ABSTRACT
The Japanese word ‘ie’ denotes both actual houses and the stem-families that are supposed to inhabit them. This notion of family is linear and extends to members long dead as well as those yet to be born. Moreover, ie has been a powerful rhetorical concept and is frequently used to explain other forms of relatedness in Japan such as company life or loyalty to the nation. In recent decades, however, the ‘Japanese family’ has been deemed to be in ‘crisis’ (Hayashi, 2002), or at least, to be undergoing a significant reorientation (Ochiai, 1994, 1997; Ueno, 2009). Ideologies of, and lived experiences within, the family have decoupled from previous norms with household patterns and life-courses becoming characteristically fragmented (White, 2002). For the more conservative minded, the family – the very basis of Japanese life – has appeared to be in peril. This volume explores ongoing shifts and turbulence in Japanese homes and family lives, focusing on various dimensions and meanings of ie. Transformations are further put in the context of recent turmoil in socioeconomic and political milieus as well as the remarkable demographic shifts underway in Japan.
