{"product_id":"9780801461507","title":"Lovesick Japan: Sex * Marriage * Romance * Law","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eLovesick Japan\u003c\/em\u003e, Mark D. West explores an official vision of love, sex, and marriage in contemporary Japan. A comprehensive body of evidence-2,700 court opinions-describes a society characterized by a presupposed absence of physical and emotional intimacy, affection, and personal connections. In compelling, poignant, and sometimes horrifying court cases, West finds that Japanese judges frequently opine on whether a person is in love, what other emotions a person is feeling, and whether those emotions are appropriate for the situation.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSometimes judges' views about love, sex, and marriage emerge from their presentation of the facts of cases. Among the recurring elements are abortions forced by men, compensated dating, late-life divorces, termination fees to end affairs, sexless couples, Valentine's Day heartbreak, \"soapland\" bath-brothels, and home-wrecking hostesses.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSometimes the judges' analysis, decisions, and commentary are as revealing as the facts. Sex in the cases is a choice among private \"normal\" sex, which is male-dominated, conservative, dispassionate, or nonexistent; commercial sex, which caters to every fetish but is said to lead to rape, murder, and general social depravity; and a hybrid of the two, which commodifies private sexual relationships. Marriage is contractual; judges express the ideal of love in marriage and proclaim its importance, but virtually no one in the court cases achieves it. Love usually appears as a tragic, overwhelming emotion associated with jealousy, suffering, heartache, and death.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cornell University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47300742152432,"sku":"9780801461507","price":29.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780801461507_p0.jpg?v=1763726068","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780801461507","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}