Abstract
This paper aims to analyze a traditional local organization in the Japanese farm village. This village organization has been called Mura so far. I refer to the case of Kamihaneda-Kitakata, Yokaichi City in Shiga Prefecture in this paper. There are some rituals now. For example, there are Murairi-ritual, Soyori (an annual meeting of the representatives of ies that are Mura-members), and Jinji practiced in Soyori. An ie to provide a place to hold Soyori in January ever year is called Toya. Mura-members take turns providing a meeting place of Soyori. Murairi-ritual is a rite of passage to become a member of the Mura in Kitakata. The ie that newly becomes the member must take change of Toya in the next year, and the ie-head must become the member of the age group called Wakaisi for two years if he hasn't. Jinji is a ritual praying the peace and the welfare in this hamlet. They make the Mura as "institutional fact" with practicing a series of rituals mentioned above.
Furthermore, ies are bound together n ot only by blood but by a shared territorial bond. These are called Sorensinrui and Tonari here. Sdrensinrui are the relatives who reside in Kitakata and practice the funeral-ritual as master. Tonari consists of three or four adjacent houses, involved in everyday mutual aid relations. These relations do not directly influence the execution of the various rituals mentioned above, but both the Mura and these ie-combinations have an ie held as a unit.
In Kitakata, there are another relations that are not ie-combinations. They are relations between the individuals and the individuals, and some inhabitants of Kitakata are also related to ones that do not live here. That is to say, there are three commonalities created by these three relations. And three relations compose a flexible structure, with influencing one another and keeping a balance among them. I conclude that this flexible structure forms a Mura as "a traditional local organization" with taking various types in Japanese farm villages.
