Tomoko Sakai received her B.S. degree in Biological Sciences from Stanford University in 2003, and is currently applying to medical schools. Her research interests include medical anthropology, bioethics, and international medicine.
Previous research has focused on cross-cultural comparisons of illnesses, such as depression and senile dementia, though few have studied the actual processes by which these illness categories become separated from their roots and adopted in a different locale; in anthropological terms, their "indigenization." Through anthropological fieldwork conducted from June to September of 2003, this paper explores how dansei konenki, or male menopause, has found a niche in contemporary Japan, as well as the defining features of the country that may explain this phenomenon. Based on this research, I argue that the indigenization of dansei konenki embodies a particular socio- historical moment in Japan-namely, that of the long-running economic decline in recent years.
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