{"product_id":"the-price-of-death-9780804735612","title":"The Price of Death","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFunerary practices are a classic topic of anthropological inquiry, which has tended to focus on death rituals as expressions and reinforcers of community ties and values. In this book, the author looks at funerals as an urban business, based on her fieldwork at a large Japanese funeral company.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I am fascinated overall by the immediacy of interactions that this book captures, which include Suzuki's own emotions and experiences of relationships that revolve around invented memorial services. Suzuki's analytical scheme provides an important contribution to the anthropological understanding of the interplay between symbolic production, consumer lifestyle and culture in post-industrial social settings.\" -- \u003ci\u003ePacific Affaris\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Very little detailed ethnographic research has been published, even in Japanese, on the role of the funeral company in contemporary Japanese funerals, or on the people who work at funerals either inside or outside those companies. Suzuki's observation that there is a class structure within the ranks of funeral professionals, and that this structure influences the handling of the body and the degree of support extended to bereaved families, is a fresh insight that deserves full credit.\" -- Murakami Kokyo * \u003ci\u003eSocial Science Japan Journal\u003c\/i\u003e *\u003cbr\u003e\"[\u003ci\u003eThe Price of Death\u003c\/i\u003e] makes an excellent contribution to our understanding of the nature of a Japanese enterprise from an economic point of view and with a rich fund of ethnographic insight.\" -- \u003ci\u003eEnterprise \u0026amp; Society\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eThe Price of Death\u003c\/i\u003e is an extraordinary ethnography of work, and a welcome addition to the literature on modern ceremonies, not just for the subject matter itself, but for the ethnographer's keen eye and perceptive insights into the contemporary funeral industry.\" -- \u003ci\u003eThe Journal of Asian Studies\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Hikaru Suzuki's exploration of the commodification of funeral rites in Japan transcends its seemingly grim topic to provide an enlightening look at the living. . . . [It] reveals how deeply personal attitudes toward life, death, and the afterlife have shaped, and been shaped by, commercial forces, in this case the funeral industry.\" -- \u003ci\u003eAsian Affairs\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Suzuki does a superb job. . . . \u003ci\u003eThe Price of Death\u003c\/i\u003e is absorbing reading. The rich ethnography and the focus on a subject that heretofore has received hardly any scholarly attention make it an important addition to our understanding of contemporary Japan.\" -- \u003ci\u003eMonumenta Nipponica\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Her study will be an important and revealing case for those who wish to use ethnography for a fuller interpretation of the commodification of life services in late capitalist Japan. This is a very appealing and provocative contribution, succintly developed and full of insight.\" -- \u003ci\u003eJournal of Japanese Studies\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"This original and stimulating book presents detailed ethnographic information on a little-known aspect of Japanese society. It is a lively and moving account, with many interesting analytic points. The author's behind-the-scenes perspective on the funeral industry and the symbols and social markers involved in their performance of the funeral are fascinating.\" -- Theodore Bestor * Cornell University *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIntroduction: commercial funerals for contemporary Japanese  1. Death rituals in anthropology and Japanese folklore studies  2. The history of Japanese funeral traditions  3. The phase of negated death  4. The funeral ceremony: rites of passage  5. Funeral professionals at moon rise  6. Funeral professionals outside of moon rise  7. The commoditization of the bathing ceremony  Conclusion: the shift to commercialization and mass consumption  Notes  Bibliography  Index.","brand":"Stanford University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51618769797463,"sku":"9780804735612","price":52.2,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780804735612.jpg?v=1756903281","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/the-price-of-death-9780804735612","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}