Yet Westem society uPholds individualism， meanjng that it was

Yet Westem society uPholds individualism， meanjng that it was

THEHOUSEHOLDANDLOCALWARRIORRULE
YetWesternsocietyupholdsin(丑viduahsm,mea血gthatitwasdi伍cult
tocreatecorPofatcen嶺iesandtheecono面cgroupingsthatdcfive丘om
them,whichbynecessitysupersededtherightsofindividuals.Inthe
West,thefundamentalformofbusinessactivitywasthepartnership.If
theparticipantsdidnotreceivecertainprofits,thenthepartnershipwas
dissolved,andtheeconomicbodywouldbedisbanded.Fromthelate
medievaleratotheearlymodernperiod,aprogressionofdifferentforms
ofenterpriseswascreatedthatincludedlimitedpartnerships,limited
companies,andjointstockcompanies.But,thecorporationthatmaintwineditscapitalinperpetuityappearedintheWestonlywiththeadvent
ofcapitalisminthemodernperiod.
Independence
Householdsneedtopossessadegreeofindependencetohavethepoliticalstrengthtoovercomeoutsideinterference.Theyhavetheauthorityto
provideasylumfortheirmembersandtogiveprotectiontosomeone
fromtheoutsidewhoisseekingaid.Onthispoint,thehouseholdof
JapanresemblesthehouseholdoffeudallordsofthemedievalWest.In
thecaseofthelatter,thelord'shouseholdfunctionedasaunitoflivelihoodandwasalsoapoliticalstructure.Asnotedbyscholars,themedievalsocialorderwaslinkedtothereciprocalfunctionoftheauthorityof
thelord'shouseholdtooperateforitsownend.
Therearemanyparallelstobefoundbetweenthelord'shouseholdin
themedievalWestandthehouseholdofthelocalwarriorlordinJapan.
However,whenthedistinctcorporatenatureandlinealorganizationof
theJapanesehouseholdareconsidered,therearecleardifferencesbetweenthetwo.
TheWesterncaselacksbothofthesesalientfeatures.Consequently,
whentherewasnoheirtosucceedtotheWesternhousehold,thecapital
includingthepropertywouldeitherbedividedamongtherelativesor
elsebeusurpedbysomeonepowerful.Thecontinuityandcongruityof
thehouseholdwerecompletelydestroyedintheseinstances.Onlythe
feudallord'stitleofnobilitywouldbepasseddowntohisfamily.
Theprecedingdiscussionatternptedto皿uminatethesalientfeatures
27
28
ofthehousehold,particularlytheJapanesehousehold.Theauthorwishes
tomakethefollowingobservationfromthisdiscussion:thattheconcept
ofhouseholdcanbereducedtoseveralcomponents,andthatthrough
comparativehistoricalanalysisofthesecomponentsitispossiblenot
onlytograspthecharacteristicsofthehouseholdinJapananditsplace
inthefieldofworldhistory,butalsoatthesametimetoarguethatonly
theJapanesehouseholdpossessesallfouroftheaforementionedtraits,
whichmeansthatitsdistinctiveness-indeed,uniqueness-canbeascertained.
ThedebateoverwhethertheJapanesehousehold-orforthatmatter
Japanesecultureasawhole-isparticularoruniversalhasgrownstale
withrepetition.Iftheanalyticalapproachoutlinedaboveisconsidered,it
1:naybcpossibletocscape丘ornthispointlessbifUrcatedargurnent・That
istosay,whenthefourcharacteristicsthatcomposetheJapanesehouseholdafebroughtintofbcus,theuniversalityofitsnatufew皿become
clearwithreferencestocommonalitieswithdifferentexamplesthroughouttheworld,whileatthesametime,whentheseelementsareconsidcredinthev:totaHty,thedistinctivenessoftheJapanesehouseholdw皿
alsobecomeevident.