In the research done to date on the history of funereal rites and women’s history, neither field has raised such questions as the participation of women in funerals or the significance of funerals in the lives of women. In order to fill this gap, the present article takes up such issues during Japan’s ancient and medieval eras, by examining actual examples of funereal rites between the 8th and 16th centuries, in order to discover exactly how women were participating in funeral processions（soso 葬送）and attending burial rites（sogi 儀場）during that time, as well as trace historical changes in those practices, thus placing women within the context of how people mourned and buried their dead.
The author begins with the period up through the mid-13th century, indicating that since funereal rites were regarded as harbingers of misfortune, women who required special protection, such as preadolescents and pregnant mothers were not allowed to join funeral processions ; but female courtiers and kinsfolk were allowed to mourn and touch the body of the deceased. That being said, from about the 9th century onward, a time when women began to be cloistered from public life, female next of kin no longer attended either funeral processions or burial ceremonies, with the exception of courtiers, who possessed a public presence and attended those events as part of their court duties. As for the women of the highest court status---the consorts, mothers and grandmothers of the emperors, attendance at rituals mourning the deaths of reigning or retired emperors was not permitted.
The author then turns to the post-1250 era, noting initially that with the establishment（from the 12th century）of the medieval kinship organization, ie 家, in which first sons of each generation were appointed to the traditional bureaucratic offices held their family ancestors, the position of women within the family had greatly changed. Meanwhile, the temples under the management of the Zen and Ritsu sects of Buddhism began constructing burial sites within the temple grounds, which were now referred to as “places for embarking on the path to enlightenment” (kechien-no-ba 結縁の場). It was in this manner that the consolidation of funereal rites within temple grounds eliminated the significance of the funeral procession, thus freeing female members of aristocratic and samurai households to attend the burial ceremonies of their loved ones. Then from the 14th century on, imperial consorts were no longer enthroned, and replaced by courtiers in the roles of spouses or mistresses, whose princesses would be cloistered as Buddhist nuns. Under such unusual conditions, the imperial family continued to organize funeral processions for reigning and retired emperors, in the traditional fashion of the Heian period, joined by grieving wives and daughters on the way to attending services at crematoria.
The author concludes from the above findings that two distinct turning points---one in the mid-9th, the other in the mid-13th century---should be taken into account whenever considering the participation of women in ancient and medieval funereal rites.

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This article examines the actual state of revenues and expenses from taxation in the three fu prefectural districts of Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka and in the open ports of Yokohama, Kobe, Nagasaki and Niigata　(Sanfu Kaikoba 三府開港場) , which represented the centers of national politics, foreign diplomacy and economic growth during the early Meiji era, initially emulating the customs of the former Tokugawa period, discussed in relation to the development of the tri-sector fiscal burden system (sanbukei-zaisei 三部経済制) , which was specially adopted by prefectures with the country’s largest metropolises, for the ultimate purpose of further clarifying the transformation process of urban fiscal structure from the Japan’s late premodern to the modern period.
The author begins with an institutional overview of prefectural fiscal affairs immediately after the Meiji Restoration, characterized by 1) the retention of premodern taxation practices regarding non-agrarian sectors, such as commerce, manufacturing, fishing and transportation (shounjo 諸運上; myogakin 冥加金) , implemented by the Meiji government’s Ministry of Finance, 2) the legislation of Meiji 5 and 6 (1872‐73) regarding tax collection by prefectural governments, and 3) the subsequent rollout of the tri-sector fiscal burden system, beginning in Meiji 12 (1879) . In the background to these developments lay efforts to provide relief to urban residents overburdened with personal expenses and outlays shared by their communities, while maintaining revenue sources.
The author then turns to actual tax collection and outlay based on the fukinshirabe 賦金調 allocation of tax burdens. Because of the retention of premodern tax revenue outlay practices and the close proximity between prefectural governments and local town halls (machikaisho 町会所) regarding administrative affairs, in actuality “community shared contribution” type operations developed, thus overcoming the limitations of premodern ear-marked taxes. On the other hand, since prefectural governments dealt directly with regions under their sole governance, a system was set up based on the three regional categories (sanbu 三部) of directly administered central areas, urban districts and rural districts.
Next the author discusses the significance of the tax reforms of Meiji 8 (1875) , by which the non-agrarian miscellaneous levies of the past era were abolished in favor of a general taxation system for prefectures. As a result, together with the expansion of payments from prefectural taxation, strict distinctions were made between government levies, shared community contributions and personal expenses, the first becoming more and more revenue collected and expended directly by prefectural government agencies. Moreover, taxation operations based on regional classifications were not only maintained, but also continued on as the established revenue source for city administration.
It was in this way, that prefectural level taxation differed from the tax burden allocation practices which financed the sanfu kaikoba regions and became the general system for all prefectures. That being said, on the operational level, the structure for maintaining urban revenue sources prior to general taxation was per-petuated, against the structural backdrop of the tri-sector fiscal burden system. The author concludes that the initial establishment of prefectural level taxation was therefore the starting point for the development of modern urban fiscal administration in Japan.

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