Professor Sugayama Lebra presents a fascinating analysis of modern Japan's hereditary elite. The focus of her analysis is the "kazuko" -- Japan's hereditary peerage of the 1871-1947 period. As part of their westernizing reforms, the Meiji oligarchs merged the Kyoto court nobles ("kuge") and the feudal lords ("daimyo") into a single artistocratic class, explicitly based on the British peerage. The "kazuko" or flowerly lineage served two functions: (1) to fill the non-elective upper chamber of the new parliament, and (2) to provide a social buffer between the revitalized Imperial Court and the rest of Japanese society. The American occupation reforms divested this hereditary elite of much its wealth and the 1947 Japanese constitution formally abolished the peerage. Nonetheless, the aristocratic pedigrees and family ties continue to play an important role in modern Japanese political, social and economic life.

Relying on informer interviews, and extensive archival and genealogical research, Sugiyama Lebra recreates the world of this aristocratic class. Topics include: lineage, elite socialization, gender roles, status negotiation, marriage and adoption, professions and status careers, and adjustment to postwar life as common citizens of the new Japan. The book also provides valuable insights into the modern development of the Japanese imperial institution.

Professor Sugiyama Lebra's book is a must read for anyone interest in contemporary Japan or the role of traditional elites in modern socities in general. This is an immensely readible book. Although targeted to a scholarly audience, this book is acessible to academics and non-academics alike.

I have been reading books on Japanese history and culture for a year. Of the books I have read, this is by far the best overview of Japanese behavior patterns I have seen. If you can only buy one book of this type, buy this one.

The author was born Japanese, but later was educated in the United States, and at the time of writing this book, she was a Professor of Anthropology at the University of Hawaii, teaching courses in Japanese behavior and culture.

The writing is clear and concise. She provides extensive references to the literature, so that if you want to follow up on a particular point in which you are interested, you can.

Twenty-three selected articles on Japanese values and beliefs, patterns of interaction, socialization and psycho-social development, and cultural stress. The articles are
written by Japanese and Western social scientists and psychiatrists, achieving a balance of Perspectives for a complex and provocative subject.