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What is On-site Investigation?
Discovering Your Ancestors’ Home
This research is conducted by visiting the place where the ancestors lived. This is done in order to obtain information and historical materials that cannot be obtained without visiting the place. In addition to cemeteries and gravestones, there are many facilities in Japan where historical materials cannot be viewed without visiting in person, and it is sometimes necessary to visit these facilities when researching ancestors. We take photos and videos during our on-site research and report them to our clients who feel as if they have visited the site.
Our On-site Investigation covers:
These are some typical researches from our service
Temple Survey
We find the temple (bodai-ji) that organized the funeral rites of your ancestors and the death records of the temple. Since the 1600s, Japan has had a system known as the “temple contract system," under which each resident was obligated to become a danka (danna) of one of the temples. When a deceased parishioner was buried, the temple was required to enter his or her secular name, Buddhist precepts, and date of death in a ledger called a kagokucho. Furthermore, the temple’s head priest may know more about the history of a long-standing danka family than their descendants.
Shrine Surveys
Inquire at the shrine if the names of your ancestors are carved on the torii, tamagaki, stone lanterns, stone monuments, or other structures at the shrine in the area where your ancestors lived. The fact that the names are carved on such structures indicates that they were devout Ujiko and financially prosperous.
Local Archives
Our service includes visiting local archives and examining old documents. These institutions have a large number of old documents that have not yet been typeset. Since the majority of documents from that period are written in cursive script, it is difficult to find your ancestors if you cannot decipher the cursive script. In this respect, our researchers are not only well-versed in deciphering cursive script but also have knowledge of the terminology and styles used in ancient documents.
Surname (Main Family Branch) Survey
Discovering distant relatives is very important for ancestor research. when you discover the main family of a major origin, they may have a family tree with generations of ancestors on it, or they may have a death register with the names, Buddhist post names, and dates of death of their ancestors from the early Edo period. If relatives have been discovered in the area in advance, we will visit their homes to obtain information.
Cemetery and Tombstone Survey
We will visit the graves where your ancestors are enshrined. If the cemetery is known in advance, we will go directly to the grave and visit the ancestor. At the same time as visiting the ancestors, we will collect the information that is engraved on the gravestones and monuments. If the location of the grave is unknown at the preliminary survey, we may interview the gravesite during the on-site survey.
Why choose our service?
Our on-site investigation is the final stage of ancestor research and requires not only the skill of the researcher but also experience and a proven track record in the field. We are the most experienced ancestor research company in Japan, and our professional researchers visit the site directly from our offices in Japan and take photos and videos to make our clients feel as if they have visited the site.
Ancestral research experience throughout Japan
Easy access because of our location in Japan
Conducted by researchers who are well-versed in ancestor research
