John Lindsey
25th October 2000, 17:12
The concepts of "mura" (a village) and "ie" (a family) which was dominant
before World War II has declined, since the nuclear family has considerably
increased after the high-growth period of Japan's economy.
I think that these concepts have a close relation to the order of names.
It was generally considered that an individual then gets his/her identity
when he/she has belonged to his/her comunity such as "mura" or "ie".
Though this may be my arbitrary decision, the comunity was superior to an
individual, and as a result, a family name had preceded a personal one.
S. Shingai
This message was posted with permission from the Nippon Culture mail list. Shingai san runs the mail list and is not a member of e-budo. Visit: http://www.yk.rim.or.jp/~planet/index.html for information on the list
before World War II has declined, since the nuclear family has considerably
increased after the high-growth period of Japan's economy.
I think that these concepts have a close relation to the order of names.
It was generally considered that an individual then gets his/her identity
when he/she has belonged to his/her comunity such as "mura" or "ie".
Though this may be my arbitrary decision, the comunity was superior to an
individual, and as a result, a family name had preceded a personal one.
S. Shingai
This message was posted with permission from the Nippon Culture mail list. Shingai san runs the mail list and is not a member of e-budo. Visit: http://www.yk.rim.or.jp/~planet/index.html for information on the list