Japan Village Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Title in the Language of the Record
日本、村レコード

Record Description
This collection will include records from 709 to 1949. The records are in Japanese.

The collection includes village records from Japan. These records include land records, genealogies, religious censuses, and individual family records.

Japanese villages were responsible for several types of records that can be of significant genealogical value, especially when the religious inquisition census records (shumoncho) are unavailable.

These records include the following:


 * Land and property records
 * Tax records (who paid taxes, etc.)
 * Population and status records (a type of census)
 * Lists of people who were drafted into the military
 * Financial records
 * Conservation project records

To see more types of records that are in this collection, go to Japan Village Records.

For a list of records by localities and dates currently published in this collection, select the Browse link from the collection landing page.

Record Content
Records may contain the following information:


 * Full name of ancestor
 * Age
 * Date of transaction
 * Occupation

How to Use the Record
To search the Village Records, it would be helpful if you knew the following information:


 * Approximate year of birth
 * Name of village

Search the Collection
To search the collection image by image ⇒Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page ⇒Select "Prefecture" ⇒Select "County or City, Town or Village" ⇒Select "Record Type" ⇒Select "Title, Volume/Page, and Year" which will take you to the images.

Search the collection by image comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine if the image relates to them. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors to make this determination.

As you are searching it is helpful to know such information as your ancestor’s given name and surname, some identifying information such as residence and age, and family relationships. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name as your ancestor and that your ancestor may have used nicknames or different names at different times.

Using the Information
When you have found the record that you have been looking for, the following will help you further your research:

Use the age to calculate a birth year

To see more types of records that are in this collection, go to Japan Village Records.

For Help Reading These Records
These records are in Japanese. For help with reading the records, see the following resource:

The Genealogy of the Japanese Language

Related Websites

 * Keizu - Japanese Genealogy
 * Japanese Genealogy Resources
 * Japan GenWeb

Related Wiki Articles

 * Japan Research Methods
 * Japan Village Records
 * Japan Record Loss

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
Citations for individual image records are available for this collection. Browse through images in this collection and click on the "Show Citation" box: Japan, Village Records, 709-1949

When you copy information from a record, you should list where you found the information. This will help you or others to find the record again. It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records.

A suggested format for keeping track of records that you have searched is found in the wiki article Help:How to Cite FamilySearch Collections.

Citation for This Collection
The following citation refers to the original source of the information published in FamilySearch.org. Source citations include the author, custodian, publisher, and archive for the original records.