[About the Book]
This book explores Japanese society and culture through the distinctive lens of peripherality, offering an insightful contribution to comparative cultural studies and cultural anthropology.
Through comparisons with China and Korea-the central civilizations of East Asia-it carefully traces how Japan, while positioned on the “periphery” of civilization, developed its own distinctive agricultural practices, belief systems, and aesthetic sensibilities.

Why do Japanese people take such pride in craftsmanship and artisanal handiwork?
Why has otaku culture come to possess such unique appeal that it has spread across the globe?

By examining the folk sensibilities underlying Japanese culture, this book clearly and compellingly unravels these questions.

[Author biography]
Abito Ito