Japanese Journal of Cultural Anthropology
Online ISSN : 2424-0516
Print ISSN : 1349-0648
ISSN-L : 1349-0648
Volume 78, Issue 2
Displaying 1-30 of 30 articles from this issue
  • Article type: Cover
    2013Volume 78Issue 2 Pages Cover1-
    Published: September 30, 2013
    Released on J-STAGE: April 03, 2017
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  • Article type: Cover
    2013Volume 78Issue 2 Pages Cover2-
    Published: September 30, 2013
    Released on J-STAGE: April 03, 2017
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  • Article type: Appendix
    2013Volume 78Issue 2 Pages App1-
    Published: September 30, 2013
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  • Article type: Appendix
    2013Volume 78Issue 2 Pages i-vii
    Published: September 30, 2013
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  • Article type: Appendix
    2013Volume 78Issue 2 Pages vii-viii
    Published: September 30, 2013
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  • Reiko Otsubo
    Article type: Article
    2013Volume 78Issue 2 Pages 157-176
    Published: September 30, 2013
    Released on J-STAGE: April 03, 2017
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    This article aims to clarify the relationship between economic subjects in qat (qa^^-t) markets in Sana'a, Republic of Yemen, from the perspective of asymmetric information. Qat, whose fresh leaves produce a stimulant effect, is consumed by both Yemeni men and women during afternoon gatherings, which function as social occasions. The distribution channels of qat are very effective in Yemen. It is harvested in the early morning, sold in the markets around noon, and consumed in the afternoon: all the processes are done within a single day, or strictly speaking, several hours. The government and private companies intervene little in the processes, and only one or two merchants are involved in them. The concept of asymmetric information, which was first discussed in the field of economics, has been applied to the study of bazaars, mainly investigated by researchers of anthropology and area studies. The bazaar merchants are the strong actors, monopolizing and concealing information, while the producers and purchasers are the weak actors, having less information. The latter two need to be clients of the former in order to overcome their disadvantage, and through that, merchants can monopolize the future demands of producers and purchasers. Therefore, client ties are thought to be beneficial for both the strong and weak actors in such a market. They have been regarded as firm, sustainable, and given. In Yemen, most areas cultivated with gat are actually tribal lands. Tribal people are known as conservative and autonomous, and do not want outsiders to come onto their lands. Qat merchants, who are mostly males in Sana'a, take advantage of their blood relationships when starting their business: their relatives may take them to a qat market and teach them how to get in; or they may go to a qat market in their hometowns, where their relatives sell it. The relationships, however, are not so firm, as the kinds of qat and ways of getting it can change depending on their own tastes and those of their purchasers, without depending on their relatives. After a while, merchants may get to know the producers from whom they purchase their qat, allowing them to get it more quickly and cheaply. They can even wait to delay their payments if they do not have enough money to get the qat at first (although generally speaking, qat merchants must pay in cash) . That makes them clients of the producer. Qat producers want to build firm client ties with as many merchants as possible: the more clients they have, the steadier their income. But being a client of a qat producer is rather risky for a qat merchant, as the quality of qat changes easily. To maintain the quality of the qat they purchase, merchants need to be a chance customer or an acquaintance of as many qat producers as possible, so as not to keep firm client ties. When it comes to selling qat, meanwhile, merchants want to build firm client ties with as many purchasers as possible: the more clients they have, the steadier their income. The same is true of purchasers as well. If they want to maintain the quality of the qat they buy, it is better for them not be clients of a particular qat merchant, but rather to be a chance customer or an acquaintance of as many qat merchants as possible. Information about the quality of qat is more important for the economic subjects than that about the market, which qat producers and purchasers can easily get. The relative level of quality-related information is as follows: producers > merchants > purchasers. That means that merchants are not the only strong ones in the qat market. Because of the uncertainty of qat quality, the weak actors (i.e., the merchants and purchasers) tend to act flirtatiously toward the strong actors (i.e., the producers and merchants) in order to become chance costumers or acquaintances. That leads the strong actors also to act flirtatiously, as they would like to build

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  • Ryoko Sachi-Noro
    Article type: Article
    2013Volume 78Issue 2 Pages 177-197
    Published: September 30, 2013
    Released on J-STAGE: April 03, 2017
