Japanese Numbers Game

The Use and Understanding of Numbers in Modern Japan
1. Auflage 1992
ISBN: 978-0-415-05609-0
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 224 Seiten, Format (B × H): 140 mm x 216 mm, Gewicht: 363 g

Reihe: Nissan Institute/Routledge Japanese Studies

An almost obsessional use of numbers characterizes Japanese popular culture. A wide variety of numerical formulae and strategies provide the means for explaining events and solving problems occurring in everyday life. These include such matters as the choice of the name for a child, ranking in almost any game or sport, the diagnosis and cure of illness or the decision to accept a new job. This text provides a general study of the field of Japanese popular numeracy. It introduces the reader to a world of numbers in which fortune-telling, the abacus and games involving numbers, as well as curious numerical names (of both people and places), illustrate the importance of systems of counting, calculation and forecasting. The study explores the cultural roots of attitudes towards numbers and makes suggestions about the contemporary implications of a culture in which mechanical numeracy (and number obsession) is general but the highest levels of academic mathematics still fall short of world standards.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Crump, T

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Kultursoziologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Moderne Philosophische Disziplinen Philosophische Anthropologie
• Sozialwissenschaften Medien- und Kommunikationswissenschaften Kommunikationswissenschaften Interkulturelle Kommunikation & Interaktion
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft | Kulturwissenschaften Kulturwissenschaften
• Geisteswissenschaften Theater- und Filmwissenschaft | Andere Darstellende Künste Theaterwissenschaft Theatersoziologie, Theaterpsychologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

List of figures, List of tables, General editor’s preface, Preface, 1. The numerical paradox, 2. Numbers in the written and spoken language, 3. Alternative number systems, 4. The culture of numbers, 5. What’s in a Japanese name?, 6. Fortune-telling, 7. Time, 8. The spatial world of numbers, 9. The Japanese abacus, 10. Games—ancient and modern, 11. The ecology of numbers—past and present, Notes, References, Index

Über Autor(innen)

T Crump