Abstract
This study is based on the standpoint that the family retirement system has considerable significance in understanding the family structure of present-day Japan and we attempt to sort out how past studies have approached the family retirement system as well as placing the family retirement system in the discussion framework of “homogeneity” and “heterogeneity.”
When we examined the studies that have evolved in sociology, ethnology, and social anthropology, since there is no common understanding of which family system the family retirement system belongs to, we added new viewpoints to the categorization suggested by Shimizu and Ueno. We found that six types of approach exist. As the result of the above, in placing the family retirement system, we came to the conclusion that three points in particular are important indications. The three points are whether the family structure is seen as homogeneous or heterogeneous, whether the important part of the family retirement system is inheritance or the living unit, and lastly, an understanding of the “Southwest Japan Type.”
