The After Hours: Modern Japan and the Search for Enjoyment

This book explores how modernization has influenced Japan, especially in terms of its people's quest for enjoyment and leisure within the context of their industrialized and democratic society. The author describes Japan not as an exotic or mysterious culture, but as a "cultural opposing self" that provides a contrasting perspective on the human condition shaped by industrialization and democracy. Unlike Western societies, where terms like "alienation" and "mass leisure" have defined social...