Modern Japanese Living Spaces: Cultural Currents Along the Pacific Coast

Starting with objects and events closely tied to everyday life, which are usually left out of the nation’s “grand history,” this book meticulously examines and vividly explains changes in homes, furniture, food, clothing, footwear, manners, and urban spaces across the Japanese-centered Pacific Rim in the first half of the twentieth century. Topics include how the Japanese upper classes of the late Meiji era handled European influences in their Western-style rooms and interior decor; the global spread of MSG; the clash and coexistence of sitting on floors and chairs, and the spread of rattan chairs; the rise and fall of “cultural living” and “cultural housing”; sightseeing trips from overseas colonies to Tokyo; and the relationship between Okinawans’ pork and the U.S. military, among others. Within a broad framework of time and place, the author paints a turbulent historical panorama filled with the dramatic movement of people and things, cultural exchange, and transformation, revealing the complex networks that emerged in modern Japan and the United States, as well as the far-reaching effects of colonialism.

A scholar who teaches in both the United States and Japan, the author offers a fresh, engaging, and original perspective. The book also includes more than 150 rare historical images, combining readability, scholarly depth, and a new point of view.