<論文>九州海村の「継承」に関する一考察 : 近世後期野母村の事例から

Abstract

This article examines succession in a fishing village during the Tokugawa period. The data for this study have been sourced from the local population registers, or Shumon-Aratame-Cho (SAC), of the village of Nomo. The features of succession in Nomo can be summarized as follows: (1) The death of a previous householder led to succession to the position of head of household. Because Nomo was a fishing village, the male mortality rate was higher than that of a farming village. (2) The proportion of the succession by females is higher than that by females in other villages. (3) There are differences in the age pattern of succession by male birth order. An eldest son succeeds to the headship of the household earlier than a second son or a third son, and the succession rate of an eldest son aged between the twenties and thirties is higher than for a second or third son. However, since 1835 the differences of birth order in the succession gradually disappeared as they grew older. Succession in Nomo was affected by fishing as an occupation. Fishing had a high risk of death compared to farming, as fishermen are exposed to danger from the sea. As a result, in Nomo females and second or third sons had the chance to succeed to the household headship.