Local population registers were compiled in Japan from about 1670 on
and continued for the next two centuries. Established as part of an effort to exterminate Christianity, these "registers ofreligious investigation" (shumon aratarne cho) list the name, age, and relationship to head of household for individuals in
villages and towns throughout Japan. This article describes their origin, the type and
quality of information they contain, their uses for demographic and social structural
analysis, and their availability to scholars.
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