Sex, Sumo, Suicide, and Statutes

It's an intriguing bi-line for a book about law in Japan. I just read the book review from the Japan Times and the author of the book, "Law in everyday Japan: Sex, Sumo, Suicide, and Statutes," Mark West, appears to prupose an interesting thesis regarding the dynamism of courts. Within these diverse areas of social life, West will argue that law shapes social norms rather than the other way around. This suggests that the law is dynamic in terms of culture, rather than constrained by it. In a way, it takes the dynamic court view even further. But then, I have yet to read the book to see how West attributes the culture changes to the law.