Theodore C. Bestor
Encyclopedia
Theodore C. Bestor is a Professor of Anthropology
and Japanese Studies at Harvard University
in Cambridge, Massachusetts
. He is currently the Chair of the Department of Anthropology.
Previously, Bestor taught at Cornell University
and Columbia University
, and was program director for Japanese and Korean studies at the Social Science Research Council.
Bestor was born in Urbana Illinois in 1951. His parents were Arthur Bestor
and Dorothy Koch Bestor. He lived in Champaign-Urbana until he was 11, when his parents moved to Seattle. He attended secondary school in Seattle and graduated from Fairhaven College
of Western Washington University
in 1973, after which he studied at Stanford University, where he received Masters degrees in East Asian Studies (1976) and Anthropology (1977), and then received a PhD in Anthropology in 1983.
Bestor has written widely on the culture and society of Japan
. Much of his research has focused on contemporary Tokyo
, including an ethnography
of daily life in an ordinary neighborhood, Miyamoto-cho
. Since the early 1990s his primary research has concerned Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market
where he has studied the economic anthropology
of institutions, and has focused also on food culture, globalization
, and Japan's fishing industry
.
He is a past president of the American Anthropological Association
's Society for Urban Anthropology and the Society for East Asian Anthropology (the latter of which he was founder and first president).
Bestor was born August 7, 1951, in Urbana, Illinois
. His father, Arthur Bestor
, was a historian of American constitutionalism and his mother, Dorothy Alden Koch Bestor, was a professor of English literature. The family moved to Seattle in 1962. Bestor first visited Japan in 1967, when his father received a Fulbright Fellowship to teach at the University of Tokyo
, Rikkyo University
, and Doshisha University
.
He grew up in Seattle and graduated from Fairhaven College
in Bellingham, Washington
in 1973. Bestor received his Ph.D. in Anthropology from Stanford University
in 1983, after spending four years studying and doing research in Tokyo along the way. His wife, Victoria Lyon Bestor, is Executive Director of the North America Coordinating Council on Japanese Library Resources.
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
and Japanese Studies at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
. He is currently the Chair of the Department of Anthropology.
Previously, Bestor taught at Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
and Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, and was program director for Japanese and Korean studies at the Social Science Research Council.
Bestor was born in Urbana Illinois in 1951. His parents were Arthur Bestor
Arthur Bestor
Arthur Eugene Bestor, Jr. was an American historian.Bestor was born in Chautauqua, New York, the eldest son of Arthur E. Bestor and Jeannette Lemon. Arthur E...
and Dorothy Koch Bestor. He lived in Champaign-Urbana until he was 11, when his parents moved to Seattle. He attended secondary school in Seattle and graduated from Fairhaven College
Fairhaven College
Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies is an interdisciplinary liberal arts college at Western Washington University. Instead of completing the general education requirements at Western, students take interdisciplinary classes at Fairhaven which aim to cover the same breadth and depth of...
of Western Washington University
Western Washington University
Western Washington University is one of six state-funded, four-year universities of higher education in the U.S. state of Washington. It is located in Bellingham and offers bachelor's and master's degrees.-History:...
in 1973, after which he studied at Stanford University, where he received Masters degrees in East Asian Studies (1976) and Anthropology (1977), and then received a PhD in Anthropology in 1983.
Bestor has written widely on the culture and society of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Much of his research has focused on contemporary Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, including an ethnography
Ethnography
Ethnography is a qualitative method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of a cultural group...
of daily life in an ordinary neighborhood, Miyamoto-cho
Miyamoto-cho, Tokyo
Miyamoto-cho is a pseudonymous neighborhood in Tokyo, the subject of an ethnographic study of urban life in the late 1970s and early 1980s undertaken by the anthropologist Theodore C. Bestor in his book and film, both titled Neighborhood Tokyo. It is most likely the area of Shimo-shimmei, and...