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    Comment le corps, en agissant sur le milieu environnant, faconne l'espace de vie? Quel rapport le corps, qui produit les <<sens>> dans son mouvement, entretient-il avec le logement ou avec l'espace - Pour illustrer ce propos, nous examinerons les caracteristiques fondamentales de l'espace liees a l'habitat en caravane des Manouches et la position corporelle qu'ils prennent dans leur espace de vie. Les Manouches font partie des <<Tsiganes>> (Gypsies en anglais) que l'on appelle aussi <<gens du voyage>>. Dans le cas de la region etudiee ici, les families manouches se sont fixees ii y a une quarantaine d'annees et vivent aujourd'hui la majeure partie de l'annee au meme endroit. Certaines families s'arretent l'hiver et repartent au printemps, mais plusieurs d'entre elles ne voyagent plus, tout en ayant cependant conserve le mode de vie en caravane. Lorsque l'on observe l'organisation spatiale de l'habitat en caravane des Manouches, on note que la caravane est principalement en relation avec la famille conjugale. Pourtant, dans la vie quotidienne de chaque individu, la famille conjugale avec sa caravane ne jouit que d'une autonomie relative dans la mesure oil elle est integree de maniere fondamentale au reseau familial etendu, au groupe familial, compose de plusieurs couples de differentes generations, unies par des liens de sang. Chaque unite residentielle est composee d'un ensemble de caravanes en demi-cercle, avec au centre un espace communautaire partage par les differents membres d'un groupe familial. En general, les Manouches divisent l'espace de vie en deux spheres : l'interieur de la caravane et son exterieur. L'espace de l'habitat en caravane, amenage par cette division interieur-exterieur, montre le rapport complexe entre prive et public, tout en exprimant un processus particulier de construction. Les Manouches structurent leur espace de vie, en integrant dans son ensemble l'espace en plein air qui s'etend autour de la caravane, mais sans delimiter materiellement la frontiere par une cloture ou une barriere. L'espace de vie exterieur de la caravane se compose communement d'une table en plastique installee a cote de la caravane et d'un abri. Cet espace pluri-fonctionnel, lieu de la preparation et de la consommation des repas, de l'hospitalite, du repos et du loisir, est investi a la maniere d'une propriete privee par un groupe familial comme espace domestique. Cependant, l'observation des pratiques quotidiennes permet de constater que chez les Manouches, ce desk d'individualiser leur propre espace prive se conjugue a l'envie de l'ouvrir aux autres membres de la communaute. De fait, cet espace de vie familial fait partie integrante de l'espace collectif partage par les autres habitants du terrain, et ici, on peut trouver la <<position corporelle>> inseparablement liee a la maniere dont les Manouches communiquent ou interagissent avec les autres (a savoir les autres families manouches ou les autres gens du voyage, et les sedentaires que les Manouches appellent <<gadje>>) . Dans l'espace de vie exterieur de la caravane, les Manouches s'asseyent sur des chaises, adosses aux caravanes. En prenant cette position du corps, ils peuvent faire face a l'espace collectif du terrain, et leur espace de vie constitue, en s'ouvrant sur cet espace commun, la sphere privilegiee de la sociabilite. Les individus peuvent voir les autres et etre vus de tous, et exercer facilement un controle sur les autres. Tout le monde communique facilement ici ou la-bas. Cette sphere de la sociabilite est done un espace ou les individus partagent le sens de la <<co-presence>> avec les autres par l'intermediaire des sensations du corps (la vue,

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  • Yoshinobu Ota
    Article type: Article
    2013Volume 78Issue 2 Pages 198-203
    Published: September 30, 2013
    Released on J-STAGE: April 03, 2017
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  • Hiroko Minesaki
    Article type: Article
    2013Volume 78Issue 2 Pages 204-224
    Published: September 30, 2013
    Released on J-STAGE: April 03, 2017
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    This paper aims to elucidate the situation of religious minority diaspora under globalization, based on the following characteristics: nation-state, languages, gender, generations, and belonging. This paper is a case study of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community in Japan, based on cultural anthropological fieldwork from May 2012 to the present. Ahmadiyya, founded in 1889, was one of the new religious movements started in British India, originating with the life and teachings of Mi^^-rza^^- Ghula^^-m Ahmad (1835-1908) . It now has tens of millions adherents (called Ahmadis) worldwide, especially in Europe, North America, and West Africa. Today, about 200 Ahmadis live in Japan, most of whom are from Pakistan, and the rest from India, Indonesia, and other countries. In 1947, when Pakistan broke off from India and both countries gained independence from Britain, the Ahmadis moved from India to Pakistan, and built their base camp in what they named Rabwah. Like other Indian Muslims who migrated from India to Pakistan, the Ahmadis chose Pakistan as the nation-state that they wished to live in. The nation-state 'Muslim Pakistan' was created to