Study about the change of “IE” traditional Japanese family through the research on the change of Japanese family grave “IE haka”

In the background where there are many factors affecting Japanese families such as the decrease of children, the change of family structures, gender concept, etc., "family'' has become a noticeable issue attracting much attention nowadays. The type of Japanese traditional family named "IE'' was officially regulated in the law during the Meiji period. After the war, the legal status of "IE'' was eliminated; however, in reality, "IE'' still remains popular. In fact, "IE'' is always considered an important keyword to understand the Japanese family system. In this paper, the author studies about the change of "IE'' through the research on the Japanese family grave "IE haka'' in Japan. "IE haka'' was formed based on "IE'' family background; therefore, doing research on the change of Japanese family grave "IE haka'' makes it possible to clarify the characteristics and trend of IE in Japan. The research outcomes showed that in the post-war period, "IE'' was no longer regulated in law; however, the stable sustainability of "IE haka'' system reflects that traditional family "IE'' has firmly rooted in Japan's culture and society until now. Meanwhile, in the current changing context, "IE haka'' shows deep basic changes including the increase of simple structures, simplification of ancestor worship rituals, etc. Through it, "IE'' could be seen to have fundamentally changed and even been predicted to decline in the future.