Abstract
For those engaged in participant-observation, the first few months in the field are usually extremely difficult. By taking a reflexive turn, however, the events recorded during entrée are invaluable for revealing the social and cultural dimensions of the new life a researcher creates for him or herself. The following is an account of one researcher's attempt to enter a community in contemporary Tokyo. This account reveals the boundaries of culture, class and sexuality between the researcher and the community. The complex set of highly personal ramifications resulting from crossing those boundaries are also discussed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Befu, Harumi 1971 Japan: An Anthropological Introduction. San Francisco: Chandler Publishing Company.
Berreman, Gerald D. 1973 “Behind many masks: Ethnography and impression management in a Himalayan village.” Pp. 268–312 in Donald Warwick and Samuel Osherson (eds.), Comparative Research Methods. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.
Cornell, Laurel 1984 “Why are there no spinsters in Japan?” Journal of Family History 9:326–339.
Crapanzano, Vincent 1977 “On the writing of ethnography.” Dialectical Anthropology 2:69–73.
1980 Tuhami: Portrait of a Moroccan. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Daniels, Arlene Kaplan 1967 “The low-caste stranger in social research.” Pp. 267–296 in Gideon Sjoberg (ed.) Ethics, Politics and Social Research. Cambridge: Schenkman.
1983 “Self-deception and self-discovery in fieldwork.” Qualitative Sociology 6:195–214.
Emerson, Robert M. 1981 “Observational field work.” Annual Review of Sociology 7:351–378.
Geertz, Clifford 1968 “Religion as a cultural system.” Pp. 1–46 in M. Banton (ed.), Anthropological Approaches to the Study of Religion. London: Tavistock.
1973 “Deep play: Notes on the Balinese cockfight.” Pp. 412–453 in the Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books.
Hamabata, Matthews M. 1983 From Household to Enterprise. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Department of Sociology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Kondo, Dorinne 1982 Work, Family and Self. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
1986 “Dissolution and reconstitution of self: Implications for anthropological epistemology.” Cultural Anthropology 1:74–88.
Maines, David, William Shaffir and Allan Turowitz 1980 “Leaving the field in ethnographic research: Reflections on the entrance-exit hypothesis.” Pp. 261–281 in William Shaffir, et al. (eds.), Fieldwork Experience: Qualitative Approaches to Social Research. New York: St. Martin's Press.
Morsbach, Helmut 1973 “Aspects of nonverbal communication in Japan.” The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 157:262–277.
1977 “The psychological importance of ritualized gift-exchange in modern Japan.” Pp. 98–113 in Annals, New York Academy of Sciences: Anthropology and the Climate of Opinion. New York: New York Academy of Sciences.
Nakajima, Bun 1957 Japanese Etiquette. Tokyo: Toppan Printing Company.
Nakane, Chie 1970 Japanese Society. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Ohnuki-Tierney, Emiko 1984 Illness and Culture in Contemporary Japan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Pollner, Melvin and Robert Emerson 1983 “The dynamics of inclusion and distance in fieldwork relations.” Pp. 235–252 in Robert Emerson (ed.), Contemporary Field Research. Boston: Little, Brown.
Rabinow, Paul 1977 Reflections on Fieldwork in Morocco. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Reinharz, Shulamit 1979 On Becoming a Social Scientist. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Reynolds, D. K. and N. L. Farberow 1976 Suicide: Inside and out. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Roadburg, Allan 1980 “Breaking relationships with research subjects: some problems and suggestions.” Pp. 281–291 in William Shaffir, et al. (eds.), Fieldwork Experience: Qualitative Approaches to Social Research. New York: St. Martin's Press.
Soorifu Koohoo Shitsu 1984 Seron Choosa 16 (October).
Wax, Rosalie 1971 Doing Fieldwork: Warnings and Advice. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Many people have read various versions of this paper, but I would especially like to thank the following for taking the time to provide me with thought provoking comments: Beverly Eliasoph, Steven Brint, Deborah Davis-Friedmann, Ezra Vogel, Robert J. Smith, Shulamit Reinharz, and Lee Rainwater. I am especially indebted to Dorinne Kondo, whose insights and warm support proved to be invaluable. Of course, all of the usual disclaimers apply.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hamabata, M.M. Ethnographic boundaries: Culture, class, and sexuality in Tokyo. Qual Sociol 9, 354–371 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00988464
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00988464