Japanese Edo Period

The Japanese Edo period is the time between 1603 and 1868 when ancient Japan was under the leadership of Tokugawa Shogunate. The period was marked with strict social order. One of the notable strict orders during this period was the rules that guided the marriage of women. There was a marriage between the higher authorities and the one among the common members of the society. The rich and high class were known as samurai, and a clear distinction of rules regarding marriage existed between them
The third parties especially the parents played a crucial role in marriage and wedding ceremonies. The marriage partners were sourced from members of the same social status. For the provincial leaders or the Shogun, the partners were chosen from the leaders
If the mother was barren, the man was allowed to keep a concubine. The child that the concubine gave birth to proceed to head the family thus securing its progress. If either the concubine or the wife failed to bore a child, the customary laws allowed the family to adopt a successor. The man who is supposed to take headship of the family had to live with the parents even after marrying. The child had to take care of his parents when they become old. In addition to that, he manages households and takes care of family labor. The successor has to ensure the continuation of the family. Moreover, the successor also decides who will succeed the headship in the event of his death (Emiko, 1997). It was generally agreed that the eldest son was the heir of the family, and his family had to live with his parents. If the couples have no available son, they may opt to live with one of their daughters to take care of them when they are old. Therefore, the oldest sons and daughters were likely to live with their parents if they do not have brothers more than living with their
However, divorce was not still inevitable, especially among the samurai family. This is probably due lack of their contribution or choice of their partners in marriage. Among the samurai, family issues or matters were subject to the total control of Lord of the domain. Divorce could only take place with permission from Tokugawa. For commoners, a man could present a message or letter to the wife and if she agrees the divorce is complete. The Edo letter of divorce was referred to as mikudari-hun translating to “three lines and half” that is a traditional short form of these documents. The divorce was unilateral and men prerogative as it could only be issued by men. Under the Tokugawa laws, it was illegal for a woman to get remarried without being issued with a letter of divorce. If a woman got married without being divorced, she was returned to her parents’ house with her hair shaved (Varley, 2000). However, men who got remarried without getting divorced were to be banished but was always overlooked. For commoners, divorce involved a discussion between the two families sometimes known as negotiated