This compelling and controversial book places the concept of love in both a social and historical context. Taking an approach in which state formation and vicissitude of power are explicitly taken into account in the discussion of intimacy and love, the author demonstrates that love as idealization and love as sexuality must be kept analytically separate. Chapters include discussions on sexualized rituals and fertility festivals, the murder case of Abe Sada, pure love in Miko and Mako's tragedy and the 1990s phenomenon of 'enjokosai' or aid-date. Combining ethnographic, theoretical and archival research, this text will appeal to scholars of Japanese anthropology, feminist anthropology and gender studies alike.
- ISBN10 6610648557
- ISBN13 9786610648559
- Publish Date 30 April 2006 (first published 1 January 2006)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 21 August 2012
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Taylor & Francis Group
- Format eBook
- Pages 176
- Language English