Examines the place of body practices and the management of emotions in Japanese preschools. Early childhood socialization is explored as a set of 'body projects': a series of practices undertaken (over time) to design the body according to prevailing cultural definitions and images.

Chapter 1 Introduction; Chapter 2 The Institutional Framework; Chapter 3 From Mothering to Othering; interludeI Hoikuen, Kibbutz, and Sleep; Chapter 4 Learning to 'Group'; interludeII Three Little (Japanese) Pigs; Chapter 5 A Note on the Gambaru Complex; interludeIII The Marathon; Chapter 6 Eating to Become Japanese; interludeIV Menus; Chapter 7 Name-Calling; interludeV An Instance of Discipline?; Chapter 8 Conclusion;