Japanese Family - Succession

Succession

One male offspring who is to succeed to the headship of the family lives with his parents after his marriage. He assumes the headship and has to take care of the parents when they have become aged. In addition, he is responsible for the support of bokei member and directs the labor of family members in the management of the household. Couples in successive generations live together under the same roof.

Succession in the Japanese family does not simply mean inheritance of the deceased’s property; and the inheritance of property itself has a distinctive meaning, which reflects the institutional demands of the family. Succession in Japan means katokusozoku, or succession to family headship.

Katokusozoku aims to achieve directly the continuation of the family as an institution. The patriarch, responsible for family continuation, has to decide in advance who is the man to succeed him in the event of his death. He usually selects a certain son as the candidate for his successor. When he has no offspring at all, the patriarch often adopts both a boy as his successor and a girl as the successor’s wife. In adoption, it does not matter whether or not the boy and the girl concerned have blood relationship with the patriarch or with his wife.

The traditional ideal of the “ie” system designates the oldest son as an heir to the family, and expects his family to live with his parents. When the oldest son is not available or not able to assume this position, one of the younger sons may do so. The elderly parents may opt for living with one of their married daughters, usually when they have no available son. Implied here is a sex/age hierarchy in terms of living with the parents, descending from oldest son to youngest son, and oldest to youngest daughter. It thus can be expected that oldest sons and oldest daughters without brothers are more likely to live with their parents than other children.