. Since the early 1990s his primary research has concerned Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market
Tsukiji fish market
The , commonly known as the , is the biggest wholesale fish and seafood market in the world and also one of the largest wholesale food markets of any kind. The market is located in Tsukiji in central Tokyo, and is a major attraction for foreign visitors....
where he has studied the economic anthropology
Economic anthropology
Economic anthropology is a scholarly field that attempts to explain human economic behavior using the tools of both economics and anthropology. It is practiced by anthropologists and has a complex relationship with economics...
of institutions, and has focused also on food culture, globalization
Globalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
, and Japan's fishing industry
Agriculture, forestry, and fishing in Japan
Agriculture, forestry, and fishing form the primary sector of industry of the Japanese economy, together with the Japanese mining industry, but together they account for only 1.3% of gross national product...
.
He is a past president of the American Anthropological Association
American Anthropological Association
The American Anthropological Association is a professional organization of scholars and practitioners in the field of anthropology. With 11,000 members, the Arlington, Virginia based association includes archaeologists, cultural anthropologists, biological anthropologists, linguistic...
's Society for Urban Anthropology and the Society for East Asian Anthropology (the latter of which he was founder and first president).
Bestor was born August 7, 1951, in Urbana, Illinois
Urbana, Illinois
Urbana is the county seat of Champaign County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 41,250. Urbana is the tenth-most populous city in Illinois outside of the Chicago metropolitan area....
. His father, Arthur Bestor
Arthur Bestor
Arthur Eugene Bestor, Jr. was an American historian.Bestor was born in Chautauqua, New York, the eldest son of Arthur E. Bestor and Jeannette Lemon. Arthur E...
, was a historian of American constitutionalism and his mother, Dorothy Alden Koch Bestor, was a professor of English literature. The family moved to Seattle in 1962. Bestor first visited Japan in 1967, when his father received a Fulbright Fellowship to teach at the University of Tokyo
University of Tokyo
, abbreviated as , is a major research university located in Tokyo, Japan. The University has 10 faculties with a total of around 30,000 students, 2,100 of whom are foreign. Its five campuses are in Hongō, Komaba, Kashiwa, Shirokane and Nakano. It is considered to be the most prestigious university...
, Rikkyo University
Rikkyo University
, also known as Saint Paul's University, is a private university, based on Christian precepts, in Ikebukuro, Tokyo. There is a suburban campus in Niiza in nearby Saitama.It is known for its liberal climate symbolized by the motto -History:...
, and Doshisha University
Doshisha University
, or is a prestigious private university in Kyoto, Japan. The university has approximately 27,000 students on three campuses, in faculties of theology, letters, law, commerce, economics, policy, and engineering...
.
He grew up in Seattle and graduated from Fairhaven College
Fairhaven College
Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies is an interdisciplinary liberal arts college at Western Washington University. Instead of completing the general education requirements at Western, students take interdisciplinary classes at Fairhaven which aim to cover the same breadth and depth of...
in Bellingham, Washington
Bellingham, Washington
Bellingham is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington. It is the twelfth-largest city in the state. Situated on Bellingham Bay, Bellingham is protected by Lummi Island, Portage Island, and the Lummi Peninsula, and opens onto the Strait of Georgia...
in 1973. Bestor received his Ph.D. in Anthropology from Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
in 1983, after spending four years studying and doing research in Tokyo along the way. His wife, Victoria Lyon Bestor, is Executive Director of the North America Coordinating Council on Japanese Library Resources.
Publications
- Doing Fieldwork in Japan, Theodore C. Bestor, Patricia G. Steinhoff, Victoria Lyon Bestor (co-editors), University of Hawai'i Press, 2003 (ISBN 0-8248-2734-1)
- Neighborhood Tokyo, Theodore C. Bestor, Stanford University Press 1989 and Kodansha International 1990 (ISBN 0-8047-1797-4)
- Tsukiji: The Fish Market at the Center of the World, Theodore C. Bestor, University of California Press, Berkeley, 2004 (ISBN 0-520-22024-2)
Awards
- Winner of the 1990 Choice Outstanding Academic Book Award.
- Winner of the 1990 Hiromi Arisawa Memorial Award, sponsored by the AAUP and the Japan Foundation.
- Winner of the 1990 Robert Park Award, sponsored by the American Sociological Association.
External links
- Theodore C. Bestor Homepage at Harvard
- Global Sushi: Soft Power and Hard Realities. Bestor lectures at Boston University's Center for the Study of Asia.