著者

井戸田 博史

出版者

日本法政学会

雑誌

日本法政学会法政論叢 (ISSN:03865266)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.21, pp.39-48, 1985-05-20

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The present paper is an extract from my presentation "The Name Policy in the early Meiji Era" given at the conference of the Japan Association of Legal and Political Sciences in May, 1984. Before Meiji, a person's surname indicated his lineage and his privileged status. Only the people in the privileged classes-the samurai class and above-were permitted to have their family names. In the Meiji Era, however, the surname came to be regarded as the name of "Ie(家)" after many complicated processes, and it was ordered that all Japanese should have their surnames. After the Second World War, "Ie(家)" was abolished, and as the result, today's surname has come to be considered to be the name of the individual. Actually, however, the surname is not necessarily understood as the name of the individual in our feelings and customs, and consequently, it brings forward many problems. Therefore, the problems involved in the surname are old but new. Our surnames today are based on the name policy adopted in the early Meiji Era. The purpose of this paper is to clarify the nature of the name policy adopted in that period, because it will be an important clue to approach the complicated problems involved in the present-day surname. This paper contains the following items: 1. Introduction 2. The way to "the Ordinance to compel the Commoner to have their Surnames" (1) The denial of the "privileged surname" given by the former Tokugawa shogunate (2) "The Ordinance to Permit the Commoner to have thier Surnames" 3. The Ordinance to Compel the Commoner to have their Surnames 4. Prospects