沖縄のトートーメーをめぐる相続慣習と法制度

Abstract

This paper examines social and legal changes over the customs of succession of worship in Okinawa and the factors behind these changes. Okinawa, which once prospered as the Ryukyu Kingdom, has a different history and culture from mainland Japan. In Okinawa, which has a folk religion emphasizing ancestor worship, “Totome [Buddhist mortuary tablet]” is succeed as part of the inheritance of worship, and it is a custom that the successor of Totome basically would inherit most of the property of the house. Only male descendants from the paternal line could succeed Totome, and it is taboo if succeeded by women or men of different linage. Therefore, women could not succeed Totome, and as a natural result, they are excluded from the property inheritance. The customs of inheriting Totome in Okinawa were established during the Ryukyu Kingdom era(1429~1879). They still exist to this day, although the details have been greatly changed with some historical events such as the Ryukyu annexation by the Japanese government, US military rule after WWII, or the return to Japan administration in 1972. In 1980, an Okinawan local newspaper addressed the customs as a problem associated with gender inequality. They claimed that the way of succession of worship and inheriting of house property in Okinawa deviated from the provisions of the Family law revised after the war. Furthermore, they criticized the paternal inheritance system, and the movement became a social phenomenon. Here, focusing on the social phenomenon, this paper explains how the custom has changed under social change and the modern legal order.