This study compares the life courses of legitimate / illegitimate children in the late Tokugawa period. The data for this study came from the local population registers, or Shūmon-Aratame-Cho (SAC), of the village of Nomo. This study defines legitimate children as those recorded having both parents and illegitimate children as those recorded having only a mother, father, or no parents. Three variables were used to examine the life courses of children (mortality, marriage, and inheritance).　The main findings can be summarized as follows. (1) There were no differences in the three variables between children recorded having only a mother and legitimate children.(2) The mortality rates of children recorded having only a father or no parents were higher than those of children in the other groups. Female children, in particular, were placed in harsh environments. (3) Female children recorded having only a father or no parents were less likely to marry than legitimate children. (4) There were no differences in the proportion of legitimate and illegitimate male children who became heads of household.　When compared to illegitimate children in European countries in the early modern period, illegitimate children in the Tokugawa period attained a relatively stable position. In Nomo, this is because the “Ie” system protected them from social exclusion.