Age-Grading in Japan

Author(s): Edward Norbeck

Source: American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 55, No. 3 (Aug., 1953), pp. 373-384
Published by: Wiley on behalf of the American Anthropological Association
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AGE-GRADING IN JAPAN1

By EDWARD NORBECK

T HE emphasis upon age in Japanese culture has long been noted by West-
ern observers. Numerous references to this emphasis may be found in
both implicit and explicit form in Western accounts of historical and modern
Japan. The subject of emphasis upon age as manifested in age-grading and
age-classes, although virtually absent from Western publications, has in
recent years received attention from Japanese social scientists. Although no
comprehensive study has as yet emerged in Japanese, present accumulations
of data appear to indicate that practices of age-grading and the existence of
certain formalized, named age-classes were common if not general among the
peasantry of Japan in the past. An attempt will be made here to review and
appraise the data on this subject presented in such works by Japanese scholars
as are at hand. To the knowledge of the author only one American publication
(Matsumoto 1949) deals with age-grading in Japan-and only peripherally.
T. Omachi and K. Segawa, who are among the Japanese social scientists inter-
ested in this topic, both state that their research in this field has just begun
(personal communications). Data are also drawn in part from the author's
field work in Japan.
Practices of age-grading which appear to be very ancient still exist in a
number of rural communities of Japan. Of the formalized age-classes which
once existed, however, only those composed of young men and young women
are common today. Present-day communities which retain more or less clearly
defined age-classes applying to all persons are uncommon, and such com-
munities are usually isolated geographically from urban centers. Only vestiges
of age-grading practices remain in the more modernized and urban areas,
with the exception that age-classes for young, unmarried persons exist in
communities which can be called neither backward nor isolated. Clearly de-
fined age-class systems covering the whole life span of individuals appear to
have become relatively rare by the end of the nineteenth century even in
rural Japan, where ancient customs have lingered the longest. There is, how-
ever, a quantity of evidence of their former widespread existence. Material
at hand on past or present practices of age-grading covers a wide area of Japan,
all of the major islands except Hokkaido (on which the author has no data
whatever), as well as the Ryukyu Islands and the Island of Tsushima in the
Japan Sea. A description of age-grading customs as they appear to have existed
in much of Japan until a period perhaps less than a century ago will be at-
tempted here. In some instances, as may be noted, the practices continued
until a much later date or exist today.
373

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374 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [55, 1953

INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD

A few instances of the present existence of associations composed of pre-
adolescent children (kodomo-gumi)are cited by Japanese scholars. These as-
sociations are reported as active during religious festivals, when they are
charged with the performance of simple duties on the behalf of the community.
Such children's associations, some of them described as strictly unified groups
tunder the leadership of older children, may also have regularly assigned
secular duties such as driving insects from rice fields (Omachi 1942: 16-17).
"Traces" of children's associations are also reported from a number of com-
munities (Sakurada 1942: 90). Exempletive of such traces is the community
of Takashima in the Inland Sea (Okayama Prefecture), studied by the author.
Although no children's association has existed within the memory of presently
living persons, pre-adolescent children (at present, elementary school children,
of ages six to about fourteen) still perform traditional duties, the origins of
which are lost in antiquity. Large quantities of firewood are prepared solely
by this group of children, under the direction of the eldest and strongest
members, for two annual all-night shrine watches in which both children and
adults participate. This is a task which normally requires the free time of
the children for several days.
The importance of children's age-classes in former days is said to be indi-
cated by the existence of a number of customs surrounding the attainment to
certain years of life during childhood (Omachi 1942: 16-17). It is possible
that in former times more than one age-class of pre-adolescent children existed
in some communities. One class was possibly composed of children up to about
the age of seven years. It is also suggested that children were not recog-
nized as members of human society until they reached this age (Omachi
1942: 11). A second class was composed of children from about seven to approx-
imately the age of physiological puberty. A number of customs revolving about
attainment to the age of seven years were formerly and are still observed over a
wide area of Japan. Omachi (1942: 10) states, "The age of seven years seems to
have . . . been considered to be the transition stage from infancy or early child-
hood, to boyhood or maidenhood, and all sorts of ceremonies are observed by
the parents to have the child pass the stage safely." The ceremonies referred
to usually include a visit to the shrine of the tutelary god of the community,
and may include purification ceremonies, food restrictions and, for boys, the
shaving of the head. These ceremonies appear to be closely associated with
ancient Shinto beliefs concerning ritual impurity from contact with blood or
death (Norbeck 1952). The observances served originally, at least, to remove
lingering uncleanness remaining with a child from the defilement incurred at
its birth (impurity from the flowing of blood) or uncleanness from other
sources, such as contact with dead bodies of related persons, incurred during
the passage of these first seven years of life. Purification ceremonies, as such,

