Lovesick Japan: Sex Marriage Romance Law [Hardcover]

Mark D. West (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 14, 2011

In Lovesick Japan, Mark D. West explores an official vision of love, sex, and marriage in contemporary Japan. A comprehensive body of evidence-2,700 court opinions-describes a society characterized by a presupposed absence of physical and emotional intimacy, affection, and personal connections. In compelling, poignant, and sometimes horrifying court cases, West finds that Japanese judges frequently opine on whether a person is in love, what other emotions a person is feeling, and whether those emotions are appropriate for the situation. Sometimes judges' views about love, sex, and marriage emerge from their presentation of the facts of cases. Among the recurring elements are abortions forced by men, compensated dating, late-life divorces, termination fees to end affairs, sexless couples, Valentine s Day heartbreak, "soapland" bath-brothels, and home-wrecking hostesses. Sometimes the judges analysis, decisions, and commentary are as revealing as the facts. Sex in the cases is a choice among private "normal" sex, which is male-dominated, conservative, dispassionate, or nonexistent; commercial sex, which caters to every fetish but is said to lead to rape, murder, and general social depravity; and a hybrid of the two, which commodifies private sexual relationships. Marriage is contractual; judges express the ideal of love in marriage and proclaim its importance, but virtually no one in the court cases achieves it. Love usually appears as a tragic, overwhelming emotion associated with jealousy, suffering, heartache, and death.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Love hurts, but it hurts far differently in Japan, as Mark West reveals in this fascinating book. Anyone interested in the incredibly varied ways that sex and marriage can go wrong will devour every alarming detail. Laura Kipnis, Northwestern University, author of Against Love and How to Become a Scandal

In Lovesick Japan, Mark D. West ingeniously bridges the public-private divide to examine how judicial opinions describe and shape the intimate life of a nation. The portrait that emerges is darkly unsettling. In unearthing it, West again displays the care and creativity that have made him an indispensable commentator on Japanese law and society. Kenji Yoshino, Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Constitutional Law, New York University School of Law

Never dull, painfully revealing, and always entertaining, Lovesick Japan gives us a sexy, swaggering account of how the courtroom and the bedroom 'hook up' in Japan. Judicial opinions that read like salacious romance novels offer a telling portrait of a nation in which love invites misery, sex lacks intimacy, and loveless, sexless marriage is the norm. For those who thought love and law were odd bedfellows, think again. Here is the proof that the logic of the law and the passion of human sexuality are forever coupled. --Eric A. Feldman, Deputy Dean for International Affairs, University of Pennsylvania Law School

About the Author

Mark D. West is Nippon Life Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the University of Michigan Law School. He is the author of Secrets, Sex, and Spectacle: The Rules of Scandal in Japan and the United States and Law in Everyday Japan: Sumo, Suicide, Sex, and Statutes and the coauthor of The Japanese Legal System and Economic Organizations and Corporate Governance in Japan.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Cornell University Press (April 14, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801449472
• ISBN-13: 978-0801449475
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #465,383 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #22 in Books > Law > Family & Health Law > Marriage
  • #94 in Books > Law > Family & Health Law > Divorce & Separation

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