This course has two main aims; (a) to provide an introduction to Japanese society from an anthropological perspective and (b) to show how the study of Japan can contribute to mainstream anthropological theory.  Major themes which will be covered include notions of personhood, rituals and symbols, time and space, structure and agency, continuity and change, and the construction of ethnic identity.  It will be possible to study a number of contemporary social institutions in depth, including the Japanese education system, medical system, household and kinship systems, legal and economic systems, new religions, and the worlds of traditional arts and popular culture.  At the micro level, the details of these operations and the ideologies which support them will be examined, while at the macro level the course will explore their relation to other social institutions and the wider political and economic arena both inside and outside Japan.