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The Rules of Play - National Identity and the Shaping of Japanese Leisure (Hardcover)
Loot Price: R1,593
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The Rules of Play - National Identity and the Shaping of Japanese Leisure (Hardcover)
Series: Cornell Studies in Political Economy
Expected to ship within 10 - 15 working days
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The Japanese government seeks to influence the use of leisure time
to a degree that Americans or Europeans would likely find puzzling.
Through tourism-promotion initiatives, financing for resort
development, and systematic research on recreational practices, the
government takes a relentless interest in its citizens' "free
time." David Leheny argues that material interests are not a
sufficient explanation for such a large and consistent commitment
of resources. In The Rules of Play, he reveals the link between
Japan's leisure politics and its long-term struggle over national
identity. Since the Meiji Restoration, successive Japanese
governments have stressed the nation's need to act like a "real"
(that is, a Western) advanced industrial power. As part of their
express desire to catch up, generations of policymakers have
examined the ways Americans and Europeans relax or have fun, then
tried to persuade Japanese citizens to behave in similar
fashion-while subtly redefining these recreational choices as
distinctively "Japanese." In tracing the development of leisure
politics and the role of the state in cultural change, the author
focuses on the importance of international norms and perceptions of
Japanese national identity. Leheny regards globalization as a
"failure of imagination" on the part of policymakers. When they
absorb lessons from Western nations, they aim for a future that has
already been revealed elsewhere rather than envision a locally
distinctive lifestyle for citizens.
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