Pacific Affairs: Gambling with Virtue: Japanese Women and the Search for Self in a Changing Nation

GAMBLING WITH VIRTUE: Japanese Women and the Search for Self in a Changing Nation. By Nancy Rosenberger Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. 2000. x, 277 pp. US$29.95, paper. ISBN 0-8248-2388-5.

This new addition to the growing scholarship on contemporary Japanese women tracks changes in the lives of a number of individuals from the 1970s through the 1990s. Vignettes, quotes from interviews, and personal narratives are used to construct detailed, empathetic portraits. The book is organized chronologically, with mini-life histories broken up by chapters that review the major public debates and issues for each decade. It is written in an accessible manner without jargon, making it suitable for undergraduate courses in women's studies, Japanese culture and society, and psychological anthropology. One of the criticisms leveled at much contemporary research on Japan is that we learn more about the researchers and their theories than about actual Japanese people and what they think and feel. But here Rosenberger has conducted in-depth ethnographic fieldwork for her study, and incorporates the voices of many different women gleaned from countless conversations. Her book provides a rich understanding of the spectrum of attitudes and ideas held by everyday people.

Japan scholars and journalists must periodically explain key cultural concepts such as perseverance or endurance, but Rosenberger does it cleverly by providing just-so illustrations. For example, we have read many times about how highly gaman (endurance) is regarded, but rarely do we find such a pithy instance as her story about one woman, who when asked if she enjoys her wood-carving hobby, replies "No, it isn't exactly fun. My back gets sore, but it's good for me. I have to concentrate" (p. 51).

I liked reading true accounts of people who don't conform to common public discourses and stereotypes. We are often told that older Japanese males have resisted altering their old-fashioned patriarchal views, yet we learn that one old man apologized to his daughter before he died about not letting her go to a university (p. 141), and contrary to the depiction of unmarried women who still live at home as "parasite singles," most of the women Rosenberger interviewed pay some form of rent to their parents (p. 188).

This project was primarily focused on the life trajectories of women who are now middle-aged and older. One of the more valuable aspects of the book is the manner in which we see the lives and views of these women gradually change and adapt to a changing culture. With her skill at interweaving cultural and historical background with interview data, I'd love to see Rosenberger offer a future study that focuses on high school and junior high school girls. But for now this is a fine book that will introduce a complex subject to a wide audience.

LAURA MILLER

Loyola University, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.