On the Characteristics of Traditional Rural Villages in Japan Relative to Those in Korea

Abstract

"Hiroshi Honda considered Suzuki’s suggestion and analyzed common interest groups and social differentiation in a Dongri . He reached the following conclusions. First, there were two classes in a given Dongri an elite ruling class 'yangbang' 両班 and a commoner class with different cultural traditions. Second, the social networks of the former class, an indispensable social resource required for class members to maintain their social hegemony, were organized within the area of a county, extending beyond the Dongri area in which individuals reside. Third, Dongri commoners frequently moved away due to the lack of a stable social and economic foundation. According to the prior literature, these three characteristics are regarded as useful traits in clarifying differences between the Mura and Dongri Only commoners lived in Muras , and social networks were essentially organized, affording commoners little mobility. In this paper, in contrast to prior discussions given by Honda and other authors, similar characteristics of the Mura and Dongri are emphasized from the three aforementioned perspectives, and concrete phenomena observed in Muras in the Edo era are discussed."