Manners and Mischief : Gender, Power, and Etiquette in Japan

Offering a concise, entertaining snapshot of Japanese society, __Manners and Mischief__ examines etiquette guides, advice literature, and other such instruction for behavior from the early modern period to the present day and discovers how manners do in fact make the nation. Eleven accessibly written essays consider a spectrum of cases, from the geisha party to gay bar cool, executive grooming, and good manners for subway travel. Together, they show that etiquette is much more than fussy rules for behavior. In fact the idiom of manners, packaged in conduct literature, reveals much about gender and class difference, notions of national identity, the dynamics of subversion and conformity, and more. This richly detailed work reveals how manners give meaning to everyday life and extraordinary occasions, and how they can illuminate larger social and cultural transformations. Genji Guides, Or Minding Murasaki / Linda H. Chance -- Box-lunch Etiquette : Conduct Guides And Kabuki Onnagata / Maki Isaka -- The Perfect Woman : Geisha, Etiquette, And The World Of Japanese Traditional Arts / Kelly M. Foreman -- Mortification, Mockery, And Dissembling : Western Adventures In Japanese Etiquette / Gavin James Campbell -- A Dinner Party Is Not A Revolution : Space, Gender, And Hierarchy In Meiji Japan / Sally A. Hastings -- The Oyaji Gets A Makeover : Guides For Japanese Salarymen In The New Millennium / Jan Bardsley -- The Dignified Woman Who Loves To Be Lovable / Hiroko Hirakawa -- Making And Marketing Mothers : Guides To Pregnancy In Modern Japan / Amanda C. Seaman -- When Manners Are Not Enough : The Newspaper Advice Column And The Etiquette Of Cultural Ideology In Contemporary Japan / Janet S. Shibamoto-smith -- A Community Of Manners : Advice Columns In Lesbian And Gay Magazines In Japan / Hideko Abe -- Behavior That Offends : Comics And Other Images Of Incivility / Laura Miller. Edited By Jan Bardsley And Laura Miller. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Offering a concise, entertaining snapshot of Japanese society, Manners and Mischief examines etiquette guides, advice literature, and other such instruction for behavior from the early modern period to the present day and discovers how manners do in fact make the nation. Eleven accessibly written essays consider a spectrum of cases, from the geisha party to gay bar cool, executive grooming, and good manners for subway travel. Together, they show that etiquette is much more than fussy rules for behavior. In fact the idiom of manners, packaged in conduct literature, reveals much about gender and class difference, notions of national identity, the dynamics of subversion and conformity, and more. This richly detailed work reveals how manners give meaning to everyday life and extraordinary occasions, and how they can illuminate larger social and cultural transformations.

Offering a snapshot of Japanese society, this book examines etiquette guides, advice literature, and other such instruction for behavior from the early modern period to the present day and discovers how manners do in fact make the nation. Eleven essays consider a spectrum of cases, from the geisha party to gay bar cool, executive grooming, and good manners for subway travel. Together, they show that etiquette is much more than fussy rules for behavior. In fact the idiom of manners, packaged in conduct literature, reveals much about gender and class difference, notions of national identity, the dynamics of subversion and conformity, and more. This richly detailed work reveals how manners give meaning to everyday life and extraordinary occasions, and how they can illuminate larger social and cultural transformations