Mutual Help Networks in Japanese Society: An International Comparison of East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Islands Region [Hardcover]

Part I. Mutual Help Networks of East Asian Countries? 1. Japan 2. South Korea 3. China 4. Taiwan 5. Comparison and Transfer of Mutual Help Practices among East Asia? Part II. Mutual Help Networks of South East Asian Countries 6. The Philippines 7. Indonesia 8. Thailand 9. Malaysia 10. Vietnam? Part III. Mutual Help Networks in the Pacific Islands Region? 11. Palau 12. Pohnpei 13. Transfer of Mutual Help Practices between Japan and the Pacific Islands Region

Onda compares Japans traditional mutual help practices, an integral part of the nations societal fabric, with other countries across Asia including Korea, China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, and in the Pacific Islands Region in Palau and Pohnpei.

Morio Onda served as a professor at a private university and worked as a part-time lecturer at the University of Tokyo and Keio University in Japan. He is the president of the Society of Economic Sociology (2022-2025). His research focuses on mutual help networks.

Onda compares Japans traditional mutual help practices, an integral part of the nations societal fabric, with those of other countries across Asia, including Korea, China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam, and the Pacific islands region, namely Palau and Pohnpei.

The book advocates for the revitalization of mutual help, which has declined due to modernization, characterized by changes in production and our urban lifestyle. It sheds light on the fading awareness of traditional mutual help practices and encourages the discovery of new connections and bonds in contemporary society. Ondas comparative approach reveals the characteristics of mutual help networks based on the similarities (universality) with and differences (uniqueness) from Japans mutual help practices, which stem from the social structures of individual regions.