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The Changing Consciousness of Japanese Small Retail Examined through an Anthropological Analysis of Konbini Franchise Closings

Research Project

Project/Area Number 21820039
Research Category

Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up

Allocation TypeSingle-year Grants
Research Field Cultural anthropology/Folklore
Research InstitutionInternational Christian University

Principal Investigator

WHITELAW Gavin  International Christian University, 教養学部, 准教授 (50527140)

Project Period (FY) 2009 – 2010
Project Status Completed (Fiscal Year 2010)
Budget Amount *help
¥2,574,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,980,000、Indirect Cost: ¥594,000)
Fiscal Year 2010: ¥1,261,000 (Direct Cost: ¥970,000、Indirect Cost: ¥291,000)
Fiscal Year 2009: ¥1,313,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,010,000、Indirect Cost: ¥303,000)
Keywordsコンビニエンスストア / 小売 / 文化人類学 / 小売業
Research Abstract

Convenience stores have become a critical form of social infrastructure and a "lifeline" during times of disaster and crisis. Yet unlike other forms of social infrastructure konbini are private enterprises and their day-to-day operations rests largely on the shoulders of an owner family and their staff. The societal expectations of these stores, the harsh competition between chains and the rigid profit expectations combine to place increasing pressure on the "franchisee family."In focusing mainly on A-type owners (former independent merchant families), my research revealed that many of the reasons that attracted small shop owners into the franchise business are now the very reasons that these owners are choosing to leave the industry and, in some cases, return to a former retail business or family-related occupation. Interview data suggests that the time spent as konbini owners was not negatively viewed. Despite its challenges, the konbini experience fortified owners'personal conceptualization of "family" and family's importance for the functioning of the franchise industry.

Report

(3 results)
  • 2010 Annual Research Report   Final Research Report ( PDF )
  • 2009 Annual Research Report
  • Research Products

    (28 results)

All 2011 2010 2009 Other

All Journal Article (2 results) Presentation (22 results) Book (4 results)

  • [Journal Article] Lights in the Fields : Convenience Stores and Metropolitan Japan2011

    • Author(s)
      Gavin H. Whitelaw
    • Journal Title

      The Frontier (ICU Japan Studies Program) Vol.4

      Pages: 57-69

    • Related Report
      2010 Final Research Report
  • [Journal Article] Lights in the Fields : Convenience Stores and Metropolitan Japan2011

    • Author(s)
      Gavin H.Whitelaw
    • Journal Title

      The Frontier(ICU Japan Studies Program)

      Volume: Vol.4(印刷中)

    • Related Report
      2010 Annual Research Report
  • [Presentation] Texas Tutoring Tokyo : What Light Might America's Retail Experience Shed on Convenience Culture in Japan2011

    • Author(s)
      Gavin H. Whitelaw
    • Organizer
      同志社大学アメリカ研究所 部門研究研究会
    • Place of Presentation
      Doshisha University, Kyoto.
    • Year and Date
      2011-02-24
    • Related Report
      2010 Final Research Report
  • [Presentation] Texas Tutoring Tokyo : What Light Might America's Retail Experience Shed on Convenience Culture in Japan2011

    • Author(s)
      Gavin H.Whitelaw
    • Organizer
      同志社大学アメリカ研究所 部門研究 研究会
    • Place of Presentation
      Doshisha University, Kyoto(招待講演)
    • Year and Date
      2011-02-24
    • Related Report
      2010 Annual Research Report
  • [Presentation] At Your Konbini : An Anthropological Exploration of Japan's Premier Counter Culture2011

    • Author(s)
      Gavin H. Whitelaw
    • Organizer
      Kyoto Center for Japan Studies (KSCJ) Special Lecture
    • Place of Presentation
      Doshisha University, Kyoto
    • Year and Date
      2011-02-23
    • Related Report
      2010 Final Research Report
  • [Presentation] At Your Konbini : An Anthropological Exploration of Japan's Premier Counter Culture2011

    • Author(s)
      Gavin H.Whitelaw
    • Organizer
      Kyoto Center for Japan Studies (KSCJ) Special Lecture
    • Place of Presentation
      Doshisha University, Kyoto(招待講演)
    • Year and Date
      2011-02-23
    • Related Report
      2010 Annual Research Report
  • [Presentation] My Konbini : At Crossroads of Science, Technology and Culture in Today's Japan2011

