天保飢饉と家族の損壊・再生 ―石見国今浦に見る―

　人口553人、戸数99の今浦では天保の飢饉で1838年に死亡が69.7％の家に生じ、人口の25.8％が死亡した。この死亡の結果、1841年までに各家に起こった事象を観察した。
（ 1 ）戸主は35.4％が死亡し、新戸主が順当に倅になったのはその51.4％で、うち33.3％では戸主就任にともなって同時に結婚した。つまり、戸主の死亡が結婚（ 8割が初婚）を引き起こした。いずれもその結婚年齢はやや遅い（29歳と30代が各50％）。女房が新戸主の場合は戸主死亡の14.3％で、その1 / 5で再婚を発生させた。
（ 2 ）女房は38.9％が死亡し、その4 割が戸主も同年に死亡したので、女房と死別した戸主は全家数の16.2％である。このうち直ちに再婚したのはその37.5％で、かなり高い割合ですぐに替わりの女房を得ているといえる。
（ 3 ）倅は20.7％が死亡したが、その12.9％、4 件は嫁がいてこの死別した嫁は半数2 人が再婚した。その相手はどちらも死亡した「倅」の弟である。つまり兄嫁が弟と再婚した。
　以上のように結婚は単に死亡者の欠落を埋めるために生じただけでなく、その欠落の発生を機に家、家族を再興しようとする復元力が働いたものと考えることができる。その復元力は結婚の形成の柔軟な仕組みなどに加えて、やや晩婚の息子が存在しているなど家の中に予備となる家族員が存在している（西南日本型家族）ということも条件となっている。

Imaura, with a population of 553 individuals and 99 households, is situated on the coast of the Japan Sea. During the Tenpō Famine in 1838 deaths occurred among 69.7 per cent of the households and 25.8 per cent of the population. We examined the events paying special attention to marriages that took place by 1841 that were caused by the deaths in that year.
（1）While 35.4 per cent of heads of the household died, the sons of 51.4 per cent of the households succeeded their position; 33.3 per cent of them got married at the same time. Thus, the deaths of household heads resulted in marriages （with 80 per cent of them being first marriages）. The grooms were mostly aged 29 and 30’s（50 per cent each）. Deceased household heads were succeeded by their widows in 14.3 per cent of the cases. These successions resulted in remarrying among 20 per cent of the widows.
（2）While 38.9 per cent of wives died, in 40 per cent of the cases, the household heads also died in the same year, rendering 16.2 per cent the household heads bereaved. However, 37.5 of them got new wives in a short term period.
（3）In these households, 20.7 per cent of sons died, 12.7 per cent（4 sons）of whom had wives and the half（2 sons）of whom remarried, In both cases, the two grooms were the younger brothers of the deceased men.
Therefore, marriages were conducted not only to fill the void caused by the deaths but also to restore families by taking advantage of the hollowness of the household members, which reflected their resilience. Resilience comprises of the elasticity in marriage formation rules or norms, accommodating extra family members and allowing later marriages. These traits derive from the Western Japanese family system group into which the family in Imaura is classified.