In the traditional family, the male was the head of the household with absolute authority over others and the father filled the role of patriarch. Usually three or four generations lived together. The oldest son had a right to inherit almost all of property of family. A bride who traditionally held the lowest status in the family, might be divorced if she failed to please her in-laws or produce a child. In the contemporary family, the tradition of extended families living together is receding. Family life has changed since WWII. The trend is toward smaller nuclear family units as in the U.S., not generational extended ones, though these are still fairly common, especially in the rural areas. Families are smaller. The birth rate in Japan has declined sharply. Typically, mother, father, one or two children in an urban apartment, father commutes by train to city, wife cares for children and house. Doing something wrong brings guilt or shame on famil
Marriage is still centered on or involves arranged marriages or matchmaking either formally or informally. Arranged marriages are still frequent, even the norm in the rural areas. Whether arranged or not there is usually the "o-miai" which is an interview with the prospective bride or groom. This is a cool-headed checking of the prospective partner. My parents were getting married by this old traditional matchmaking. What has changed about this is that the interest in matchmaking has remained, but the parents of a couple do not have as final a say as they did 50 years ago; yet it is still common to be sure that one's parents approve and know about the family of a potential mate. A young person may still ask his parent, employer or teacher to serve as an official matchmaker, or any of these may serve as an unofficial one because young people are too busy working to have time to meet anyone. An interesting problem now is country boys who need a
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