The Makioka Sisters The Japanese ie system consisted of a patriarchal structure in which all rights, responsibilities and duties, social standing, and family property were inherited from the father to the eldest son. In terms of marriage, the ie system consisted of marriage to be preferably arranged for the benefit of the family instead of the individual (the two people getting married) (Rod, 2001) (Kudo, 2012). In cases in which there were no sons born into the family, the eldest daughter along with her husband (who had to be adopted into the family), would become head of the household, and would rank above her younger sister(s) and her/their husband(s) (Kudo, 2012). This is the case in Junichiro Tanizaki’s Sasameyuki (The Makioka Sisters), a fiction/literature novel that draws a picture of a way of living that no longer exists. The story takes place in Osaka, years prior to World War II in which the still active ie system slowly begins to vanish. The changes in Japanese society due to modernization are portrayed through the life of four aristocratic Japanese women who attempt to cling to their family name and maintain a way of living that is disappearing before their faces. The Makioka Sisters novel has been cinematized three times. However, none of the films have been able to capture the four sisters’ original personalities without exaggerating certain characteristics. In the novel, a detailed account of the four sisters’ physical features, personalities, and particular lifestyle is given.
Tsuruko Makioka, is the oldest of the four sisters, after their parents passed away, she and her husband became the head of the Makioka family. They did not only inherit the family household and duties, but also the responsibility to find suitable husbands for the two younger daughters. One can describe Tsuruko as an authoritarian, which is most likely due to the fact