HOUSEHOLD SIZE, HOUSEHOLD STRUCTURE, AND DEVELOPMENTAL CYCLE OF A JAPANESE VILLAGE - 18TH-CENTURY TO 19TH-CENTURY

The number of households of a small village in northeastern Japan incr eased 1.5-fold in the 110 years from 1760 to 1870. The mean household size also rose from about five to six persons during the same period. These developments were closely related to the socio-economic conditio ns of the village. The changes, however, did not occur in a homogeneou s fashion across different socio-economic classes. There were clear di fferences in these trends, particularly between landed peasant and lan dless peasant households. This article also examines the changes in ho usehold structure, using the Hammel and Laslett's typology, and confir ms the basic developmental cycle. There existed some notable differenc es between different socio-economic classes in terms of the types of h ousehold transition and also of the likelihood of the transition.