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NORBECK] AGE-GRADINGIN JAPAN 375

for children at this time of life appear no longer to be observed in most com-
munities although shrine visits and other simple ceremonials still exist.
In a number of communities it was the practice until recent years to bury
children under the age of seven in separate graveyards (in some instances,
children under five years or six years, and, less commonly, those under three
years). It was also at the age of seven or eight years that children were first
registered as family members in the records of reconversion from Christianity
during the Tokugawa period (1615-1868). (Christianity, introduced by the
Portuguese in the 16th century, was outlawed in the 17th century. As a meas-
ure against Christianity, it was legally required that each person declare,
at the time censuses were taken, the religious sect to which he belonged.)
"The child whose existence had been recognized by its family, relatives and
neighbors by this time became a regular parishioner of the tutelary shrine
and a member of the community after passing the stage of the seventh year"
(Omachi 1942: 10-11). The ceremony called Shichigosan, "Seven-five-three,"
which is observed today throughout much if not most of both rural and
urban Japan is perhaps worthy of note here. Shichigosan falls on November
15th by Gregorian calendar in the cities, and usually on the 15th day of the
eleventh lunar month in rural communities. On this day, seven-, five-, and
three-year-old children are taken to shrines, most frequently to the shrine
of the local tutelary god. This custom is today interpreted as a ritual act to
promote the welfare of the children through supernatural aid.
The feeling of unity among persons of the same age is emphasized in the
reports of some Japanese scholars. It is the belief in a number of communities
that fortunate or unfortunate occurrences in the life of one individual are
prone to affect other persons of the same age or of the same age group. This
belief appears to apply especially to children. Thus, on the Island of Takami
in the Inland Sea, when a child dies it is the custom to place the lids of cooking
pans momentarily over the ears of all children of the same age so that, sym-
bolically, the news of the death may not reach them. Otherwise, children of
the same age may also be drawn off to death (Kagawa-ken Minzoku Ch6sakai:
29). Similar practices, frequently called mimi-fusagi or mimi-fulagi, "ear-
blocking," are reported to exist in a number of communities of rural Japan,
especially in Kyushu, and may apply to adults as well as children. Among the
various objects held to the ears, rice-cakes, millet cakes, and beans are reported
as common. "Ear-blocking" is sometimes also closely associated with beliefs
of ritual pollution and serves as a method of avoiding the pollution which
may be communicated to all persons of the same age in the community
(Ot6, Makita, Konno). In a number of communities an individual (especially
a child or adolescent) does not attend the funerals of persons of the same age
for fear. of joining them in death, and also because pollution from contact
with death is thought to be especially serious for persons of the same age or

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376 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [55, 1953

