Ie (Japanese family system)

The physical definition of an ie consists of an estate that includes a house, rice paddies and vegetable gardens, and its own section in the local cemetery.

The symbolic definition of ie has been referred to as the cultural medium for the physical processes of kinship, such as mating and procreation.

"Generation dead" are husband and wife pairs who held the status of household heads during their living years.

They play a pivotal role in the daily lives of most Japanese households in that they must be given a great deal of respect and are commemorated through Buddhist rites.

Marital and affinial ties are of great concern to the identity of an ie and therefore arranged marriage was very common in Japan prior to World War II.

Until recently, wives took on the duties of cooking, cleaning, and raising the children, while the typical husband served as a salary man and earned the income for the family.