Family Suicide - Ikkashinju

...The 1880 "Collection of National Customs and Customs" shows that while many areas were socially registered only after a considerable amount of time had passed since birth, there were also areas where the pregnant woman was surveyed monthly. In the system before World War II, family registers were established, there was a provision for the crime of abandonment under the Criminal Code, and the crackdown on abortion was strengthened, but there were also occasional cases of family suicides, a variation of the case of abandoned children. [Tsukamoto Manabu]
[Folklore]
According to the Imperial Statistical Yearbook, there were many abandoned children in Japan in the early and mid-Meiji period, with 1,364 abandoned children in 1885 (Meiji 18). The number gradually decreased thereafter, but it was not until the end of the Taisho period that it settled at around 100, the same level as today.

*Some of the terminology used in reference to "family suicide" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…1880年の《全国民事慣例類集》では，出生後相当年月を経てはじめて社会的に登録される地が多い反面，毎月懐胎者調べを行う地もみえる。第2次大戦前の体制では，戸籍の整備，刑法遺棄罪の規定があり，堕胎の取締りが強化されたが，捨子の変型としての一家心中事件も，ときにみられた。【塚本 学】
［民俗］
　《帝国統計年鑑》によれば，明治初中期の日本には捨子が多く，1885年(明治18)には1364人の捨子がなされ，以後徐々に減じたが今日なみの100人前後に落ち着くのは大正末年以降である。…

※「一家心中」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報