The art of the gut
Subtitle: manhood, power, and ethics in Japanese politics
By: Robin M. LeBlanc.
Publisher: University of California Press
Published: 2010
Place of publication: Berkeley
Language: eng
Number of pages: 229
ISBN-13: 9780520259164; 9780520259171
Subjects: Masculinity -- Political aspects -- Japan; Men -- Japan -- Political activity; Political culture -- Japan; Japan -- Politics and government -- 1989-
Description: "This ethnography follows the lives of two very different Japanese men entering political life in two very different communities. One is the rural leader of a citizens' referendum movement, while the other hopes to succeed his father in a Tokyo ward assembly. Fast-paced and engrossing, The Art of the Gut puts the reader behind the scenes to hear speeches, attend campaign functions, and eavesdrop on late-night strategy sessions and one-on-one conversations. In her analysis, Robin M. Le Blanc explores the two men's differing notions of what is expected of a "good" man and demonstrates how the fundamental desire to be good men constrains their political choices even as it encourages both to become ethical agents." --Book Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: The power remainder; title: Breadwinners; title: The inheritor; title: The paradox of masculine honor; title: Cheating as a democratic practice; title: The art of the gut; title: Cigarettes and salad for breakfast, or how to find democracy by losing one's sense of perspective.