the center of a set of global conversations about the nature of children and how to raise them. Engaging both the history of children and childhood and the history of emotions, contributors to this volume track Japanese childhood through a number of historical scenarios. Such explorations—some from Japan's early modern past—are revealed through letters, diaries, memoirs, family and household records, and religious polemics about promising, rambunctious, sickly, happy, and dutiful youngsters.

Cover Series Page Half Title Title Page Copyright Contents Illustrations and Table Acknowledgments Introduction Part I Premodern Period 1 Nasty Boys or Obedient Children? 2 Growing Up Manly 3 For the Love of Children Part II Early Twentieth Century 4 Consumer Consumption for Children 5 “Children in the Wind” 6 Children and the Founding of Manchukuo Part III Asia-Pacific War 7 Reversing the Gaze 8 Outdoor Play in Wartime Japan 9 “ . . . And my heart screams” Part IV Contemporary Japan 10 From Grade Schooler to Great Star 11 Treatment and Intervention for Children with Developmental Disabilities 12 Food, Affect, and Experiments in Care 13 Monju-kun Contributors