develop a sense of unity among Muslims based on their Islamic identity. In that context, the definition of Islam was discussed in Pakistan as such: "Who are we as Muslims, and who are others as heathens?" From the 1950's, Maudu^^-di^^- (1903-1979), the leader of Jamat al-Islam Pakistan, looked upon the Ahmadis as an enemy. After the coup of 1977, they were in league with then-President Zia-ul-Haq, who had emphasized Islam to legitimate his governance because of the lack of popularity, and went on a political campaign against them. As a result, the Ahmadis lost their legal rights as Muslims through a constitutional amendment in 1974. Furthermore, on April 26, 1984, then-President Zia-ul-Haq issued Martial Law Ordinance XX, which amended Pakistan's Penal Code sections 298-B and 298-C, forbidding Ahmadis to do missionary work, uphold the practice of Azan, give sermons, and 'indirectly or directly pose as a Muslim.' The persecution of the Ahmadiyya community has thus been completely legalized, even encouraged, by the Pakistani government. Most Ahmadis who live in Japan emigrated after the 1980's. Ahmadis' distinguishing traits are extreme pacifism, high systematization, and adoption of the caliphate. In this paper, the Ahmadis are described as being prepared to negotiate peacefully with others to keep their identity and to create their own place to live, without infringement from any nation-state and with human rights. We show how they strive to express their religious identity and to maintain that identity in host societies, and how they develop the next generation's religious identity in diaspora. Nation-State: There are only isolated instances of Muslims who accept the separation of religion and politics. However, the Ahmadiyya are noticeable different in this matter. Their founder, Mi^^-rza^^- Ghula^^-m Ahmad (1839-1908) , ordered his followers to 'protect the sanctity of both religion and government by becoming righteous souls as well as loyal citizens,' 'love your country,' and avoid violence. Even though the Pakistani government oppressed them, the Ahmadis never disputed with the government. They escaped from Pakistan and went to other countries where they could live in peace. In their host countries, they respect the host government and try to be loyal citizens as per their founder's teachings. Furthermore, they feel that they now belong to the host country because they live there, and because the host country guarantees them freedom of religion as well as human rights. Languages: As is the case with most Pakistanis, the Ahmadis usually know several different languages. Most of Ahmadis are from Punjab, so their native language is Punjabi. While they can speak

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  • Yutaka Nakamura
    Article type: Article
    2013Volume 78Issue 2 Pages 225-244
    Published: September 30, 2013
    Released on J-STAGE: April 03, 2017
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    This article, at the most manifest level, is an ethnographic report on the discontent of an African-American Muslim man whom I met in the course of my fieldwork. The article focuses on his narrative, and relates and contrasts it with more general statements and narratives of the Nation of Islam (NOI), an African-American Muslim organization established around 1930. The man's discontent is frequently articulated with strong emotions. It employs racialist rhetoric, and sounds "violent" at least on certain occasions. While similar rhetoric can be found in the narratives of the NOI, previous studies on African-American Muslims only perceive it within the context of race relations in the United States. However, a long-term observation reveals that his discontent is not simply directed against the other racial groups. Whenever I see him, he strenuously complains not only about "White America," but also about "Harlemites," "black people," and "Muslims," all groups that he himself has been a member. Thus, it is not sufficient to interpret his discontent within the dynamics of race relations. Furthermore, his words do not necessarily materialize themselves as "violent acts," and the relationship between the object of his discontent and himself is not simply monolithic and hostile. Then, how can one interpret his discontent? This article perceives it as a problem that a certain African-American man encounters in his attempt to reconstruct a history of "his own people." The article, at the same time, deals with the position of archives in the histories of African-American Muslims. Here, the term "archive" is used to indicate that which is (theoretically) shareable. It not only includes written documents, but also paintings, icons, photographs, audio files, and so on. Moreover, I submit that an archive is not only an apparatus of memory and storage, but also that which directs what and how one remembers. For one thing, an archive, by determining that which is to be remembered, is also an apparatus of forgetting. That is, an archive chooses what to remember and what to forget. But an archive is also one of the many ways of remembering, and to talk about remembering and forgetting only with regards to an archive already predetermines a particular way of remembering. Then, the more it is believed that an archive can replay what has been archived in a manner that is