    • Author(s)
      Gavin H. Whitelaw
    • Organizer
      AY2010 MEXT Grant-supported Super Science High School Guest Lecture
    • Place of Presentation
      Tokyo Tech High School of Science and Technology, Tokyo
    • Year and Date
      2011-02-17
    • Related Report
      2010 Final Research Report
  • [Presentation] My Konbini : At Crossroads of Science, Technology and Culture in Today's Japan2011

    • Author(s)
      Gavin H.Whitelaw
    • Organizer
      AY2010 MEXT Grant-supported Super Science High School Guest Lecture
    • Place of Presentation
      Tokyo Tech High School of Science and Technology, Tokyo(招待講演)
    • Year and Date
      2011-02-17
    • Related Report
      2010 Annual Research Report
  • [Presentation] Konbinity? Convenience Stores and the Question of Livelihood in Contemporary Japan2011

    • Author(s)
      Gavin H. Whitelaw
    • Organizer
      Waseda University Graduate School of Asian and Pacific Studies
    • Place of Presentation
      Waseda University, Tokyo
    • Year and Date
      2011-01-19
    • Related Report
      2010 Annual Research Report 2010 Final Research Report
  • [Presentation] Really? Convenience Stores Scholarship : Understanding Japan' s Convenience Culture through the (Originally) American Convenience Store(えっ?コンビニが学問:コンビニ発祥の地アメリカから見た日本の便利文化)2010

    • Author(s)
      Gavin H. Whitelaw
    • Organizer
      Tama Area University Academic Consortium (TAC) Annual Meeting
    • Place of Presentation
      International Christian University, Tokyo
    • Year and Date
      2010-11-30
    • Related Report
      2010 Final Research Report
  • [Presentation] Really? Convenience Stores Scholarship : Understanding Japan's Convenience Culture through the (Originally) American Convenience Store(えっ?コンビニが学問:コンビニ発祥の地アメリカから見た日本の便利文化)2010

    • Author(s)
      Gavin H.Whitelaw
    • Organizer
      Tama Area University Academic Consortium (TAC) Annual Meeting
    • Place of Presentation
      International Christian University, Tokyo(招待講演)
    • Year and Date
      2010-11-30
    • Related Report
      2010 Annual Research Report
  • [Presentation] Lights in the Fields : Convenience Stores and Metropolitan Japan2010

    • Author(s)
      Gavin H. Whitelaw
    • Organizer
      William Kelly's Contributions to the Spread of Japan Anthropology, American Anthropology Association Annual Meeting(Fanning the flames)
    • Place of Presentation
      New Orleans, LA, USA
    • Year and Date
      2010-11-21
    • Related Report
      2010 Final Research Report
  • [Presentation] Lights in the Fields : Convenience Stores and Metropolitan Japan2010

    • Author(s)
      Gavin H.Whitelaw
    • Organizer
      Fanning the flames : William Kelly's Contributions to the Spread of Japan Anthropology, American Anthropology Association Annual Meeting
    • Place of Presentation
      New Orleans, LA, USA(招待講演)
    • Year and Date
      2010-11-21
    • Related Report
      2010 Annual Research Report
  • [Presentation] Maintaining Convenience : Franchising the Family in Japan Today2010

    • Author(s)
      Gavin H. Whitelaw
    • Organizer
      Transformations and Continuities in Contemporary Society, British Association of Japan Studies(Families and Work)
    • Place of Presentation
      School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London
    • Year and Date
      2010-09-10
    • Related Report
      2010 Final Research Report
  • [Presentation] Maintaining Convenience : Franchising the Family in Japan Today2010

    • Author(s)
      Gavin H.Whitelaw
    • Organizer
      Families and Work : Transformations and Continuities in Contemporary Society, British Association of Japan Studies
    • Place of Presentation
      School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, U.K.(招待講演)
    • Year and Date
      2010-09-10
    • Related Report
      2010 Annual Research Report
  • [Presentation] Travails of Trash : Convenience Stores and the Poetics of Paracapitalism in Contemporary Japan2010

    • Author(s)
      Gavin H. Whitelaw
    • Organizer
      Transnational Organizing Panel, European Association of Social Anthropology Annual Meeting(Markets, Moneys, and Mobilities)
    • Place of Presentation
      University of Ireland, Maynooth
    • Year and Date
      2010-08-25
    • Related Report
      2010 Final Research Report
  • [Presentation] Travails of Trash : Convenience Stores and the Poetics of Paracapitalism in Contemporary Japan2010

