Japanese Working Class Lives: An Ethnographic Study of Factory Workers

With most of Japan's workforce employed at small firms, it is apparent that small companies have a larger role in the Japanese economy than often realized. This volume provides an ethnography of the lives of workers in a small Japanese factory. This case study of the Shintani Metals Company illustrates the ways in which employees' lives extend beyond their work. By examining their experiences of work, leisure and education, this book provides a valuable alternative view of life outside large corporations, in so doing demonstrating the diversity of the Japanese working-class belied by Western stereotypes.