faithful, precise, and intelligible to many, the more it becomes forgotten that modes of anamnesis exist without the mediation of an archive. But why focus on archives- It is because the articulation of discontent is deeply related, I believe, to the spread and permeation of an archive among people in what can be called "narrative culture," and to the concomitant transformation of their consciousness. The relationship between "narrative culture" and archive resonates with Walter J. Ong's "orality" and "literacy." Ong's main foci, of course, are societies without writing, and they are utterly different from the African-American Muslim community in Harlem, but that is precisely the source of the complexity of the problem that the article seeks to examine. On one hand, "oral culture" and "literal culture" are both present in the African-American Muslim community. While the tradition of "oral culture" has been inherited among them, and although some may have difficulty in writing, most of them are able to read English. On the other hand, with the progress of recording technology, their voices and narratives are more likely to be archived and transformed into something shareable. Besides such archivization of narratives, the infiltration of "literal culture" into the African-American community should also be noted. In order to examine the ways in which

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  • Yoshinobu Ota
    Article type: Article
    2013Volume 78Issue 2 Pages 245-264
    Published: September 30, 2013
    Released on J-STAGE: April 03, 2017
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    The aim of this paper is to historicize the ways in which the idea of identity has been theorized in anthropology. Following Fredric Jameson, I define the basic meaning of historicization as a foregrounding of political contexts that enables certain theorizations on identity. This paper does not offer a new theory of identity as such, but critically examines the body of studies on identity-identity studies, in short-at two junctures of historical importance, namely, around the beginning and near the end of the Cold War, the former marked by the publication of The Chrysanthemum and the Sword in 1946, and the latter by Writing Culture, published in 1986. This paper's methodology comes from my reading of two sources: Horkheimer and Adorno's The Dialectic of Enlightenment, and Michael Taussig's Mimesis and Alterity. Both texts offer an approach that uncovers what David Scott calls the "theory's presumption." To historicize identity studies is precisely to question that presumption; in other words, this paper aims to pry open the political conditions that comport well with certain theorizations on identity. As the Cold War neared its end, culture and identity became reconfigured and associated increasingly with such ideas as fluidity, flexibility, and unboundedness. Writing Culture is a landmark study that contributed greatly to the reconfiguration of both those concepts. It is also important to note, as pointed out by both Seyla Benhabib and Laurene Leve, that culture also became a synonym for identity around that time. James Tully remarked that those newly reconfigured terms were quickly integrated into discussions of multicultural citizenship, while the problematic was removed from anthropology but crucial to discussions on liberal democracy. James Clifford recently noted that most contributors to Writing Culture seem to have shown little sense of "their precarious historicity" and their "epistemological embeddedness." The central tenet of newly reconfigured culture-now synonymous with identity-is its equality. The idea still empowers minority politicization in liberal democracy, which now bears the responsibility of recognizing differences variously expressed in terms of gender, race, class, and sexual orientation: the condition that James Tully called "strange multiplicity." Recognizing differences becomes possible when both culture and identity are fluid and flexible, and not bounded, but rather open to negotiation. I attribute the widespread acceptance of newly reconfigured notions of culture and identity as fluid, flexible, and unbound to their compatibilities with liberal democracy, a characteristic of the places in which theorizations have been conducted. As identity studies are now located at the crossroads between political philosophy and cultural theories, many Japanese anthropologists tend to evaluate these studies as distant from proper anthropological concerns, shying away from taking serious interest in them. I want to rectify that by situating Ruth Benedict's The Chrysanthemum and the Sword (as Christopher Shannon did) at the beginning of the Cold War, when she felt compelled to offer a prescription for living in "a world made safe for differences." In her work, she compressed culture, identity, and nation. It is a book about "what makes Japan a nation of Japanese" -what Benedict terms "Japanese culture." In her words, culture more generally comprises the assumptions made by a nation. For example, it is futile to rely on the Japanese themselves to analyze their own culture, which remains so obvious to them that they find it hard to articulate. When Benedict explained the relationship between the object and subject of her investigation, she used the visual metaphor of a lens and an oculist. While an oculist is fully knowledgeable about how to prescribe lenses, the

