Interaction and Identity in a Cultural Space

The Japanese genkan provides a space where one can take off and put on one’s shoes; yet this practical function is also accompanied by a social/symbolic one. As a transitional area, it embodies the Japanese concept of uchi/soto (inside/outside). In this article, the Japanese genkan was analysed to identify (1) what types of interaction take place in a genkan; and (2) what cultural concepts can be used to identify and classify those types of interaction. The current article suggests that (1) a visitor is identified as either an uchi (inside) or soto (outside) person, and (2) any tension or conflict in this person’s uchi/soto identity grants the visitor an ambiguous status, which unless it is resolved ensures that the interaction between visitor and householder is conducted within a genkan. The paper analyses sixteen possible situations in a genkan and takes examples of each from Shōwa-era films by the Japanese director Yasujirō Ozu.