Nuptiality and Fertility in a Japanese Village, 1760-1870

• Published in: Journal of the Anthropological Society of Nippon Vol. 98; no. 3; pp. 317 - 336
• Main Author: KINOSHITA, Futoshi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: The Anthropological Society of Nippon 1990
• Subjects: Proximate determinant of natural fertility
• ISSN: 0003-5505; 1884-765X
• DOI: 10.1537/ase1911.98.317

This paper analyzes a historical document, shumon aratame-cho, and examines a change in nuptiality and fertility of a village (Yambe) in Northeastern Japan during the latter half of the Tokugawa period. The following is a summary of the main findings of the paper. Marriage showed different patterns between sexes in Yambe. For males, both age at first marriage and the proportion ever-married were strongly influenced by economic factors, either changes over time or differences between classes, whereas this was not necessarily true for females.In other words, age at first marriage and the proportion ever-married for males were closely related to changes in employment opportunity and income level. On the other hand, these two indices for females were more stable throughout the period, fluctuating in a narrower range. A similar pattern can be found in the relationshipbetween socio-economic status (SES) and nuptiality. Namely, among Yambe men, both age at marriage and the proportion ever-married were negatively associated with SES, but the clear relationship cannot be found among Yambe women. Three possible reasons for this different pattern between sexes are offered in this paper.First, marriage for females was more culturally determined (e.g., social norm) than for males.Second, groom's economic well-being and contribution were more crucial to marriage than those of the bride. And, in general, bride's economic contribution to the household of her husband was relatively small except for her labor contribution. This may be a common feature of patrilocal society. Third, the demand for male labor was higher than the demand for female labor, and wages for male servants were muchhigher than wages for female servants. As a result, economically men had more control over their own marriage than women did. Fertility of Yambe women increased over time. Particularly, a sharp increase was found in the age group 25-39. The increase in fertility was resulted mainly from an increase in marital fertility. A decrease in celibacy rate also conributed to the fertility increase, although this effect appears to have been smaller than the effect of marital fertility. A clear relationship between fertility and SES cannot be found. Then the paper discusses the possible causes of the increase in marital fertility from the standpoint of proximate determinants and economic value of children. Besides marriage, two proximate determinants are likely to have made an impact on fertility of Yambe women: the duration of postpartum infecundity and a behavioral aspect of fecundability. Increased infant and child mortality shortened the duration of postpartum amenorrhea, which resulted in shorter birthintervals. And the exposure of women to the risk of childbearing, more precisely coital frequency, increased along with the transformation of labor from hokonin (live-in servants) to day laborers.In addition, an increase in employment opportunity and wage is likely to have lowered the frequency of infanticide and induced abortion. At the same time, wealth began to flow from children to their parents, so that the parents came to have a strong incentive for children.