The Possibility of “Family” from the Standpoint of the Shumon Aratame Cho

Abstract

This paper aims to portray the extent to which “family” existed in the Tokugawa era. In this paper, “family” is defined as the condition maintained with the mother-child and father-child dyads. Using the Shumon Aratame Cho (Register of Religious Faith and Relationships), the possibility of “family” was investigated in villages in the Tokugawa era. The method of analysis used demographic life tables to the parents' deaths— in other words, the parents' life tables from a child's standpoint.

The research yielded the following findings. First, when children reached 10 years of age, 75% had two parents in the village. Meanwhile, 25% of children had lost either their mother or father. At age 20, only 48% of children had their mother and father. Second, the mean age at which children experienced their fathers' deaths was 24 years, and the mean age at which they experienced their mothers' deaths was 35 years. Furthermore, the mean age at which children experienced both parents' deaths was 39 years.

Because of the increase in life expectancy since that time, our life courses have changed drastically. In the same way, the development of the possibility of “family” strongly affects our life courses and society. The possibility of “family” in the past has relativized family roles, family issues, and family systems in contemporary society.