This is a bold attempt to come to terms with globalization and social change in contemporary Japan. Topics include macro phenomena such as patterns of migration, internationalization, educational reform and trends in values; ground-level change as experienced by particular social groupings: women in the workplace, casual labourers, yakuza gangsters and members of the Burakumin community; and the craft of making Buddhist altars, the practice of ascetic mountain worship and theoretical models of interpretations of emotions.