Abstract
What is a good sociology textbook? To be good and successful, a sociology textbook must be both standard and unique. This is a dilemma that authors of textbooks in any field face. My co-authors and I were honored to learn that our textbook, Sociology of Gender, which was published in 1989 by Shinyo-sha, was successful in terms of both reputation and sales. It triggered the publishing of several textbooks in a new style. How did we solve the dilemma described above? Sociological knowledge, in general, is extremely remote and abstract for students. To bridge this gap, we tried to make the information relevant to the sense of reality experienced by students in their daily lives, and adopted a perspective that was dear to several students : gender. In each chapter, beginning from self-identity in daily life and ending with the global system, via family, labor, and the political world, we examined the topics through the lens of gender issues and gender biases. From writing this textbook, we learned four keys to success : (a) exercise strong leadership and editorship; (b) have clear concepts and focus points for proposing a new textbook; (c) use a readable, exciting, and challenging style of writing and organization; and (d) have a unique, interesting perspective as a central theme. In the early part of each chapter, we tried to provide stimulating questions; we used key words and columns to present accurate knowledge in a compact style, and long readable sentences for storytelling. Our unique gender perspective was, however, the most attractive feature. Evidently, textbooks must provide standardized and accurate knowledge; however, at the same time, they must also be unique and original to succeed. Uniqueness and originality are the major triggers for publishing and reading a new textbook. Without some unique and original feature, a textbook will not stimulate and attract students.
