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Behind the Mask: On Sexual Demons, Sacred Mothers, Transvestites, Gangsters, Drifters and Other Japanese Cultural Heroes
by Ian Buruma
- Used
- Fine
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Fine/Fine
- ISBN 10
- 0394537750
- ISBN 13
- 9780394537757
- Seller
-
Brooktondale, New York, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
First US edition. Volume, measuring approximately 6" x 8.75", is bound in quarter white cloth and dark gray paper-covered boards, with stamped red and silver lettering to spine. Title is stamped in silver on front cover. Book and dust jacket are in fine condition. Previous owner's stamp appears on front pastedown. Jacket is preserved in mylar cover. xiii/242 pages.
"Most Western commentary on the Japanese people focuses on their business practices or, more traditionally, on their code of manners and the reasons outsiders fail to grasp its imperatives. This book looks beyond these corporate and social behavioral sets to explore what the people wish and imagine themselves to be-and why. By examining the popular media-the films, television, plays, books, and comics-and other cultural institutions that shape and reflect the Japanese collective imagination, Ian Buruma reveals the important influence and interplay of sex roles and sexuality in all areas of life. As such, he offers insight into the rather raunchy, violent. and sometimes morbid side of the Japanese beyond the forms of delicacy with which we are most familiar. This book explains more about the Japanese than most Westerners ever discover. In his lively, stylishly written examination of the popular media, traditional literature, cultural mythology, and the goings-on at such favorite hangouts as beer gardens and strip joints, Buruma explains how sexuality and sex roles underpin the elaborate structures of Japanese culture. He sees how women are traditionally worshipped as maternal goddesses but feared as sexual demons; how they are trained in the art of seeming passive and artificial as dolls, and highly active as prostitutes. He looks at the downtrodden Japanese father; the violent world of the Japanese gangster-hero; the ancient code of honor as conceived by today's salaryman, and the Quintessential Japanese drifter. And he looks at the middle world of the transvestite, where sex roles are most clearly defined. Along the way, we learn such things as why sadism in Japanese pornographic films is sentimental; why a record album called "The Suicide Pilot's Mother" inevitably hit the top of the charts; how female elevator operators are trained in the art of artificiality; how to interpret the arcane symbols, rituals, and iconography of tattoos."
"Most Western commentary on the Japanese people focuses on their business practices or, more traditionally, on their code of manners and the reasons outsiders fail to grasp its imperatives. This book looks beyond these corporate and social behavioral sets to explore what the people wish and imagine themselves to be-and why. By examining the popular media-the films, television, plays, books, and comics-and other cultural institutions that shape and reflect the Japanese collective imagination, Ian Buruma reveals the important influence and interplay of sex roles and sexuality in all areas of life. As such, he offers insight into the rather raunchy, violent. and sometimes morbid side of the Japanese beyond the forms of delicacy with which we are most familiar. This book explains more about the Japanese than most Westerners ever discover. In his lively, stylishly written examination of the popular media, traditional literature, cultural mythology, and the goings-on at such favorite hangouts as beer gardens and strip joints, Buruma explains how sexuality and sex roles underpin the elaborate structures of Japanese culture. He sees how women are traditionally worshipped as maternal goddesses but feared as sexual demons; how they are trained in the art of seeming passive and artificial as dolls, and highly active as prostitutes. He looks at the downtrodden Japanese father; the violent world of the Japanese gangster-hero; the ancient code of honor as conceived by today's salaryman, and the Quintessential Japanese drifter. And he looks at the middle world of the transvestite, where sex roles are most clearly defined. Along the way, we learn such things as why sadism in Japanese pornographic films is sentimental; why a record album called "The Suicide Pilot's Mother" inevitably hit the top of the charts; how female elevator operators are trained in the art of artificiality; how to interpret the arcane symbols, rituals, and iconography of tattoos."
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Details
- Seller
- Palimpsest Scholarly Books
(US)
- Seller's Inventory #
- 2110
- Title
- Behind the Mask: On Sexual Demons, Sacred Mothers, Transvestites, Gangsters, Drifters and Other Japanese Cultural Heroes
- Author
- Ian Buruma
- Book Condition
- Used - Fine
- Jacket Condition
- Fine
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10
- 0394537750
- ISBN 13
- 9780394537757
- Publisher
- Pantheon Books
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1984
- Keywords
- Japan, Asia
Terms of Sale
Palimpsest Scholarly Books
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged. Packages are shipped USPS. New York state purchases will also be charged state tax.
About the Seller
Palimpsest Scholarly Books
Biblio member since 2017
Brooktondale, New York
About Palimpsest Scholarly Books
Palimpsest Scholarly Books & Services is a new online bookstore founded and managed by Dr. Raul Delgado-Rodriguez, a Harvard-trained comparatist. It specializes in the buying and selling of scholarly and rare books, as well as providing services for collectors of such books, including the appraisal of private collections. We have titles across a broad range of fields and cultures. We specialize in providing uncommon foreign-language works.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....