"There is little doubt that, as a textbook, this volume not only admirably helps fill some pedagogical gaps, but also makes an interesting reader. However, this significant book is actually much more than a mere language text; it is also of great value for anthropological linguistics or sociolinguistics. The book is well written and its organization is generally straightforward and logical (in the sense of English). It is easily accessible for linguists and anthropologists, even those who are not especially familiar with Japanese...this book on Japanese discourse analysis is of great value... Those in the fields of discourse analysis, pragmatics, sociolinguistics, and communications studies will also find much of interest in this important book, regardless of their theoretical orientation or geographical specialization." Anthropological Linguisitics

• Preface; Introduction; To the instructors; Part I. Preliminaries: 1. Beyond the sentence: discourse and bunshoo; 2. Rhetoric and culture; 3. Written, spoken and in-between; 4. Style distinction: da, desu/masu and dearu; Part II. Principles: 5. Rhetorical organization; 6. Rhetorical strategies; Part III. Selected Readings: 7. Prelude: on reading different genres of contemporary Japanese texts; 8. Reading Japanese texts; 9-15. R1-R7; Appendix; References; Index.