    • Author(s)
      Gavin H.Whitelaw
    • Organizer
      Markets, Moneys, and Mobilities : Transnational Organizing Panel, European Association of Social Anthropology Annual Meeting
    • Place of Presentation
      University of Ireland, Maynooth, Ireland(招待講演)
    • Year and Date
      2010-08-25
    • Related Report
      2010 Annual Research Report
  • [Presentation] Fieldwork Among Franchises2010

    • Author(s)
      Gavin H. Whitelaw
    • Organizer
      Japan Anthropology Workshop (JAWS) 2010 Panel : Trajectories and Cohorts in Japan Anthropology
    • Place of Presentation
      University of Texas, Austin
    • Year and Date
      2010-03-15
    • Related Report
      2010 Final Research Report
  • [Presentation] Panel : Trajectories and Cohorts in Japan Anthropology Chair : Lola Martinez(SOAS)& William W.Kelly(Yale)Fieldwork Among Franchises2010

    • Author(s)
      Gavin H.Whitelaw
    • Organizer
      Japan Anthropology Workshop(JAWS)
    • Place of Presentation
      University of Texas, Austin
    • Year and Date
      2010-03-15
    • Related Report
      2009 Annual Research Report
  • [Presentation] Shoptalk : Lives and Livelihood from the Epicenter of Convenience Culture2010

    • Author(s)
      Gavin H. Whitelaw
    • Organizer
      東京大学社会科学研究所 現代日本研究会
    • Year and Date
      2010-01-28
    • Related Report
      2010 Final Research Report
  • [Presentation] Shoptalk : Lives and Livelihood from the Epicenter of Convenience Culture2010

    • Author(s)
      Gavin H.Whitelaw
    • Organizer
      東京大学社会科学研究所・現代日本研究会
    • Place of Presentation
      東京大学
    • Year and Date
      2010-01-28
    • Related Report
      2009 Annual Research Report
  • [Presentation] Konbini Culture : Observant Participation and the Localization of American Commerce in Contemporary Japan2009

    • Author(s)
      Gavin H. Whitelaw
    • Place of Presentation
      Doshisha University, Kyoto
    • Year and Date
      2009-10-20
    • Related Report
      2010 Final Research Report
  • [Presentation] Konbini Culture. Observant Participation and the Localization of American Commerce in Contemporary Japan2009

    • Author(s)
      Gavin H.Whitelaw
    • Organizer
      アメリカ研究所
    • Place of Presentation
      同志社大学
    • Year and Date
      2009-10-20
    • Related Report
      2009 Annual Research Report
  • [Presentation]

    • Author(s)
      University of Tokyo
    • Related Report
      2010 Final Research Report
  • [Book] Berg Press2011

    • Author(s)
      Christina Garsten, (ed.), Gavin H. Whitelaw
    • Publisher
      Counter Intelligence : The Contingencies of Clerkship at the Epicenter of Convenience Culture(刊行決定)
    • Related Report
      2010 Final Research Report
  • [Book] Routledge Press2011

    • Author(s)
      Carolyn Stevens (ed.) Gavin H. Whitelaw,
    • Publisher
      To Touch or Not to Touch : Feeling One's Way through the Social Poetics of Convenience Store Work(刊行決定)
    • Related Report
      2010 Final Research Report
  • [Book] Counter Intelligence : The Contingencies of Clerkship at the Epicenter of Convenience Culture, 'in"ENTRIES : Doing Anthropology In and Among Organizations"2011

    • Author(s)
      Gavin H.Whitelaw (Christina Garsten, Anette Nyqvist, eds.)
    • Publisher
      Berg Press(刊行決定)
    • Related Report
      2010 Annual Research Report
  • [Book] 'To Touch or Not to Touch : Feeling One's Way through the Social Poetics of Convenience Store Work' in "Touch : Encounters with Japanese Popular Culture"2011

    • Author(s)
      Gavin H.Whitelaw (Carolyn Stevens, Christine Yano, eds.)
    • Publisher
      Routledge Press(刊行決定)
    • Related Report
      2010 Annual Research Report

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Published: 2009-04-01   Modified: 2016-04-21  

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