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  • Chikako Hirano
    Article type: Article
    2013Volume 78Issue 2 Pages 265-277
    Published: September 30, 2013
    Released on J-STAGE: April 03, 2017
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    This paper reconsiders the framework of the relationship between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples in the Northern Territory of Australia through a critical examination of anthropological studies about the problem drinking of indigenous peoples there. In the 1960's, discriminatory legislation against indigenous people in Australia began to be abolished. Thus, state legislation prohibiting alcohol consumption by indigenous people was also repealed. However, after 1970, the consumption of alcohol among indigenous people in the Northern Territory increased rapidly, and problems like alcohol-related crimes, violence, and abuse became extremely prevalent in parts of the area. In 2007, shocking news about the sexual abuse of aboriginal girls in an indigenous community led the Commonwealth to reinstate alcohol prohibitions in indigenous communities in the Northern Territory. Today, alcohol-related problems are still a topic of heated debate. Anthropological studies have been treating alcohol-related problems since the 1980's. Many of those studies took issue with the relationship between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples in the Northern Territory. I take those studies into account in examining how the relationship between those two peoples has been described. I demonstrate that the authors of the earlier studies pointed out positive aspects of the indigenous people's drinking, such as socialization. Those anthropological studies were criticized by researchers in the 1980's for not describing the negative aspects of that drinking. By that time, the indigenous people in the Northern Territory had themselves begun to speak out against problem drinking, which was partly what sparked further research interest. In 2007, the Commonwealth again intervened, as described above. Therefore, given the urgency of those situations, several researchers have chosen to address the topic by taking a broader view and demonstrating a hidden asymmetric relationship between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples, positing a connection between social changes in the Northern Territory and their drinking. Those papers have been accumulating gradually. Thus, the discussion on problem drinking has become firmly fixed within the framework for the relationship between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples. Those later studies have revealed a hidden colonialism in the Northern Territory, and have provided an important contribution to the discussion on problem drinking. However, few studies have focused on conflicts or negotiation among the indigenous people themselves, who may differ in their standards and opinions about drinking. Thus, any connection between the inner dynamic concerning drinking and those people remains ambiguous and unclear. Therefore, it is necessary to focus on the different opinions and attitudes toward drinking that exist among indigenous people, and, in light of the findings, to reconsider the existing framework of the relationships between indigenous and non-indigenous people in the Northern Territory.
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  • [in Japanese], [in Japanese], [in Japanese], [in Japanese], [in Japane ...
    Article type: Article
    2013Volume 78Issue 2 Pages 278-283
    Published: September 30, 2013
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  • [in Japanese]
    Article type: Article
    2013Volume 78Issue 2 Pages 284-287
    Published: September 30, 2013
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  • [in Japanese]
    Article type: Article
    2013Volume 78Issue 2 Pages 287-290
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  • [in Japanese]
    Article type: Article
    2013Volume 78Issue 2 Pages 290-293
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  • [in Japanese]
    Article type: Article
    2013Volume 78Issue 2 Pages 293-296
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  • [in Japanese]
    Article type: Article
    2013Volume 78Issue 2 Pages 296-299
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  • Article type: Appendix
    2013Volume 78Issue 2 Pages 300-
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    2013Volume 78Issue 2 Pages 301-
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  • Article type: Appendix
    2013Volume 78Issue 2 Pages 302-316
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    2013Volume 78Issue 2 Pages 317-319
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    2013Volume 78Issue 2 Pages 319-
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    2013Volume 78Issue 2 Pages 320-
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    2013Volume 78Issue 2 Pages 321-
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    2013Volume 78Issue 2 Pages App2-
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  • Article type: Cover
    2013Volume 78Issue 2 Pages Cover3-
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