Kickboxing Geishas: How Modern Japanese Women Are Changing Their Nation [Hardcover]

Veronica Chambers (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 9, 2007

Forget the stereotypes. Today's Japanese women are shattering them -- breaking the bonds of tradition and dramatically transforming their culture. Shopping-crazed schoolgirls in Hello Kitty costumes and the Harajuku girls Gwen Stefani helped make so popular have grabbed the media's attention. But as critically acclaimed author Veronica Chambers has discovered through years of returning to Japan and interviewing Japanese women, the more interesting story is that of the legions of everyday women -- from the office suites to radio and TV studios to the worlds of art and fashion and on to the halls of government -- who have kicked off a revolution in their country.

Japanese men hardly know what has hit them. In a single generation, women in Japan have rewritten the rules in both the bedroom and the boardroom. Not a day goes by in Japan that a powerful woman doesn't make the front page of the newspapers. In the face of still-fierce sexism, a new breed of women is breaking through the "rice paper ceiling" of Japan's salary-man dominated corporate culture. The women are traveling the world -- while the men stay at home -- and returning with a cosmopolitan sophistication that is injecting an edgy, stylish internationalism into Japanese life. So many women are happily delaying marriage into their thirties -- labeled "losing dogs" and yet loving their liberated lives -- that the country's birth rate is in crisis.

With her keen eye for all facets of Japanese life, Veronica Chambers travels through the exciting world of Japan's new modern women to introduce these "kickboxing geishas" and the stories of their lives: the wildly popular young hip-hop DJ; the TV chef who is also a government minister; the entrepreneur who founded a market research firm specializing in charting the tastes of the teenage girls driving the country's GNC -- "gross national cool"; and the Osaka assembly-woman who came out publicly as a lesbian -- the first openly gay politician in the country.

Taking readers deep into these women's lives and giving the lie to the condescending stereotypes, Chambers reveals the vibrant, dynamic, and fascinating true story of the Japanese women we've never met. Kickboxing Geishas is an entrancing journey into the exciting, bold, stylish new Japan these women are making.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In her fifth book, Chambers (Mama's Girl) reports on dramatic changes in women's lives in postbust Japan, where, she notes, men are no longer the "financial titans" and where women—international travelers and avid consumers—are now driving the economy. Yet, Chambers says, rampant consumerism masks the true complexity of these women's lives as they negotiate the divide between Japan's traditions and their own more career-centered outlook. With compassion and warm wit, the author talks to successful Japanese women—from hip-hop superstars to senior corporate executives and entrepreneurs—about their education, careers, personal lives and aspirations, and about the social norms they face as they carve out a bold new existence in a country wedded to tradition. Chambers portrays her subjects as social pioneers operating in a cultural vacuum, without the support of a widespread women's movement. Chambers captures a gender clash, in which young Japanese women despair of Japanese men's cultural insularity and inability to lose face. (She also interviews men who seek to break with stereotypic Japanese masculinity.) Writing in a hip, visually vivid and entertaining style, Chambers fluently places the courage and isolation of these women in a briefly sketched social and economic context, noting that "today's young career women—entrepreneurial, independent—have more [in common] with their hard-working grandmothers than they do with their Bubble Economy housewife mothers." (Jan. 9)
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Review

"A charming adventure and a compelling account of cultural exploration. My own misconceptions about Japan melted away as I read this book. With vivid color, Veronica Chambers portrays a pastiche of Japanese lives: a hip-hopper, a jewelry designer, a snowboarder, a lesbian legislator, an IBM executive. She explains Japan's obsession with Audrey Hepburn, describes the blossoming sex clubs for women, and outlines why so many newlyweds get divorced upon return from their honeymoons. Kickboxing Geishas finds universal humanity in the paradoxes and vibrancy of Japanese women."

-- Seth Faison, author of South of the Clouds: Exploring the Hidden Realms of China and former Shanghai Bureau Chief for The New York Times

"Finally, a book that goes beyond the stereotypes to show real Japanese women in all their complexity. Chambers gets below the surface of Japanese society to reveal a side of the country most foreigners never see. Kickboxing Geishas is an engaging account of the tremendous changes sweeping Japanese society."

-- Rochelle Kopp, author of The Rice-Paper Ceiling: Breaking through Japanese Corporate Culture

"Kickboxing Geishas is a knockout! Veronica Chambers punches through the 'shoji screen' that separates the true lives of Japanese women from the stereotypes that surround them. Her reporting is as fascinating as it is appealing, her insights as surprising as they are generous."

-- Aimee Liu, author of Cloud Mountain --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Free Press (January 9, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743271564
• ISBN-13: 978-0743271561
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,295,979 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars At , last, a look beyond stereotypes, March 3, 2007

By 

P. Abel "ziyou" (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kickboxing Geishas: How Modern Japanese Women Are Changing Their Nation (Hardcover)

Very good book. Reccommended for anyone interested in Japan, or travelling in Japan -- esp for people who might be travelling or living there an extended time. We lived in Tokyo for nearly three years during the late nineties, and the complexities and surprisingly strong push for change that you notice if you talk a lot to women are very accurately described in this book. This book really belies the largely Western stereotype of submissive, traditional women. The book is also quite sympathetic and insightful in describing some of the difficulties of Japanese men in a changing society. Anyone interested in getting a feel for possible future directions of Japanese society should read this book.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great concept, fun book...but..., December 11, 2007

By 

kami no tegami (Louisville,KY, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kickboxing Geishas: How Modern Japanese Women Are Changing Their Nation (Hardcover)

After perusing for recent books on gender roles in Japan for a paper, I finally landed this book. The title was catchy and was a quick read.
However, reading it made me want to immediately contact whoever edited the thing. Not only is some of the information blatantly incorrect for the time (hello, Aiko will not become empress and no law was put into effect making it possible for a woman to ascend to the throne), there were obvious grammar and spelling mistakes. One of the most annoying thing was the inconsistent spelling of the famous street in Tokyo, Omotesando. Shown as Ometesando and Ometosando numerous times, neither was correct. Chapters were obviously not well thought out and contiunity problems arose often. Women that were interviewed earlier in the book were referenced to like complete strangers to the reader. Many things were explained twice which gave me a sense of deja vu while reading quite a few times. I'm no editing whiz or grammar nazi by any means but it seems like this book was not edited at all.
All (terrible) editing issues aside, the book brings up quite a few modern issues. I had done quite alot of reading on the matter and Chambers seems to have some of the most approachable writing for the subject. The bond she shares with each woman interviewed becomes apparent and helpful to the overall flow of the book. Her commentary is colorful, fun and is relatively objective (despite what the other reviews I've read state). The research that has gone into making the book comes out quite easily without being overstated. However, the research seemed shallow. It seemed like she gathered information solely from the internet and then went straight to these women. The preparation involved seemed minimal other than developing well thought out questions for interviewees.
One thing that Chambers excels at is developing overarching themes. The idea of the office lady serving tea is constantly re-introduced in a plesant way. However, the continuity issues with the chapters reiterates the ENTIRE CONCEPT at least twice and becomes redundant.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kickboxing Geishas: How Modern Japanese Women Are Changing Their Nation, June 29, 2011

By 

eliezer berkovits (new york, usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kickboxing Geishas: How Modern Japanese Women Are Changing Their Nation (Hardcover)

I LOVED KICKBOXING GEISHAS! I Love Veronica Chamber's style; captivating, engaging -- I had so many misconceptions. I highly recommend reading all Veronica Chamber's books. She writes with "such" warmheartedness.