Neighborhood Tokyo
(Theodore Bestor)
Neighborhood Tokyo- Ted Bestor
In this anthropological piece, Harvard anthropologist Ted Bestor details his experiences as a visitor to Miyamoto-Cho a pseudonym he gave to a small neighborhood suburb of Tokyo. Much like his un-mainstream thinking, Professor Bestor was most interested in the cultural layouts and structures of non-mainstream cultural areas such as small neighborhoods. Miyamoto-Cho, a simple merchant town with simple residents and simple lives, is a perfect example of the kind of place Bestor wanted to study the idea of the local place and culture. After a year of living, writing, and absorbing the local culture, Bestor wrote Neighborhood Tokyo an anthropological work that was written not only to be entertaining but also speak volumes to the work of many of Bestor?s predecessors regarding things like cultural construction, cultural capital, and local life. This is a short outline of Bestor?s main points:
1st main idea: Building of cities is not solely historical or completely made out of tradition. Instead, it is best seen as a continuous transformation from the past to the present.
2nd main idea: In that transition, tradition and subjective views of history are changed so to aid the present, much like Gluck?s (Carol G?luck) argument.
Certain views of tradition are maintained to make the neighborhood seem culturally autonomous.
- Fire squadrons: Make it seem as though the neighborhood has a handle on things.
o The clapping of the clapper
o Formation of the neighborhood team to pass the water buckets and water safety
- New years Celebrations: Go through ritualistic preparation and celebration as though it creates some microcosm of importance in the sight of the entire tradition.
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- Hierarchy of neighborhood groups
o Ted Bestor gets owned and has to stand by the sake barrel after attempting to climb the ladder
o The constructivist formation of the hierarchy of the groups relates to the cultural norms, but also at the same time is reinforced by them and reinforces them.
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