In this paper I examine experiences of disorientation for farmers in an upland village in central Japan, drawing on anthropological literature on wayfinding and path-making to understand the ways in which rhythmic movement in and between fields, an emergent property of farmers’ continuous perceptual engagement with their surroundings, is disrupted. I argue that the differential mobility of people, through migration and in transit, creates a "frictionless" landscape in which the ability of farmers to perceptually engage with their variously textured surroundings, and attune themselves to its movement, is undermined, within the context of a changing social landscape of field ownership and management, and the "flattening" of the material landscape through farmland rationalization. These contradictory movements, and the different perceptual realities that they imply, are argued to be resolved by farmers within their day-to-day activity, as they shift between different modes of perceptually-oriented movement.

This article examines the effects of symbolic meanings on the Mosuo matrilineal community in Yunnan, China, with a focus on how these meanings shape ethnic identity building, marriage decision-making, and familial relationships. The Mosuo community is known for its matrilineal social structure, which has been subject to intensive cultural and symbolic interpretations over time. The article argues that the cultural symbol of walking-marriage has had significant impacts on the Mosuo community, both in terms of how they see themselves and how they are perceived by others. Mosuo ‘portrayed’ image in media and from outside actors is investigated also for its contribution to a mistaken conception of walking marriage contrary to the beliefs of the Mosuo who have historically practiced the ritual. The research draws on ethnographic data to demonstrate how the symbolic meanings attached to and outside portrayals of Mosuo culture have shaped the community’s sense of ethnic identity, family structure, and cultural practices. The results suggest that symbolic meanings and external portrayed identity on the Mosuo community have complex, multi-dimensional effects on the development of the community and highlight the importance of ethnic interpretation within ritual, historical, and symbolic dimensions of cultural practices in the social context of the community.