This award will support a cultural anthropologist studying the social relations of economic activity in the main wholesale fish market in Tokyo, Japan. The theory to be tested involves the nature of economic relationships, since the market has many personalized, vertically-coordinated economic ties. In normal market theory such a market should be composed of many short-term competitive relations, yet this market is striking for its institutionalization of cooperative relationships between apparently competing firms. The methodology includes participant observation and formal interviews as well as a survey of market participants. This research is important because it will shed light on how cooperation can facilitate economic activity in a competitive environment. It will also have practical significance in illustrating how Japanese customs operate in a very large, heavily capitalized fish market.
