Relocation of Graves and Changes in the Perception of the Deceasedʼs Individuality and Kinship Groups: A Case Study of Kawarayu in the Yanba Dam Submerged Area

<p>  This paper is based on a field study of Kawarayu, Naganohara-machi, Agatsuma-gun, Gunma Prefecture, which was submerged in the Yanba Dam construction project. It aims at analyzing changes in the perception of the deceasedʼs individuality as a result of the proliferation of ancestral graves and changes in the perception of graves, as well as examining how such changes have, in turn, brought about changes in kinship groups related to the deceased.</p><p> </p><p>  It was found that as a result of the proliferation of ancestral graves and changes in the perception of graves after relocation, the Kawarayu people (including the out-migrants) tend to have a narrower scope than before the relocation in their perception of the individuality of the deceased. They have begun to limit their recognition of the deceasedʼs individuality to those whom they were directly related when they visit graves. Moreover, the period of time before the deceased loses their individuality has become shorter.</p><p> </p><p>  This study has come to the conclusion that the above changes have also affected the notion of kinship groups centering on the deceased. The relocation has weakened the notion of the relationships of make and shinseki ― the basic units that make up the ie ― and this has had a particularly serious impact on the notion of shinseki. Furthermore, this tendency is expected to become even more pronounced among people who married into this area and the younger generations. The notion of shinseki is also expected to take a shorter time to weaken than in the pre-relocation days. In particular, shinseki relationships built on an individualʼs kinship relations are expected to perish faster than before the relocation.</p>