of the same age-class. Weddings, wedding feasts and other festivities in honor
of an individual are, in some communities, never attended by persons of the
same age. Conversely, in other communities, there is a strong feeling of obliga-
tion to give aid, or at least be in attendance, upon all occasions of importance
in the life of persons of the same age or age-class (Makita: 251-254; Omachi
1942: 17). Ideas of affinity by age may even extend to unborn children. The
belief is reported in a few communities that if two related women are pregnant
at the same time, there is a special affinity between the two foetuses which
takes the form of a sort of contest for survival; one will be "conquered" by
the other and die (Omachi, personal communication).
ADOLESCENCEAND EARLY MATURITY
As previously noted, young men's associations are common in Japan. A
distinction must be made here, however, between the modern Seinendan and
older types of young men's associations which may also have been called
Seinendan but were known as well by a variety of local names. The latter are
often referred to by Japanese social scientists as wakamono-gumior wakashlt-
gumi to distinguish them from local units of the national Seinendan. All
three of these terms may be translated as "young men's association." The
Seinendan, although in one sense certainly an example of age-grading, are a
modern development brought about under official pressure. Seinendan is the
term applied to a national organization of young people's associations insti-
tuted and bolstered by the government in pre-war years for purposes of
promoting nationalism. According to a publication of the Japan Tourist
Bureau, there were in the cities, towns and villages of Japan in 1937 a total of
15,469 of these associations for young men with a membership of 2,456,505
persons, and 13,537 similar associations of young women with membership
totalling 1,507,778-and also a large number of "junior associations" for
younger boys and girls (Yoshida and Kaigo: 86-87). In most rural communities
of Japan these organizations still exist, but they no longer receive subsidiza-
tion from the government and their nationalistic flavor is gone. Membership
is composed of unmarried young men and young women from about age
sixteen upward. Girls' organizations are frequently called Joshi Seinendan
and they are closely associated with or merged with the young men's associ-
ations. When a boy or girl marries, membership in the Seinendan is usually
considered terminated. Local Seinendan are ordinarily charged with the exe-
cution of tasks to promote community welfare and serve to meet community
emergencies such as fires or storms. They are also to a large extent social,
recreational, and educational organizations.
Traditional young men's associations of a different nature, however,
appear long to have been common, and in many instances these older associ-
ations appear to have become metamorphosed under government pressure
into the modern Seinendan. As reported by Nishikiori, for example, a young

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NORBECK] AGE-GRADINGIN JAPAN 377

men's group called Waka-zei existed in Thg6-mura until the early years of the
Meiji period (1868-1912). A young men's association called Seinendan was
established in this community in 1907, and became part of the national
Seinendan organization in 1916 (Nishikiori: 77, 90). Some of the modern
Seinendan, although bearing a superstructure which conforms with the pattern
of the national Seinendan, still retain much of their old character.
A large number of young men's associations older and earlier than the
nationalized Seinendan, and which I shall here refer to as wakamono-gumi,
are reported by Japanese scholars. Recent studies of the characteristics of the
wakamono-gumireport that admittance into this age-class occurs most com-
monly either at fourteen or fifteen (Konno 1949: 207) or between fifteen and
seventeen (Segawa 1947: 48). Wakamono-gumi(and sometimes modern Sein-
endan also) are often subdivided into three groups, bearing such names as
Kowakashji, Chiiwakasha, and Owakashl (Little, Middle and Great Young
Men's Associations) (Segawa: 48; Matsumoto: 66). These subdivisions are
based upon age and there is local variation in the age limits for each sub-class.
Special feelings of attachment are reported to exist between persons initiated
in the same year, and instances of close personal friendship akin to "blood
brotherhood" may exist between young men of the same ages (Segawa: 46-48;
Embree: 87-89). Taboos against attending funerals of persons of the same age
may apply throughout the whole life span but they appear to apply particu-
larly to children and young adults (Segawa: 46-48; Omachi 1942: 17).
In some communities the idea of affinity between members of the young
men's association extends to a feeling of joint responsibility for misbehavior
of any member, and erring youths are taken into hand by the other members.
There are also often special names such as aidoshi or morodoshi, "person of
the same age" or Isure, "companion," used mutually among persons of the
same age or who were initiated in the same year (Segawa: 47; Omachi 1942:
17). In a number of communities, members of the young men's association
sleep in special dormitories (Omachi 1942: 12, 14-15; Matsumoto: 66).
Puberty ceremonies are closely associated with initiation rites into waka-
mono-gumi and appear in the past to have ceremonially marked the entrance
of a boy or girl into the youths' age-class. On this point, there is danger of
assuming that where puberty ceremonies existed, formalized young people's
age-classes also existed. This appears not always to have been the case. One
finds, for example, in both Japanese and Western accounts frequent reference
to a traditional coming of age ceremony known as gembuku,"rechristening,"
which was observed by the royal heir and nobles (for whom there appear to
have been no institutionalized age-classes) as well as by common people.
For the heir presumptive to the throne, after A.D. 864 gembuku consisted
of the receiving of a collar. Young men of nobility had their hair arranged in
court fashion at this time and received nobles' caps (Papinot: 115). Among
common people, at least as early as the Tokugawa period (1615-1868), boys

