Boston University Professor of Anthropology Merry White explores the fascinating role that coffee and cafe society have played in Japanese culture in a lecture on Wednesday, May 9, from 6 – 8 at 808 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston. White’s book, Coffee Life in Japan – part ethnography, part memoir – traces the cafe craze from 1888, when Japan helped to launch the Brazilian coffee industry, up to the present. Her work examines themes as diverse as gender, privacy, perfectionism, and urbanism. Learn how coffee and coffee spaces have played essential roles in the formation of Japanese beliefs about public space, social change, modernity, and pleasure. Hear how the cafe has been a place to encounter new ideas and experiments in thought, behavior, sexuality, dress and taste. Each person attending this event will receive a copy of White’s book. Refreshments will be served. $25. Register online at www.bu.edu/foodandwine.
