ABSTRACT
Postwar publications by sociologists and anthropologists have provided us with valuable information and illuminating interpretations concerning social changes in rural Japan. A major point of emphasis in these writings has been kinship, the Japanese family and other kin groups, and ritual kinship modeled after familial relations. Only the briefest examination of demographic data on Japan points clearly to trends of change that must have had strong influence on kin groups and kin relations. Recent population statistics may be cited in illustration. The average size of the family throughout the nation dropped from 4.97 members in 1955 to 4.53 in 1960. During this interval of five years the national population increased 4.6 per cent, but most of the increase occurred in cities and industrial prefectures. Twenty-six of the forty-six prefectures suffered a decline in population (Consulate General of Japan, 1961, pp. 2–4). These statistics represent the continuation and acceleration of trends established long ago, and they suggest extensive changes at both family and community levels.
