ABSTRACT
In the second half of the Kamakura age (1190-1333), Japan's elite warrior society began to undergo a gradual but radical structural transformation. 1 The outline of this change was the shift from a divided to a unitary inheritance practice, with a progressive consolidation of family property and authority into one "chief' (soryo), to the exclusion of his brothers and sisters. Kinship relations changed accordingly. As in the twelfth-century Macon described by Georges Duby,2 there was a progressive emphasis on lineal solidarity, along with a trend toward multiplication of independent branch lines. Through this shift, each warrior family sought territorial and organizational cohesion-a requirement for survival in an atmosphere of intensified social unrest and competition.