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378 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [55, 1953

had their heads partially shaved in a style called nakazori, which served as a
symbol of attainment to young manhood. Both boys and girls commonly
were presented with loin cloths at this time and feasts or parties might be
held in their honor. It was also customary to select a godparent for a boy,
who might himself do the head-shaving. The year of life when these cere-
monies were observed varied locally. In some communities observance was
closely tied with physiological puberty of the individual; in others it was at
fixed ages varying from about twelve to seventeen. Most of these practices
vanished during early Meiji after contact with the West. Coming of age cere-
monies are reported still to be observed, however, in some rural communities
and may also constitute initiation into the wakamono-gumi.Included among
the customs still observed are the presentation of loin cloths and the holding
of parties or feasts in the honor of a young man or young woman (Omachi
1942, 1949; Konno: 208-210). Among variant customs reported are the
bringing of a basket of white beach sand to the incumbent head of the waka-
mono-gumi by a young man at New Year's when he becomes sixteen, and the
treading down of snow in the path from the community dwellings to the
village office and community shrine by new entrants (Sakurada: 88-89).
Presentation to the wakamono-gumiof a bottle of rice wine by the novice is
reported as fairly common (Konno: 208). Ceremonies to celebrate majority
(whether or not this at the present time also entails entry into the wakamono-
gumi) and initiation ceremonies into wakamono-gumifrequently involve visits
to the shrine of the local tutelary god. Initiations are most frequently held on
festival days, especially at New Year's and during the Buddhist Bon Festival
of late summer (Sakurada: 90; Konno: 207-209).
Wakamono-gumi are everywhere closely connected with the division of
community labor. When a young man enters this age-class association, in
theory at least, he accepts responsibility for an adult's share of the community
work. In communities which engage in joint work to gain a livelihood, such
as certain types of net fishing, a boy begins to receive an adult's share of the
produce or returns when he is recognized as having come of age. The upper
limits of age of young men's associations appear to be quite elastic and in
some communities embrace, or formerly embraced, persons as old as forty
or more years. The wakamono-gumigenerally included the most able-bodied
persons in the community, males in their youth and in their prime, who
were charged with the bulk of the productive labor for the community and
who were also the primary group at times of crises such as storms, floods, or
fire, which might require strenuous physical effort (Sakurada: 77-96; Konno:
218-223; Omachi 1942: 11-12).
Data on formalized age-classes for young women are somewhat scantier
than for young men. (The young women of today belong to local
Seinendan, of course.) The existence of associations composed of unmarried
young women (musume-gumi) is, however, reported in a number of communi-

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NORBECK] AGE-GRADINGIN JAPAN 379

