Эволюция понятия «маленькая Япония» в конце XIX — начале XX в.

С. 453–464.

Meshcheryakov A.

During the Tokugawa period, the custom of inkyo 隠居 spread among all major social strata, including the highest political elite. It assumed the voluntary resignation of the "position" of the head of the family, who is of capable age, and the transfer of authority to the heir (usually the eldest son after his marriage). This custom softened intergenerational conflicts and acted as a limiter to gerontocratic tendencies. During the Meiji period, the custom of inkyo was criticized on the grounds that it produced idlers and "harmed" the country's economic development. Shigeno Yasutsugu (1827-1910) and Hozumi Nobushige (1855-1926), professors at the University of Tokyo, played a particularly large role in this criticism. The Civil Code of 1898, one of the main developers of it was Hozumi, determined the age of inkyo at 60 years. The average life expectancy at that time was well below 60 years. That means that the head of the house actually remained in this “position” until the end of his life. Since he was a kind of government official and had enormous authority in the family, this was the most important prerequisite for turning Japan into a country of gerontocracy.

Keywords: Япония, Japan, Meiji period, период Мэйдзи, Tokugawa period, период Токугава, inkyo, инкё

Publication based on the results of: The inner and outer dynamics of cultural processes in the Oriental societies and its traditional foundations: languages, history and religion (2022)

In book

История и культура Японии. Вып. 15

М.: Издательский дом НИУ ВШЭ, 2023.