4. CIVIL LIFE
(1) Giri relations
Giri, which is defined as “a category of Japanese obligations” (Benedict, 1954: 317) or “the manner of behaviour required of one person to others in consequence of his social status” (Noda, 1976: 175), is one of the best-known Japanese cultural features of behaviour.
In order to differentiate a certain pattern of behaviour from the underlying value system, the term “giri relations” is here used to denote that behaviour pattern, leaving the term “giri” to be used for the value. The principal constituent of giri relations is a reciprocal duty to pay the debt later on with equivalence to the gift or favour received on a preceding occasion. Observance of one's giri has been respected as one of the most fundamental ethics (cf. Benedict, 1954: 133–176) and very often led people to behave even against individual freedom and rights as protected by official law (cf. Noda, 1976: 179–180).Among various giri relations, gift-giving is most noticeable. It is reciprocally obliged between specifically related parties, whether families, collectives, or individuals, such as those related by blood and marriage, living in a neighbourhood, working at a place of work, belonging to the same group, or connected with a particular tie, such as between the go-between and the new couple, oyabun (fictitious parent) and kobun (fictitious children), voucher and the vouched, patron and the person under the patronage, teacher and pupil, and so on. The hidden responsibility for reciprocal gift-giving may be discharged at particular occasions such as chugen48 (mid year present) and seibo or oseibo (year-end present), marriage or death of a person, birth of children, diseases and disasters, completion of a new building, and so on. A gift from one party to another with no preceding significant relationship may provoke the obligation of the latter to reciprocate.
The substance to be exchanged is not necessarily limited to material goods. Especially between the parties of different social status, the inferior may be obliged to reciprocate goods or services for the favour, benevolence, or convenience given by the superior. In these cases, the apparent imbalance of material gifts exchanged are in fact balanced when psychological gifts are taken into consideration.49
Truly Japanese giri relations are considered premodern as demonstrated in the stories of Benkei, ever loyal to his lord (Benedict, 1954: 138–139) and of the Forty-Seven Ronin (lordless warriors) (ibid.: 199-205), and they may be featured by an “affectional, emotional” nature (Noda, 1976: 17 –17). But they are without doubt a manifestation of the universal principle of reciprocity, the most famous of which was disclosed among the Torobriand Islanders by Bronislaw Malinowski (1926). The premodern characteristic of Japanese giri relations are declining during post-war years.50 Still, they are functioning, intermingled with universal and indigenous nature (cf. Noda, 1976: 183).
(2) The order of the seats
The order of the seats constitutes official law with regard to the public status in public and international law. Here discussed as unofficial law is that of ordinary persons in their civil life.
The order of the seats is more or less conventionalized in every country, often with stronger pressure than equality before official law. The characteristics of the Japanese one are found in two factors. The status hierarchy forms a guiding principle on the one hand, and the obligation to observe the order is laid on the people connected with a persistent tie in a community, on the other. For instance, every side of the square irori (fireplace) of a traditional house is specifically assigned to a different status: the head of the family, his wife, their guests, or other families and servants, the misuse of which by the bride might have constituted sufficient reason for divorce.
In formal parties such as funerals and wedding ceremonies, the order is observed with utmost care so as not to injure the prestige of persons gathered, or the wa of the community.The customarily established order is today transforming. The indigenous need is still functioning to preserve it in concert with its universality, while its nature as an unofficial law is to be further examined in various cases.
(3) Murahachibu
Most Japanese communities had a customary punishment for their members called murahachibu (expulsion from a community) as a means of last resort. Originally, it is said to mean, for a village community, to withhold all help to a member except in two cases of death and fire.51 The word has been extendedly used to mean any dismissal of a member from any social group, or rejection of him by the other members of a community, which may not be accounted as unofficial law.
Leaving aside many instances before the war, a noted case took place in an agricultural community in early 1950s. The community kept their own customary constitution, as usual in other communities, to vote unanimously in an election for a certain candidate by advance agreement. A girl, who had been inspired by the free vote guaranteed by the new Constitution, told this unconstitutional advance agreement to a man outside the community and, as a result, brought public indignation of the community action in mass communication. The outraged community decided to exercise murahachibu against her family for her violation of their “constitution.” With no help offered by the community during rice-planting, her family was compelled to call personnel from outside at much greater expense. The family suffered more troubles occurring from the murahachibu. Although such a typical case has not been publicly reported since then, the practice and supporting in-morals cannot be said to have been terminated.
