Inge Daniels is Lecturer in Social Anthropology, Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Oxford.

Acknowledgments Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION SPREAD 1: Map with locations and images of exteriors of the homes studied Chapter 2 HOMES INSIDE OUT Gates, fences and walls 'We would rather have a nice English garden' 'Everyone needs a garage' Between the window and the hallway Red buckets and neighbourhood cooperation Local communities of limited liability Conclusion: The inside out SPREAD 2: Street gardens; green fences and terracotta walls SPREAD 3: Wifely duties and neighbourhood surveillance Chapter 3 FEELING AT HOME 'The pleasures of a happy home' From tatami to chair-based living The postwar 'LDK home': 1. The sofa and dining table 2. Double beds 'Bathing is my way to relax' Tatami mats 'A space to relax' Conclusion: Affectionate ties SPREAD 4: The choreography of domestic slippers Chapter 4 TATAMI TASTES Male domestic taste and sophistication Full-time and part-time housewives A national domestic taste? Eclectic alcoves 'New is better': traditional and modern aesthetics Male minimal design The exception: a modern aesthetic scheme 'We have "a son in a box'' ' Male domestic stereotypes: 'Japanese fathers have no holidays'Do-it-Yourself Conclusion: Gender stereotypes SPREAD 5: Alcoves half full or half empty? Chapter 5 STUFF AND STORAGE The ideology of tidiness Storehouse living: circulation and accumulation Storage strategies: 1. Expanding the home 2. 'Living among one's furniture' Furniture walls Dowries and provisioning The contemporary starter home Life cycle rupture points: 'if I had a house like a castle, I would take everything'Conclusion: Conduits and containers SPREAD 6: Women and their kimono SPREAD 7: Destroying and rebuilding the family home Chapter 6 TROUBLESOME THINGS Domestic disarray? Souvenir Cabinets: objects frozen in time and space Troublesome Things Commemorative gifts and unique relationships Ephemeral gifts and the renewal of relationships Surplus, divestment and informal sociality Conclusion: pressures and constraints of gift culture SPREAD 8: The Dolls Festival SPREAD 9: Bazaars and flea markets Chapter 7 THE LOCUS OF SPIRITUAL IN THE DOMESTIC The house-building ceremony The domestic cycle of 'annual events' God shelves and auspiciousness The temporality of luck Affective and material bonds with the ancestors A son's duty of care? Inter-generational tensions New family models Conclusion: Causality and self-determination SPREAD 10: Religion as action Chapter 8 CONCLUSION Notes Bibliography Index