In Japan, as elsewhere, life begins in a family and it is here that children
build up a picture of the world. Family members are usually the first people
they learn to classify, and the way in which these close relations are defined
varies greatly from one society to another. The perception of relatives is also
influenced by residential arrangements, and Japan has as many possibilities
as any other modern society, but it is important not to draw conclusions
based only on apparent similarities in lifestyle. Anthropologists have found
that understanding the principles defining relatives, sometimes even quite
different from the biological ones implied in English usage, is vital to understanding systems of classification used in the wider society. Kin relations are
also inextricably associated with other types of relations, so that economic
activities, political relations and religious practices may also only properly
be understood when considered in the context of the kinship system