About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherUniversity of California Press

ISBN-100520076001

ISBN-139780520076006

eBay Product ID (ePID)774539

Product Key Features

Number of Pages430 Pages

Publication NameAbove the Clouds : Status Culture of the Modern Japanese Nobility

LanguageEnglish

SubjectGeneral, Anthropology / Cultural & Social, Customs & Traditions

Publication Year1993

TypeTextbook

AuthorTakie Sugiyama Lebra

Subject AreaSocial Science, History

FormatHardcover

Dimensions

Item Height0.5 in

Item Weight18.1 Oz

Item Length9.3 in

Item Width6.2 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceCollege Audience

LCCN91-028488

IllustratedYes

SynopsisThis latest work from Japanese-born anthropologist Takie Sugiyama Lebra is the first ethnographic study of the modern Japanese aristocracy. Established as a class at the beginning of the Meiji period, thekazokuranked directly below the emperor and his family. Officially dissolved in 1947, this group of social elites is still generally perceived as nobility. Lebra gained entry into this tightly knit circle and conducted more than one hundred interviews with its members. She has woven together a reconstructive ethnography from their life histories to create an intimate portrait of a remote and archaic world. As Lebra explores the culture of thekazoku, she places each subject in its historical context. She analyzes the evolution of status boundaries and the indispensable role played by outsiders. But this book is not simply about the elite. It is also about commoners and how each stratum mirrors the other. Revealing previously unobserved complexities in Japanese society, it also sheds light on the universal problem of social stratification., This latest work from Japanese-born anthropologist Takie Sugiyama Lebra is the first ethnographic study of the modern Japanese aristocracy. Established as a class at the beginning of the Meiji period, the kazoku ranked directly below the emperor and his family. Officially dissolved in 1947, this group of social elites is still generally perceived as nobility. Lebra gained entry into this tightly knit circle and conducted more than one hundred interviews with its members. She has woven together a reconstructive ethnography from their life histories to create an intimate portrait of a remote and archaic world. As Lebra explores the culture of the kazoku , she places each subject in its historical context. She analyzes the evolution of status boundaries and the indispensable role played by outsiders. But this book is not simply about the elite. It is also about commoners and how each stratum mirrors the other. Revealing previously unobserved complexities in Japanese society, it also sheds light on the universal problem of social stratification.

LC Classification NumberDS822.3.L42 1993