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'Even a piece of paper has two sides': multi‐scalar cosmologies of Japanese New Year cards.

Authors :
Daniels, Inge
Source :
Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute. Sep2024, Vol. 30 Issue 3, p646-668. 23p.
Publication Year :
2024

Abstract

Annually on 1 January, Japan's efficient postal system circulates 2.5 billion New Year cards to arrive simultaneously in every home in the country. Based on ethnographic fieldwork around Osaka, this article investigates the continued popularity of this exchange of paper forms in an age of smartphones and fast internet connections. Extending recent anthropological scholarship about digital data, I argue that these seemingly trivial cards have transformative potential. They are active, potent participants in the cultivation, accumulation, and ongoing care of multiple networks of social, economic, and spiritual relationships. Through an analysis of the material and aesthetic qualities of the cards, I highlight how their front‐back design embodies co‐existing, but contrasting, dimensions of Japanese relations along a qualification‐quantification and personalization‐standardization axis. The cards also produce depth and scale by linking intimate, domestic concerns with larger political and economic interests, while weaving together multiple temporal dimensions. Ultimately, they exemplify how the manipulation of surfaces can have profound cosmological consequences. These cards possess a spiritual and social potency that generates an all‐encompassing, intimate closeness that yearly rejuvenates society by reconstituting individuals as part of the whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
13590987
Volume :
30
Issue :
3
Database :
Academic Search Index
Journal :
Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
178974127
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9655.14099