West (law, U. of Michigan) presents this examination of legal constructions of love, marriage and sex in the Japanese legal system. Drawing on court documents and a careful linguistic analysis of transcripts, especially statements and questions from judges, the work paints a picture of a system that relies on subjective belief in cultural themes and common narrative tropes to adjudicate civil matters. The work quotes extensively from case transcripts and provides an interesting window for the Western reader into a justice system that gives weight to popular belief in a manner that is not expressed so overtly in other cultures. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)