91ÌÒÉ«

"In an important and interesting new work the anthropologist author examines the historical transformations of the concept of self and other in Japan. This subject, basic in any culture, sometimes seems central in Japan, and any elucidation it can receive is to be welcomed. . . . [This] is a fair, impartial, balanced reading of a neglected chain of metaphors which can teach us much about this country."—Donald Richie, The Japan Times

"This gem of anthropological analysis, of elegant dialectic between subtle theory and thoroughly understood experience and records, may be reviewed under five interconnected rubrics: ambiguity, dynamics, micro- and macro-time, reflexive structure, and tropes in social context. Let it be noted that by pervasively interweaving paragraphs about Japanese (pre)history and present life, the author constructs a model introduction to the culture that should be assigned reading in areal courses and introductory anthropology."—Paul Friedrich, University of Chicago