Sociology of Japanese Youth

Roger Goodman is Nissan Professor of Modern Japanese Studies and Head of the Social Science Division at the University of Oxford, UK.Yuki Imoto is a Research Associate at Keio University, Japan.Tuukka Toivonen is a Junior Research Fellow at Green Templeton College, University of Oxford, UK.

"This superb collection of essays presents a social constructionist analysis of why youth problems erupt when they do and how they evolve. This is an exceptionally well-written book that is destined to become a classic in Japanese studies and is a truly collaborative effort that benefits from a high degree of dialogue between the authors." - Jeff Kingston, Temple University Japan; The Japan Times, Sunday, May 20, 2012"The approach adopted in this book is unique... A characteristic of this book that has not been seen in others is that it delves into the public discourse that explains youg people." - Yuji Genda, University of Tokyo; Journal of Japanese Studies 39.1, 2013.

• 1. Making Sense of Youth Problems, Tuukka Toivonen and Yuki Imoto 2. From Pitiful to Privileged? The Fifty Year Story of the Changing Perception and Status of Japan’s Returnee Children (kikokushijo), Roger Goodman 3. Narratives and Statistics: How Compensated Dating (enjo kōsai) Was Sold, Sharon Kinsella 4. Taibatsu: From Educational Solution to Social Problem to Marginalized Non-Issue, Aaron Miller 5. The ‘Discovery’ and ‘Rediscovery’ of Child Abuse (jidō gyakutai) in Japan, Roger Goodman 6. Hikikomori: How Private Isolation Caught the Public Eye, Sachiko Horiguchi 7. NEETs: The Strategy within the Category, Tuukka Toivonen 8. Shifting Landscapes: The Social Context of Youth Problems in an Ageing Nation, Roger Goodman