This study is based on field work done during a period of eight months when I lived in the Japanese farming village described in the paper. The project was carried out under the financial auspices of the Japanese Government. The religion Tenrikyō is what I describe as a 'totalitarian' system. That is, it regulates the lives of its members in all of their roles of life. The values and ideals of the religion emphasize the individual and his struggle to attain salvation. Each believer is expected to devote himself and everything he owns to the final fullfillment of the goals of Tenrikyō. The values and goals in operation in village Japan are in direct opposition to values such as those outlined for the religion. Community solidarity is of utmost importance to a Japanese village. In order to attain this solidarity each member of the village must subject himself to the will of the community. Thus the village too may be described as a 'totalitarian' system. When Tenrikyō entered the village of Sakōdo the meeting of the two 'totalitarian' systems produced a conflict which the village attempted to solve by formally ostracising the converts to the religion. This action was not satisfactory since it resulted in a weakening of the inner strength of the community. The only recourse was to accept the religion and make it dependant upon the village. This action eventually destroyed the 'totalitarian' nature of the religion and strengthened that of the community. This paper is an examination of this conflict and compromise and illustrates the type of reaction which occurs upon the meeting of two 'totalitarian' systems which hold opposing values and ideals. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate

This paper examines the group ethos that is such a critical part of preschool education in contemporary Japan. The paper discusses the importance to parents and to the government of suppressing individuality and of inculcating a positive feeling for the group in children in Japanese early childhood education. The group ethos is a part of Japanese society as a whole and of its political culture, in particular. The purpose of this paper is to attempt to discover parallels between values that prevail in early childhood classrooms and in Japanese politics and culture. The paper also explores the possible costs, both to individual children and to society, of the overarching priority of socialization for group living in the preschool setting. / Graduation date: 1998

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This is an in-depth analysis of competing cultural ideas at a pivotal time in Japanese history through study of masculinity and identity. Through diaries, newspaper articles, and illustrations found in popular periodicals of the Meiji period, it is evident that there were two major groups who espoused very different sets of ideals competing for the favor of the masses and the control of Japanese progress in the modern world. Manner of dress, comportment, hygiene, and various other parts of outward appearance signified the mentality and ideology of the person in question. One group espoused traditional Japanese ideas of masculinity and dress while another advocated embracing Western dress and culture. This, in turn, explained their opinions on the direction they believed Japan should take. Throughout the Meiji period (1868-1912), the two ideas grew and competed for supremacy until the late Meiji period when they merged to form a traditional-minded modernity. / Department of History