ties today and such associations were known to exist until relatively recent
years in many communities.
Dormitories for girls of the musume-gumi are reported as fairly common in
the past, and a few may exist today. Where formalized age-classes and dormi-
tories for young men and young women existed, one of their functions appears
to have been to provide an opportunity among the young persons themselves
for the selection of spouses. Joint dormitories, for young people of both
sexes, appear never to have existed, but nocturnal visits to the girls' buildings
appear once to have been customary (Omachi 1942: 12-21; Konno: 228-231).
The existence of such dormitories and their distribution, together with a
number of other Japanese customs, suggests influence from the South Pacific.
Dormitories are reported as being more common in southern and central
Japan than in northern Japan, and their distribution is more coastal, including
the southern coast of the Japan Sea, than inland (Omachi, personal communi-
cation) .2
It seems reasonable to state that there is ample evidence of both the past
and present existence of institutionalized age-classes for both young men and
young women. Many of them are reported to have disappeared during the
early years of Meiji (Konno: 205-206). The date of the origin of these age-
class associations is unknown, but they are of undoubted antiquity. Matsu-
moto, in discussing a local young men's association with a known history,
states that the oldest extant written "constitution" of a young men's associ-
ation dates back to 1677, but "The system in Japan, however, probably dates
much farther back" (Matsumoto 1949: 65). This seems a reasonable state-
ment, especially since most of the people of Japan, and those of rural Japan
in particular, were illiterate until near the end of the nineteenth century. In
any case, it appears unlikely that such documents as constitutions for age-
classes would have existed in olden times in Japan.
MIDDLEAGE
As noted in the foregoing, the upper limits of age of the young men's
associations in some cases included married men of middle age. It appears
probable that two overlapping groups based partially on age may have
existed in some communities, one composed only of young, unmarried men,
and the other of vigorous, able-bodied men whether married or single who were
responsible for heavy-duty work. There is little evidence of clearly defined
associations limited to married male adults but much evidence indicating the
acknowledgement of this group as at least a separate age and status category.
Male household heads were formerly and are today the responsible persons
in the administration of community affairs. Community meetings, in rural
Japan at least, are ordinarily attended by only one member of each household,
normally the household head. Household masters are everywhere the leaders
of their communities and are everywhere recognized as such. It seems probable

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380 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [55, 1953

that named, formal associations of mature men of this category were never
common.
In this connection, Sakurada's description, as of 1940, of a village age-
class system embracing six age categories is pertinent. (It must be noted that
the Japanese text does not make it clear whether the classes and assignment
of duties as described applied in fact or in name only in 1940.) Among data
at hand, this is the most comprehensive age-class system which is described
in detail. It will be noted that there are only four age-classes which bear
special names and that the household masters, as such, do not appear to com-
prise a named, formal class. A free translation of Sakurada's account (pp.
90-92) follows:
As an example of community work allocated according to an age-class system, I
cite here the fishing village of Kunizaki, Mie Prefecture, as quite typical. There the
life of a man was divided into the following six stages:
1. Childhoodand boyhood:Until attaining young manhood, children did none of the
village work. According to the villagers, this class was without duties. In other
villages there are traces of children's associations, but in Kunizaki there is no
such group system.
2. The Young Men's Association (Wakamon'o-gumi):At New Year's or at the
Bon Festival of his sixteenth year a boy entered the young men's circle. Regular
meetings of the Young Men's Association were held on January 18th and August
18th. At this time, after representatives had worshipped at Aomineyama
Shrine, amulets were distributed to all young men and new youths were ad-
mitted. The Young Men's Association did the rescue work in disasters at sea
and other village duties, and also took care of the stage for the village play.
After marrying, a young man retired from this association.3
3. The masters of households:There is no special name, and I do not know the de-
tails of the village service of this class.
4. Middle Age (Churo): After a son had matured and taken a wife, the father
joined this group. Until about sixty years ago the middle-aged took charge of
funerals. They remained in the class until after their sixtieth birthdays, when
they retired.
5. The Group Without Work (Yakunashi): After retirement from the Churo and
until attainment to the Tairi there were no community duties.
6. The GreatAge (Taird): One entered the Tairi at the age of sixty-three. The work
of this class was divine service and was comparatively heavy. As the Taird were
engaged in religious tasks, they avoided every source of uncleanliness and did not
even attend funerals.

It is not certain whether similar duties allocated by age existed for women. There
were, however, the classes Chaba (Middle-aged women) and Obaba (Great-aged
women). The Chaba had no community tasks, but the Obabaexecuted the divine tasks
of offering prayers at funerals. From this it can be assumed that women also were
allotted tasks according to their age.
Systems similar to the foregoing may also be found in northern Kyushu.

