This is a great collection of essays by sociologists and anthropologists who have convincingly brought class back into our understanding of contemporary Japan. In doing so they expose the myth of the ubiquitous middle class popularized by Ezra Vogel and also reject Chie Nakane's argument that workers' corporate identity trumps class-consciousness. Rather, the editors argue that "the stability of the firm as a marker of social identity for individuals has receded as the institutional commitment from the firm has been withdrawn."

Instead of a dominant middle class or a classless society, the eight contributors shift our gaze to "manifest and enduring social divisions," questions of social identity and an "increasingly fractured social order." The authors elucidate how social-class structures influence identity and life-course opportunities, while illuminating patterns that cut across institutions, gender and ethnicity.

Given the extent of social turmoil in Japan since the Lost Decade, this is a timely volume that contributes significantly to our understanding of social disparities. While analysis in English of ethnic, racial and gender issues has expanded over the past decade or so, subverting the dominant focus on a unified and homogeneous Japan, social class has largely been ignored.