Page:Japan by the Japanese (1904).djvu/343
necessity of maintaining intact the reputation and property of the house.
In case there is no legal presumptive heir to a house-head, he may appoint an heir, either in his lifetime or by his will. But this appointment ceases to be valid when he obtains a child, in the course of nature or by adoption, for the latter will become his legal presumptive heir (Article 979, Civil Code).
If at the time of the death of the house-head there is neither legal presumptive heir nor an appointed heir, the father of the deceased, or if there is no father, or if he is unable to express his intention, the mother, or if there are no parents, or both are unable to express their intention, the family council chooses an heir from among the members of the house according to the following order: (1) The wife, if she is a ‘house-daughter’; (2) the brothers; (3) the sisters; (4) the surviving wife, who is not a ‘house-daughter’; and, finally (5), the lineal descendants of brothers and sisters (Article 982, Civil Code).
Now, in this also the desire for preserving the blood of ancestors will be seen from the order in which the heir is chosen. The surviving consort of the last house-head comes first in the order of succession provided that she is a ‘house-daughter,’ but fourth if she is not the descendant in blood of an ancestor of the house. If there is neither legal nor appointed nor chosen heir, then the nearest lineal descendants of the last house-head succeeds, males being always preferred to females between persons in the same degree of relationship (Article 984, Civil Code).
If there are no heirs above-mentioned, the family council must chose one from among other relatives of the last house-head or members of principal or branch houses. If none of the persons above-mentioned be existing, or able to succeed, then, as a last resort, the family council may chose an heir from among other persons (Article 985, Civil Code).
From the foregoing enumeration of the various kinds of heirs, it will be seen that the law takes every precaution against the contingency of a house becoming extinct, for with the extinction of the house the worship of its ancestors would come to an end.