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NORBECK] AGE-GRADINGIN JAPAN 381

Speakingin generalterms of age-classes,it can be assumedthat the highest class

with regard to communityduties was that assigned divine service to the tutelary
diety. Generally,there existed such classesas the Taird,the Chard,the Shukura(Ex-
perienced)and the Wakamono(Youths).The youth's groupwas the largestand most
vigorousamongall the age-classesand did its labor underthe directionof the elders.
Sakurada also reports on age-classes associated with the division of labor
found in communities among the islands of Kagoshima Prefecture, where
two named age-classes of males existed. One of these classes was composed of
persons from the ages of fifteen to fifty (to sixty in some communities) and the
second of older persons (Sakurada: 89). This of course implies the recognition
of a third class of male children up to the age of fifteen.
OLDAGE
The only concrete data available on formalized classes for the aged are
those given above. There are, however, many indications of the recognition
of old age as placing one in a distinct age and status category. The traditional
age of retirement from active work in Japan is sixty-one-although few persons
of present-day Japan actually retire from active labor until they are well into
their sixties. Traditionally, one is allowed again to wear the brightly colored
clothing of childhood after reaching the age of sixty-one, and parties are
still given in honor of parents and grandparents who reach this age. Such
"parties" may also constitute religious ritual. The sixtieth year is one of the
several years of life commonly believed in both rural and urban Japan to be
calamitous years (yakudoshi) for the individual. Ritual is often observed by
all members of the household at the beginning of a yakudoshi of one of its
members to avert misfortune. Observances at the end of the sixtieth year (the
beginning of the sixty-first year) ceremonially mark the termination of a period
of danger and entry into a new and felicitous period. The old have special
privileges in deportment. A grandfather or grandmother may use with im-
punity terms of speech, including obscenities, considered improper for younger
persons. Although these practices are now rapidly vanishing, the privileged
behavior of the aged is still strongly evidenced in isolated rural communities,
where older women may at parties do lewd dances and make sexual jokes,
behavior inacceptable if indulged in by young women (Embree: 172).
As suggested by Sakurada, it seems probable that the major community
duties of the aged in a time gone by were those connected with religion.
Lingering traces which seem indicative of such an assignment of duties remain
in many communities. In Takashima, for example, it is most frequently the
household grandfather who makes the numerous offerings to the souls of
departed ancestors during the three-day annual Buddhist Bon Festival, and
he is usually also responsible for all ceremonial preparations. It is customary
for the grandfather, who has borne the brunt of the religious tasks during
Bon, to take a day of rest from all activity when the festival period has

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382 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [55, 1953

ended. The reading of Buddhist sutras at times of funeral masses is usually

done by either aged men or aged women. In many households of Takashima
the tasks of making daily or intermittent offerings before the several shrines
in the dwelling to household gods are performed by the grandfather or grand-
mother. This may be in part a reflection of the waning belief among younger
persons in the traditional deities. In former times it was a common practice
for members of Japanese ruling families, including emperors, to retire during
old age or earlier in life and enter the priesthood. (It must be noted, in the
case of emperors at least, that retirement was sometimes forced and relatively
early in life.)
In summary, it appears that four major classes reflecting age and marital
status were generally recognized throughout Japan in former days: infancy
and childhood, youth, adulthood, and old age. Additional subdivisions of
these major categories based upon considerations of marital status and attain-
ment to the status of household head also existed, and there appears to have
been considerable local variation in these classes. The most persistent survivals
of ceremonial connected with the taking on of age are those at puberty or at
the age of recognized majority, and upon reaching the age of sixty-one, the
traditional age of retirement from active life. Formalized, named age-classes
for young men and young women appear to have been general. Other institu-
tionalized age-classes were at least not uncommon, but they appear to have
exhibited greater local variation. Age-grading appears everywhere to have
been closely associated with the division of community labor. In communities
which practiced communal subsistence labor such as joint fishing, a division
into three age-classes appears also to have been common-children, able-
bodied adults, and the aged. In general, there is much less evidence of the
present or previous existence of age-classes for females than for males.
In terms of Japan as a whole, clear-cut, general practices of age-grading
no longer exist-the Seinendan forming a questionable exception. The influence
of old practices of age-grading and their associated behavior patterns is,
however, evident in a number of customs and attitudes. As many foreign
observers have noted, there is a great emphasis upon age in modern Japan.
The present Seinendan appear to be in large measure an outgrowth of the
former youths' associations, and, as noted, in some instances there is historic
record of the conversion. The present-day women's societies (Fujinkai) found
in most communities may also represent a reflection of old customs of age and
status grading. The Fujinkai, like the Seinendan, were for many years nation-
alized and government-bolstered organizations encouraged for the promotion
of nationalism. Today both of these organizations may be described as civic
clubs whose membership is based upon age and marital status, as well as
presumptive common interests.
Linguistic evidence also indicates the emphasis upon age. All old persons
including strangers are, for example, customarily referred to and addressed by

