The koseki

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides an extensive and critical overview of the Family Registration System in Japan for an English-speaking audience. It examines a powerful instrument of the state like the koseki from a number of diverse viewpoints to gain further insight and understanding into such social and political change. James Scott highlights 'legibility as a central problem in statecraft' particularly for arranging 'the population in ways that simplified the classic state functions of taxation, conscription, and prevention of rebellion'. From the Meiji period to the early postwar period koseki registration not only impacted on Japanese society but also the neighboring societies of Taiwan, the Korean peninsula and some parts of China. The book fills important gaps in our knowledge as well as providing a springboard from which to launch more research into this hitherto neglected aspect of Japanese history and contemporary society