(4) Conflict management
The Japanese aversion to modern legal treatment of conflict is well-known (cf.
Kawashima, 1963; Noda, 1975: 132). This fact allows us to assume some unofficial procedural law of conflict management as prevailing more effectively than official procedure, although its realities and characteristics have yet to be explored.Some of their features are presupposed. The intervening third party, both privileged and responsible, is a person influential on the contending parties, such as a senior, superior or officers. The criteria for management are adopted from conventional morals prevailing in the community, not from official law.52 The procedure is initiated by the advice of surrounding third parties rather than both parties. The decision is reached not by any differentiated form of conciliation, mediation, arbitration or award as in modern legal systems but by a mixture of them all. The aim “of the management is rather to recover the peace between the parties and of their circle than to declare legal rights and duties of the parties.
Such a way of conflict management might be labelled as “aversive to modern legal treatment” when adopted by people prior to the official legal procedure; but in fact it is used alternatively to the latter, to be rather characterized as coexisting with modern legal treatment. Similar practices are found not only in primitive societies (Abel, 1974) and Asian countries (Noda, 1975: 128–129; Htin Aung, 1969), but also in Western countries, as “Settled out of Court” is practised in reality (Ross, 1970). Of course, differences among those countries can not be disregarded. But it also cannot be simply labelled as “premodern,” for it is an established practice in modern societies as well.
(5) Some others
a. Lunar calendar
The solar calendar was received after the Meiji Restoration to take the place of the former lunar calendar which was given the name of kyureki (old calendar). The lunar calendar has gradually decreased in general popularity. Still, it has kept prevalence in some limited circles.
Among others, fishermen need it for their dependence on ebb and flow of tide due to the moon; farmers enjoy its availability for its amalgamation in their agricultural calendar; and people may be reminded of some special events relating to it such as the Lunar New Year, Bon Festival, matsuri of their shrines, etc.53 They could use the solar calendar for these purposes by converting the days concerned. This possibility of conversion should have promoted people to desert the old way, but it also must have enabled people to perpetuate its use.b. Shakkan-ho
Shakkan-ho (old measurement by shaku and kan) still enjoys a wide prevalence as an unofficial law, although some of the units are almost out of usage.54 The before-mentioned partial revival in official law shows the prevalence.
The units of shakkan-ho may be converted into metric ones. However, rare justification would be needed to consider it more convenient to use a ken, tsubo or sho than to use about 1,818 metres, about 3.3 square metres, or about 1.8 litre. The reason why the usage of shakkan-ho is required in limited circle is similar to that of the lunar calendar.
c. Annual events and rites of passage
A family has traditionally established regular events recurring every year: for instance, New Year, Girls’ Festival,55 Spring Equinox, Boys’ Festival,56 Bon Festival, Autumnal Equinox, festival of the community shrine, Celebration of Children of Three-Five-and-Seven Years of Age,57 Year End, etc. A set of such events is called nenju gyoji (annual events) (See Smith, 1962 for an example). A person also passes important threshholds of life as he or she grows. These are particularly commemorated in traditional ways, beginning from birth, through visits to the community shrine thirty-three days after birth, Celebration of Children of Three-Five-and-Seven Years of Age, marriage, retirement, kanreki (sixtieth birthday), beiju (eighty-eighth birthday) to a hundred years old.
They are a variation of the rites of passage noted by the study of Arnold van Gennep (1960).Some difficulties are found in asserting that both annual events and rites of passage are indigenous unofficial law. Firstly because many of their events originated in old China. Secondly because, received Western events have been added to or have replaced them, such as the new academic and fiscal year from April 1st, summer vacation, Christmas, visit to a famous shrine for the community shrine, entrance into primary school for local boys’ groups, Coming-of-Age Day for local initiation ceremonies, silver wedding and gold wedding, etc. Thirdly, because they changed and are still changing, generally speaking, toward voluntary practices rather than enforced ones. Still, they preserve some indigenous nature. And such cases are found, as the people concerned observe those private events as an official duty in society, often attaching greater weight to them than official legal duties. Furthermore, in other countries to be compared with Japan, religious duties often may constitute unofficial law or legal postulates in the form of annual events and rites of passage. Japanese ones will be useful as a comparable material, even if their nature of law may be dubious.