404 COMPARATIVE LAW 



issue of blood, that is, the direct descendant of his ancestors, existed, 

 the head of a house should not permit a person of more distant rela- 

 tionship to become the successor to the sacra. 



That the object of adoption was the perpetuation of ancestor- 

 worship may also be inferred from the old strict rule that only a 

 kinsman could be adopted as a son. The Taiho Code did not permit 

 adoption of kindred beyond the Fourth Rank, as I have said above. 

 From the remains of the Taiho Criminal Code which have come 

 down to us, we know that a punishment of one year's penal servitude 

 was inflicted upon one who adopted a son from a different clan. 

 This prohibition against the adoption of a person not related by 

 blood derives its origin from the belief, which generally exists where 

 the practice of ancestor-worship prevails, that "the spirit does not 

 receive the offerings of strangers." 



Another requirement of adoption, which is to be found in the 

 laws of many countries, is the absolute failure of male issue. The 

 house law of the Taiho Code allowed adoption only in case a man 

 had no son. The object of this rule is clear from what I have said 

 above. A remoter relative should not be admitted where there is 

 a nearer descendant to make offerings. 



There is one peculiar form of adoption called "muko-yoshi" 

 or " adoption of son-in-law," the origin of which must be attributed 

 to the same cause. As I have said above, the law considered a man 

 childless, even though he had a daughter. Males were the only con- 

 tinuators of worship. Those who had daughters only were therefore 

 obliged to adopt a son; but it was necessary for the blood of the 

 ancestor to be, if possible, continued in the house. In such cases, a 

 house-head selects a person who is fit to be his daughter's husband 

 and adopts him as a son. If adoption and marriage take place at the 

 same time, it is called "muko-yoshi" or "adoption of son-in-law/' 

 The same object may also be attained by the subsequent marriage 

 of the adopted son with the daughter of the adopter, for the col- 

 lateral relationship of brother and sister by adoption is no bar to their 

 marriage. 



(2) Adoption for the purpose of obtaining a successor to house- 

 headship. 



As the house is the seat of ancestor-worship and the house-head 

 is the continuator of the sacra, this kind of adoption cannot be 

 regarded as differing from that above mentioned. But with the 

 development of the house-system the authority of the head of a 

 house begins to be regarded as a distinct object of inheritance by 

 itself, and the family sacra only as one of the duties incumbent upon 

 the house-head. Especially was this the case when hereditary office, 

 profession, or fief belonged to house-headship. In Japan this stage 

 was reached when the feudal system was established, and daimios 



