In an attempt to move away from theoretical trends which identify Japanese cultural boundaries with Japan's nation-state boundaries, consequentially portraying the country as racially homogeneous and culturally unique, Ryang examines: how wartime enemy studies shaped the direction of post-war anthropology; the historical effects and significance of Chrysanthemum and the Sword; key texts from the anthropology enquiry that started within the US military occupation of Japan (1945-1952); Japanese kinship and its relationship to the study of Japan as a nation; and the origins and development of the studies of the Japanese self.