The Making of Modern Japan / An Account of the Progress of Japan from Pre-feudal Days to Constitutional Government & the Position of a Great Power, With Chapters on Religion, the Complex Family System, Education, &c.

by John Harington Gubbins

The elaborate treatment given to the custom in the Civil Code testifies to its importance in Japanese social life, and at the same time shows the extent to which the interests of the individual in this respect are subordinated to those of the family.

Before leaving the subject it may be well to remind the reader that in the case of the Imperial Family the custom of adoption was, as already mentioned, abolished some years ago.

Family Rites.—The characteristic attitude of mind towards religious matters, referred to in an earlier chapter, which enables a Japanese writer to describe his countrymen as being dualist in respect of religion, is reflected in Japanese family, or household, rites. Before the introduction of Buddhism in the sixth century each household had its kamidana, or Shintō altar, which is a plain wooden shelf. On this the cenotaphs of deceased members of the family were placed. The adoption of Buddhism led to the introduction of a butsudan, or Buddhist altar, which is a miniature shrine of wood, and to this the ancestral cenotaphs were transferred. But the Shintō altar remained, and served as the depository of charms from the chief Shintō shrine, the Daijingū of Isé, as well as of charms from the shrines dedicated to the various tutelary deities of members of the family, and, in spite of the Shintō revival that accompanied the Restoration of 1868–9, the two altars, with their respective uses, have remained unchanged.

The performance of family rites in the strictest manner is usually confined to the upper classes and well-to-do farmers. In the worship of Shintō deities these rites consist of reverential obeisances made every morning before the Shintō altar, the lighting of a small lamp on it every evening and the presentation of offerings of rice and saké on certain days of each month. From time to time also branches of the Cleyera japonica are laid on the altar. The ancestral rites conducted before the Buddhist altar differ in some points of detail according to the professed religion, Shintō or Buddhist, of the family. In each case, however, the cenotaph of the deceased person, which is a small wooden tablet bearing the posthumous name or date of death, is placed on, or in front of, the Buddhist altar. When these cenotaphs become too numerous, one or two are made to serve for all. Offerings of food are made, and religious services held on various anniversaries of the death. On these occasions a feast is also provided. In Buddhist households the Buddhist altar is never without flowers, while offerings of tea and rice are made, and incense sticks lighted, every morning. During the annual “Festival of the Dead,” which is not recognized by the Shin, or Montō, sect of Buddhists, more elaborate rites are performed.

The other features of the family system which remain to be noticed are the position occupied by the head of a family, succession thereto, abdication, family councils, marriage and registration.

Headship of Family.—In Japan the parental authority and the authority exercised by the head of a family are quite distinct, but the two may be vested in the same individual, who may be a woman. When vested in different individuals, they represent a sort of condominium, as, for instance, in cases where the consent not only of the parent, but of the head of the family, is required.

The head of a family exercises authority over all its members whom the law recognizes as such. It is not necessary that these should form part of his or her household, for, as has already been explained, the group represented by the word family may embrace several households. Nor need they be relatives, though usually some tie of kinship exists. This authority includes the right of consent to the marriage and divorce, the adoption, and the dissolution of adoption, of each member of the family; the right of determining his or her place of residence; and the right of expelling such person from the family, and of forbidding his or her return to it. The head of a family has also the right of succession to property in default of other heirs. But the headship of a family carries with it also duties and responsibilities; the duty of supporting indigent members of it; the duty, under certain circumstances, of guardianship, and responsibility for the debts of all.

Save in exceptional cases, succession to the headship of a family is limited to persons who are “members of the family,” in the legal sense of the term. These rank according to the degree of relationship. Failing lineal descendants, an heir may be appointed in other ways defined by the Code.

Abdication.—What for want of a better word is generally known to foreigners by the term abdication is the retirement of a person from the position of head of a family. As women can under the Civil Code become heads of families, it follows that abdication is no prerogative of the male sex.

Japanese scholars who have investigated the subject, notably Professors Hozumi and Shigéno, agree in tracing the origin of the present custom to the abdication of sovereigns, instances of which occur at an early period of Japanese history. These earlier abdications were independent of religious influences, but with the advent of Buddhism abdication entered upon a new phase. In imitation, it would seem, of the retirement of head priests of Buddhist monasteries, abdicating monarchs shaved their heads and entered the priesthood; and when, later on, the custom came to be employed for political purposes the cloak of religion was retained. From the Throne the custom spread to regents and high officers of State; and so universal had its observance, amongst officials of the higher ranks, become in the twelfth century that, as Professor Shigéno states, it was almost the rule for such persons to retire from the world at the age of forty or fifty, and nominally enter the priesthood, both the act and the person performing it being termed niūdō. In the course of time the custom of abdication ceased to be confined to officials, and extended to the feudal nobility, and the military class generally, whence it spread through the nation. At this stage of its transition its connection with the phase it finally assumed becomes clear. But with its extension beyond the circle of official dignitaries, and its consequent severance from tradition and religious associations, whether real or nominal, abdication changed its name. It was no longer termed niūdō (entrance into religion), but inkio (retirement), the old word being retained only in its strictly religious meaning; and inkio is the term in use to-day.