Iye is the institution which is to be recognized as the family in Japan. But on account of a wide variety of its forms, it gave rise to much confusion in the application of the New Civil Code which was enacted under the influence of the European laws is Meiji Era. Moreover, many students of the Japanese family, who had been under a remarkable influence of European social scientific theories, interpreted Iye in terms of the European families. Consequently, theories discriminating Iye and the family have been predominant. The author intends to clarify that Iye in Japan is the product of the political, socio-economic and cultural conditions peculiar to Japan, and he is convinced of the necessity of understanding that Iye as a historical and social entity is the Japanese family in the true sense of the word.

横山松三郎先生古稀記念論文集