{"product_id":"the-electric-geisha-exploring-japans-popular-culture","title":"The Electric Geisha: Exploring Japans Popular Culture","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn this stunning collection of essays the roots of Japanese mores and popular culture are explored with disarming candor and verve, covering everything from economics and politics to fashion, entertainment, and sex.What we normally see of the attentionshy Japanese is simply nothing more than the superficial manifestation of something much deeper. In fact, centuries deeper. The authors take us behind closed doors and illuminate the layers of tradition behind many of todays inexplicable practices. The ubiquitous package tour that sees armies of Japanese pleasureseekers flocking to the far corners of the globe in tightknit groups has its roots in the temple pilgrimage of old  arranged under the watchful eye of the village associations. The almost fanatical grab for prime property in New York, London, Berlin, and other major cities around the world echoes a cycle of fortuneseeking that began in Japan centuries ago. And the electric geisha of the title is a metaphor for the karaoke singalong machines that have replaced the old forms of entertainment, but serve much the same purpose.With telling insight and frankness, Mr. Ueda and his colleagues unlock a little more of the Japanese mystery, tracing each thread from the time of shoguns and geisha to the close of the technologydominated twentieth century. What emerges is a colorful tapestry of old Japan  with its samurai and nobles, palanquins and pleasure quarters  and a fascinating, tightly woven composite of modern Japan, its people, and the collective psyche.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS","offers":[{"title":"Ueda, Atsushi \/ hardcover","offer_id":47845868830965,"sku":"SONG4770017537","price":23.86,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/5804\/8501\/files\/51N8pvbkjlL.jpg?v=1773829376","url":"https:\/\/ergodebooks.com\/products\/the-electric-geisha-exploring-japans-popular-culture","provider":"Ergodebooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}