This book presents an introductory overview of the socio-economic organization of creative industries, focusing on the East Asian context.Establishing a theoretical framework founded on the work of Richard Caves, Howard Becker, and Pierre Bourdieu, this textbook is an accessible introduction to creative and cultural industries. Drawing on examples from Japan, South Korea, and China, it both examines what is unique about cultural production in these countries and places them in a gl...

Ethnography in the Raw describes the author’s encounters with the Philippine family into which he has married, his wife’s friends and acquaintances, and their lives in a remote rural village in the rice basin of Luzon, about 130 miles northeast of Manila. The book links detailed descriptions of his Philippine family with cultural practices such as circumcision, marriage and cockfights combined with theoretical musings on the concepts of sacrifice, social exchange, patron-client re...

This is the only book of its kind - written by an anthropologist who spent twelve months doing fieldwork in a major Tokyo agency and who has spent the past 30 years studying and living in Japan. By examining the production of advertising, this book turns other semiotics, media and cultural studies theories on their heads. By analysing the social structure of a modern media organization from the inside, it makes anthropology relevant and intellectually stimulating. By treating the Japanese ...

Can an anthropologist help us understand the world of business? Armed with this question, veteran anthropologist Brian Moeran embarks on an in-depth study of cultural production and creative industries in Japan. At once the blundering ethnographer and shrewd observer, Moeran is able to shed light not only on social behavior and human relations in general but, more specifically, on the importance of strategic exchange to all business practices. Moeran's fieldwork, rooted in participant-obse...

This is a study of a group of potters living in a small community in the south of Japan, and about the problems they face in the production, marketing and aesthetic appraisal of a kind of stoneware pottery generally referred to as mingei, or folk art. It shows how different people in an art world bring to bear different sets of values as they negotiate the meaning of mingei and try to decide whether a pot is 'art', 'folk art', or mere 'craft'. At the same time, this book is an unusual mono...

A substantial book on the social practices and cultural attitudes of people producing, reading, watching and listening to different kinds of media in Japan, China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore and India.

Drawing on 20 years of ethnographic fieldwork and anthropological theory, anthropologist Brian Moeran argues that fashion magazines are able to cast a spell over their readers by using practices and rituals found in age-old magical and religious rites.

Ethnography at Work follows the experiences of the author as a participant observer in the day-to-day running of a Japanese advertising agency. The book reveals the intricate behind-the-scenes planning, discussion, negotiations and strategies needed to ensure that the agency's presentation to a potential client will be preferred over that of a rival firm. The book shows how detailed ethnography can lead to an understanding of numerous different, but interlocking, theoretical issues. It dem...

This book gives a social anthropological account of whaling culture in Japan. When originally published this was the first comprehensive account in English of the history of Japanese whaling, showing how it has given rise to a particular culture. The volume discusses what happens when that culture is threatened. At the same time as explaining the work organization of those involved in whaling, the role of whaling companies in local and national economies, and the role of the whale in the e...

Through its artful engagement with consumers, advertising subtly shapes our everyday worlds. It plays upon powerful emotions -- envy, fear, lust and ambition. But the industry itself is far more subtle and complex than many people might assume. Through an innovative mix of business strategy and cultural theory, this pioneering book provides a behind-the-scenes analysis of the link between advertising and larger cultural forces, as well as a rare look into the workings of agencies themselve...

Recent years have witnessed an explosive growth in the literature published about Japan. Yet it seems that the more that is written about Japan and Japanism – its culture, society, people – the more mysterious it becomes. As well as exploring issues relating to advertising, tourism, women, festivals and the art world, the book depicts how the study of Japanese society contributes to anthropological theory and understanding. The editors use the term ‘unwrapping’ to provide insights into Jap...

How does a group of people, brought together because of their diverse skills and professional knowledge, set out to be ‘creative’? How are ongoing tensions between beauty, fame, and money resolved? In The Business of Creativity, Brian Moeran, a leading scholar and writer on the creative industries, takes the sacred relic of creativity out of the crypt and airs it in the ethnographic alley. In contrast to the persistent image of creativity as the spontaneous inspiration of a gifted individu...