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NORBECK] AGE-GRADING IN JAPAN 383

younger persons as ojiisan and obaasan (grandfather and grandmother) and

middle-aged persons by terms translatable as uncle and aunt. This also sug-
gests an old kinship system with kin terms on a generation level. These
terms, in former times at least, bore connotations of respect.
The colors of clothing remain closely connected with one's age. During
infancy and childhood colors are bright and they become progressively somber
as one approaches old age. The respect and deference paid to age have been
and are still evident in politics and government. During feudal times under
Hideyoshi (1536-1598) a five-member council of state was called Go-tairJ,
"The Five Great-aged." The first minister during the Tokugawa period (1615-
1868) was called variously Go-tair'4or O-toshiyori,"The Honorable Great-aged
One," and Genri, "Founding Aged-one." The senate created in 1875 after
the opening of Japan to contact with the West was called Genro-in, "Founding
Elders." Although this senate was soon abolished, a group of mature states-
men known as the Genr5 (usually translated as "Elder Statesmen") remained
of great influence in governmental affairs for many years (Sansom: 364).
A study of local customs would no doubt reveal many which were once
associated with age-grading customs. It is suggested, for example, that the
custom observed widely throughout Japan today of the transporting of port-
able shrines (mikoshi) by young men during festivals is a reflection of the
former assignment of community tasks to the young men's association
(Sakurada: 89). In the community of Takashima, to cite another example,
an annual ceremony whose origin and meaning are now unknown is observed
by all unmarried youths of sixteen years and upward. Contributions of money
are made by each household of the community for the purchase of rice wine
for a party for the young men during the annual festival of the local tutelary
god. Young men participate in this drinking party for the first time during the
year that they reach the age of sixteen, and on this single traditional occasion
of the year a young man may get drunk without parental censure. Although
no youths' age-class except the recently established Seinendan is known to
have existed in the community within the memory of the eldest living persons,
this ceremonial has always been observed. It appears plausible that this
ceremonial represents a survival of former puberty rites or of combined ritual
for puberty and for initiation into a young men's age-class.
The foregoing are but a few examples which may be found in modern
Japan of the emphasis upon age and the lingering customs related to former
practices of age-grading. A thorough study of Japanese customs and attitudes
from this viewpoint gives promise of being of aid in interpretations of present-
day Japanese culture.
UNIVERSITY OF UTAH
SALTLAKECITY,UTAH

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384 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [55, 1953

NOTES
1 The author is indebted to Mr. Omachi of Tokyo for reading this manuscript and
Tokuz5
offering helpful suggestions and corrections. The author's field work in Japan was done under
the auspices of the Social Science Research Council and the Center for Japanese Studies of the
University of Michigan during 1950-51, approximately one year.
2 What I have here translated as "southern Japan" and "northern Japan" are the Japanese
terms seibu, "Western (Japan)" and tabu "eastern (Japan)," respectively.
8 This leaves unexplained, or
at least unclear, the interval between marriage for a young
man and the attainment to mastership of a household. The eldest son does not normally become
master of the household until the age of forty or over, when his father has retired because of old age.
4 The terms Go-tairi, as applicable to the officials under Hideyoshi and to the Tokugawa first
minister, are homonymous but the first element (Go) differs in meaning and is written with a dif-
ferent ideograph.

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