During the same period land was sold freely, but the military class was prohibited to sell the beneficiary land given by the government as a reward. Later even hereditary land was not allowed to be sold to the lower class. During the Ashikaga period, primogeniture in the male line became more and more the rule for the succession of estates. And it was made the strict law during the Tokugawa dynasty. Di vision of estates was not permitted, and the eldest son inherited the whole property of his father, while it was made his obligation to support all his brothers and sisters. As the younger sons could not inherit any property from their father, they had to be adopted by a childless Samurai before they were permitted to marry, and unless they were very distin guished in talent and ability they were not allowed to start a new family.
The Tokugawa government prohibited a peasant to change his occupation and to be come a tradesman. He was not permitted to sell his soil and divide it among his children in case it was not more than one cho (2.45 acres) in extent. In fact, all sale of land for perpetuity was not allowed except in the cities of Yedo, Kioto and Osaka. Even its trans ference was restricted by law, in order to pre vent the accumulation of estates in the hands of a few large proprietors. Throughout the whole history of Japan the legal principle re lating to land was that the proprietary right be longed only to the state. In the year of the Restoration, 1868, the land belonging to the villages was turned over to the peasants, and the sale of land for perpetuity was legally al lowed in 1872.
From very early times there was a ceremony called Gembuku, observed when children grew up to be mature. It was so called because the dress of an adult was to be worn from that time. It was called Ui kamuri (new cap), be cause a man's cap was given for the first time. The age was not fixed by law, but usually at 15 or 16. In the case of emperors and rulers, the ceremony was performed even in childhood. It was performed sometimes at night and some times in day time, and it was considered a matter of great importance, especially by the military class. A master was needed for its performance. He was either a chief-man of the clan or family, or the suzerain to whom he owed his allegiance. He was called Eboshi oya or sponsor (Kamuri is a general term for cap, and Eboshi is a special term for a kind of cap formerly worn by the Japanese nobles). During the Tokugawa dynasty, a cap was omitted except in the case of court and terri torial nobles. The retainers only changed the manner of hair dressing at this ceremony. Now this custom is obsolete.
Society in Japan, as it has historically de veloped and as it now stands, is legally dis tinguished into four classes: (1) Kwozoku or the Imperial family; (2) Kwazoku or the No bility; (3) Shizoku or the old Samurai or Bushi; (4) Heimin or the Common People.
1. Kwozoku.— The imperial family in Japan is the oldest existing royal family in the world. The mikado or emperor is the earliest institution, and stands at the basis of all other institutions in the country. The pres
ent emperor is the 123d of the imperial line. No king or emperor or president has such unanimous reverence and love of his subjects. The people are very proud of the fact that the reigning imperial family has descended from time immemorial in an unbroken line of suc cession to the present. Indeed, the imperial family is now the emblem and embodiment of national immortality. It signifies the fact that Japan has never been conquered by the out side nations. It means that the imperial house and the people are one and inseparable elements of the state. It signifies also that in spite of great social and political revolutions which the people have undergone in the past there is something steady and consistent in the national character. Since the 8th century am. the im perial family has reigned but has not gov erned. The noble families one after another took possession of the governmental power. Still they all governed in the name of the em peror, or some member of the imperial family. Throughout the whole history of Japan the emperor has been the fountain of honor and the bestower of the official degree of rank and title on all functionaries, including the Shoguns and the Daimyos. Before the present consti tution was promulgated (1889), the female suc cession to the throne was constitutional, and Japan has had six empresses among the sov ereigns of the past. Hereafter the throne shall be succeeded to only by male descendants in the male line.
2. Kwazoku.— This is the title of the no bility in Japan, legally adopted in 1869 when the old appellations of court and territorial nobles were abolished. However, the existing orders of nobility were created only in 1884, and the nobles were classified into five orders of princes, marquises, counts, viscounts and barons. Among them are three classes distin guished. First comes the old court nobility called Kuje. They are the oldest families of all the nobles, some of them being more than 1,000 years in existence. Before the Restora tion they were all very poor and abject in con dition. On account of the feudal system which prevailed they had no work but to attend the emperor and discuss the matter of bestowing honorary degrees of rank and title. Next come the old Daimyos or territorial nobles, who were the former local hereditary rulers. Some fam ilies among them are seven or eight hundred years, and some about 300 years old. They voluntarily gave up their lands and people to the emperor in 1869, when they were made the local governors instead of Daimyos. But the system of local autonomy was entirely abolished in 1871, when they were forever re moved from their provinces and removed to Tokio. Last but not least are the new nobles created since 1884. Prominent among them are the statesmen and generals who broke up the Shogunate and the feudal system, estab lished Parliament and the constitutional gov ernment and brought to the successful issue the wars with China and Russia.