The Criminal Code of Japan (Shin-ritsu-koryo), enacted in 1870, was the last legal code founded on Chinese philosophy, customs and traditions, and the Revised Criminal Code (Kaitei-Ritsurei) is the first group of Japanese laws based upon European jurisprudence and civilization.
Three periods may be marked in the history of Japan with regard to the legal aspect of the marriage relation. The first was the ancient Japanese period, the second the Chinese period, and the third, the present, that of modern Japan.
The Chinese doctrine of the perpetual obedience of woman to man is expressed in the “Three Obediences”: Obedience, while yet unmarried, to the father; obedience, when married, to the husband; obedience, when widowed, to the son.
Buddhism regards woman as an unclean creature, a temptation, and an obstacle to peace and holiness.
The great revolution in the legal position of woman in Japan which the new Civil Code has brought about is as impressive as all the other changes for the better which have of late years taken place in the land of the Cherry Blossoms. The Chinese and Buddhistic theories concerning womankind have but little influence on modern Japanese law.
Under the Civil Code husband and wife are now on an equal footing, except when consideration for their common domestic life requires some modifications.
Persons who are about to marry are permitted to make any contract with regard to their individual property, and a woman is capable of owning and controlling her separate property all during marriage.
When Japanese law belonged to the Chinese system of jurisprudence there were seven causes for divorce, namely:
1. Sterility.
2. Lewdness.