This paper examines the current state of awareness of the tradition of ie succession in Japan through an investigation of historical background and case studies. Until the amendment of the Civil Code after World War II, the system of patriarchal monopoly was legally protected, but post-war reforms shook the legal and economic foundations of the patriarchal system. However, the sense of patriarchy (the role of men in maintaining the family line) continued to exist in Japanese minds, especially in rural areas. In order to understand how these outlooks have persisted and changed, we drew on the narratives of three people from the interview survey obtained from the Social Well-being Interview in Asia, describing their thoughts and experiences of family and marriage. With a rapidly declining birthrate, the Japanese people's sense of ie is currently undergoing a major change. In urban areas, where many salaried workers have no family property or family business, the sense of succession is waning. Even in rural areas, where agriculture as a family business has declined, it is assumed that the traditional sense of ie will decline in the future.
Katsumi Shimane (Wed,) studied this question.