Robin M. LeBlanc invites her readers to accompany her on two exciting trips to two very different localities in Japan. Literally along the way she explains what does and does not work in local level politics in Japan and in political campaigning in particular. LeBlanc presents the results of her multi-year, in-depth ethnographic studies (starting in 1999) in her two field sites before acquainting us with her main argument on the character of Japanese politics, which is that “masculinity and power seem inseparable” (p. 162).
One of our trip's destinations is Takeno-machi, a coastal village of 30,000 on the Japan Sea, where Japan still is as rural as it can get and communal ties are still intact. This is where we meet Baba-san, the owner of a local liquor shop. As a businessman Baba-san for decades has profited from local politicians purchasing gift certificates to hand out to their supporters...
