Follows the experiences of the author as a participant observer in the day-to-day running of a Japanese advertising agency. This book introduces students to ways in which anthropologists study social systems in business. It also shows how detailed ethnography can lead to an understanding of numerous different, but interlocking, theoretical issues.

'An outstanding piece of work, far and away the most detailed and comprehensive analysis of the work of an advertising agency I have ever come upon' (Michael Schudson, University of California). (view table of contents)