Adoption Practices in Northeastern Japan, 1708-1870
Satomi Kurosu (Reitaku University) skurosu@reitaku-u.ac.jp
Hao Dong (Princeton University) haodong@princeton.edu

Adoption mediates demographic constraints and family continuity. In early modern Japan wherestrong patriarchy and primogeniture prevailed, the adoption of adults and even sons-in-law werecommon to secure heirs among sonless couples. This study attempts to understand better the rationaleof both the demand and supply sides, i.e. families who adopted in/out sons and daughters, as well as
the characteristics of those individuals who were adopted in/out. We take advantage of a unique largescale individual-level panel dataset, transcribed from well-preserved population registers from
northeastern Japanese villages and towns in 1708-1870. We first investigate the types and age/sex
patterns of adoption followed by the adoption market for adopted sons and daughters. We pay special
attention to the contrast among three agricultural villages and a local town. We then conduct an
exploratory analysis to examine the factors related to adoption, considering the influence of timevariant household composition, landholdings, and heads’ characteristics. This is one of the first studies
to systematically compare adoption practices between rural and urban areas.
Source and Setting: This study draws its data from the local population registers called ninbetsaratame-cho (NAC) in three farming villages (Shimomoriya, Niita, Hidenoyama) and a local town(Koriyama) in the present Fukushima prefecture in northeastern Japan. Theses NAC records extend
over a period of about 150 years, 1708-1870 with some number of intermittent years missing. Theregisters were compiled annually based on the principle of de facto. The detailed records of events
allow this study to examine timing and types of adoption. The contrasts among these communities
make the study of adoption particularly interesting as they provide different patterns of population
trends during the observation period: Two rural villages of Shimomoriya and Niita suffered from
population decline without being able to recover from the damages caused by a series of famines;
while the local post town of Koriyama and the neighboring village of Hidenoyama managed theirstabilized expansion throughout the observation period.
Adoption: In this study, the timing of adoption is measured solely in terms of records in the NACregisters. In the population register, adoption is determined by the annotation of an exit or entry of anindividual from/to a household. Adoption is annotated as son/daughter being “adopted in” or “adoptedout” (養子・養女); men being “adopted in/out as a son-in-law” (婿養子). Combination of theseannotations, marriage information, as well as relationship to the head allow us to distinguish at least
three types of adoption---adoption of sons-in-laws, sons, daughters, and married couples.
Analysis: Altogether, we found adoption of 2,546 males and 645 females into households during theobservation period of the study (Table 1). More than half of adoption cases were son-in-law adoptions
followed by adopted sons. Nevertheless, quite a number of adoption of daughters were found,particularly in Koriyama. As for the age distribution, the patterns of male and female adoption weredifferent (Figure 1): while male adoptions concentrate during 20-28, those of females were scatteredduring age 2-30 in Koriyama. Although exploratory, our event history analysis suggests that factors
associated with adoption varied depending on the type of adoption. Household SES was more
important for adoption of sons-in-law and sons but not daughters; Female head was associated onlywith the chance of sons-in-law adoption; and proportion of elderly co-residents increased the chanceof adopting daughters. Demands as well as market for adoption varied in terms of the necessity ofhouseholds.
Table 1. Adopted sons and daughters by type of adoption
MALE
sons-in-law (sons couples
unknown
all

Niita
273
113
363425

Shimomoriya
250
64232339

Hidenoyama Koriyama-kami
143986
39456
25
130
12208
1574

ALL
1652
672
214
82546

FEMALEdaughters couples unknown
all

60
36
197

33
210
54

25
25050

317
126
1444

435
208
2645

Both Males&Females

522

39325820183191

Figure 1. Age distribution of adopted sons and daughters: Koriyama 1729-1870
Koriyama-Kamimachi 1729-1870
80706050
4030
201002468 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44
femalemale* This research is supported by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Project JSPS KAKENHI(09NP1001) and MEXT-Supported Program for the Strategic Research Foundation at PrivateUniversities (S1591001L).