The Go-Between in a Developing Society: The Case of the Japanese Marriage Arranger

The most common conceptual model for analyzing acculturation or modernization posits a pre-existing social organization which is upset by new patterns, causing disruptions which continue until the new patterns are firmly implanted. While this model has obvious utility, it sometimes obscures the fact that special institutional forms may take on crucial importance during the transition stage and operate with relatively little disruption until replaced by other institutional forms at a later time.