General Articles

Social Exclusion and Earlier Disadvantages: An Empirical Study of Poverty and Social Exclusion in Japan
Aya K. ABE
pp. 5-30

Japan as a Stratified Society: With a Focus on Class Identification
Sawako SHIRAHASE
pp. 31-52

Liberal Preferences and Conservative Policies: The Puzzling Size of Japan's Welfare State
Shogo TAKEGAWA
pp. 53-67

Facilitating Spontaneity: The State and Independent Volunteering in Contemporary Japan
Simon A. AVENELL
pp. 69-93

Confucian Morals and the Making of a ‘Good Wife and Wise Mother’: From ‘Between Husband and Wife there is Distinction’ to ‘As Husbands and Wives be Harmonious’
Sumiko SEKIGUCHI
pp. 95-113

Survey Article

From Seniority to Performance Principle: The Evolution of Pay Practices in Japanese Firms since the 1990s
Harald CONRAD
pp. 115-135

Review Essays

Who Cares about Care Work in Japan?
Kaye BROADBENT
pp. 137-141

Back on the Agenda: Decentralization and the Japanese Political Economy
Andrew DEWIT and Takehiko IKEGAMI
pp. 143-148

Book Reviews

Japanese Workplaces in Transition: Employee Perceptions, by Hendrik Meyer-Ohle. New York: Palgrave-Macmillan, 2009, 176pp., $95.00 (hardcover ISBN 978-0-230-22938-9)
Yuko OGASAWARA
pp. 149-151

Ushinawareta Ba o Sagashite: Rosutojenerēshon no Shakaigaku (Lost in Transition: Youth, Education and Work in Postindustrial Japan), by Mary C. Brinton (Trans. Ikemura Chiaki). Tokyo: NTT Shuppan, 2008, 260 pp., ¥1,995 (ISBN 978-4-7571-4206-0)
Reiko KOSUGI
pp. 152-154

Japanese Tourism and Travel Culture, edited by Sylvie Guichard-Anguis and Okpyo Moon. London: Routledge, 2008, 240 pp., hardback, £80.00 (ISBN 978-0-415-47001-8)
Hideki ENDO
pp. 154-156

Hanryū no Shakaigaku: Fandamu, Kazoku, Ibunka Kōryū (Sociology of the Korean Boom: Fandom, The Family, and Intercultural Exchange) , by Lee Hyangjin (Trans. Shimizu Yukiko). Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 2008, 224 pp., ¥2,400 (ISBN 978-4-00-022485-7)
Mariko NAGOSHI
pp. 156-159

Politics and Pitfalls of Japan Ethnography: Reflexivity, Responsibility, and Anthropological Ethics, edited by Jennifer E. Robertson. London: Routledge, 2009, 120 pp., $125.00 (ISBN: 978-0-415-48649-1)
Etsuko KATO
pp. 159-162

Gaikō no Chikara (The Power of Diplomacy), by Hitoshi Tanaka. Tokyo: Nihonkeizai Shinbunsha, 2009, viii + 274 pp., ¥1,800 (ISBN 978-4-532-16685-4)
Tatsuya NISHIDA
pp. 162-165

Shōgen: Miyazawa Daiichiji (1986-1988) Tsūka Gaikō (Documenting the First Round of Miyazawa's Currency Diplomacy), by Isao Kubota. Fukuoka: The Nishinippon Shinbun, 2008, 208pp., ¥1,800 (ISBN 978-4-8167-0760-5)
Kenji ARAMAKI
pp. 166-168

Shinsedai Chitekizaisanhō no Sōsei (Genesis of Intellectual Property Law and Policy in the New Era), by Yoshiyuki Tamura. Tokyo: Yhikaku, 2008, 477 pp., ¥7,140 (ISBN 978-4-641-14387-6)
Hisao SHIOMI
pp. 168-171

Sofutorō no Kiso Riron (Theory of Soft Law), by Nobuhiro Nakayama and Tomotaka Fujita. Tokyo: Yhikaku, 2008, 282 pp., ¥3,500 (ISBN 978-4-641-01000-0)
Takashi IIDA
pp. 171-174

Kimu wa Naze Sabakaretanoka: Chōsenjin BC-kyū Senpan no Kiseki (Why Was Kim Tried?: The Trajectory of Korean Class BC War Criminals), by Aiko Utsumi. Tokyo: Asahi Shinbun Shuppan, 2008, 392 pp., ¥1,500 (ISBN 978-4-02-259948-3)
Yuma TOTANI
pp. 174-176

Meiji Chihō Jichi Taisei no Kigen—Kinsei Shakai no Kiki to Seido Henyō (The Origin of the Meiji Local Autonomy System: The Crisis of Pre-Modern Society and Its Institutional Transformation), by Matsuzawa Ysaku. Tokyo: Tky Daigaku Shuppankai, 2009, 429 pp., ¥9, 135 (hardcover ISBN 978-4-13-026219-4)
Hikaru TANAKA
pp. 177-179

Tokugawa-kōki no Gakumon to Seiji: Shōheizaka Gakumonjojusha to Bakumatsu Gaikō Hen'yō (Politics and Academia in Late Tokugawa Japan: Shheizaka Confucians and Diplomatic Transformation), by Jin Makabe. Nagoya: Nagoya University Press, 2007, 664 pp., ¥6,600 (ISBN 978-4-8158-0559-8)
Yoshikazu NAKADA
pp. 179-182