japanese life cycle rituals

Japanese Life Cycle RitualsRobert Croker, Nanzan University

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Defining Ritual

Defining RitualRituals are taught and practiced from a young age.

Defining Ritual• Rituals are sequences of formal actions and

utterances, more formal than usually used in everyday casual interaction.

• ‘Formal’ means having extra rules and restrictions about behavior and language.

• Rituals include both social and religious practices.

• Rituals can be public and private.

Defining RitualActions: the actions in a ritual do not usually have meaning – meaning is given to them by the participants. Rituals presume that participants have some shared understanding of those meanings. Religious rituals – one participant may be an entity such as a kami (deity or god) – but they are treated like real participants, perhaps by embodying them in a person or object.

Five Types of Rituals

1. life cycle rituals2. seasonal cycle rituals3. exchange and communion rituals4. fasting and feasting rituals5. affliction rituals

Source: Bell, C. (1997). Ritual: Perspectives and dimensions. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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1. Life Cycle Rituals

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Life Cycle RitualsDefinition: Rituals which accompany and dramatize major life events.

Purpose: 1. Give cultural meanings to natural biological processes e.g. birth, marriage, death. These are culturally universal.2. Recognize the transition to new stages of life e.g. entering school, becoming 'an adult', job-hunting 就職活動, becoming a 社会人. These are culturally specific. 8

Life Cycle RitualsTypes:one-time only events (e.g. birth)

vs. recurring events (e.g. birthdays)

lucky ('auspicious') events (e.g. marriage)vs. unlucky events (e.g. yakudoshi, 厄年)

note that almost all events are 'gendered'i.e. women and men celebrate these events differently e.g. different clothes and roles 9

Task: Write a list of the major life cycle events that are important in your culture, from birth.1. Divide them into culturally universal events and culturally specific events. 2. Note if they are one-time only events, or recurring events.3. Note if they are lucky or unlucky events.4. Think about how they are 'gendered'.

Life Cycle Rituals

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1. start before birth, and continue long after death2. reflect quite set stages in life, with relatively little overlapping between stages3. often an extended set of related activities4. different people play different roles; roles that are often invisible become visible during these rituals5. many rituals are very gendered; they reinforce gender roles

Life Cycle Rituals in Japan

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6. change over time – sometimes gradually as time passes, sometimes quickly at critical junctures (beginning of the Meiji era, beginning of the postwar period)7. generational differences – older people continue traditional rituals, younger people create new rituals8. regional differences – many are the same across Japan, but many differ depending upon the region

Life Cycle Rituals in Japan

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9. life-cycle events are increasingly marked by money ('commodified') e.g. renting clothes at 7-5-3, holding marriages at wedding halls and funerals at funeral halls, paying people to write a marriage proposal10. are usually accompanied by gift-giving to mark relationships (and how these relationships change because of this event); there are many rules for gift-giving

Life Cycle Rituals in Japan

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birth in Japan

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帯祝い

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帯祝い

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腹帯

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帯祝い

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お守り

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お守り

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お守り

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お守り

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お守り

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お守り

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出産

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出産祝い

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内祝い

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お守り

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出産後に行う８個の手続き

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出産後に行う８個の手続き

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宮参り

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宮参り

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宮参り

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1. start before birth,continue long after death2. often an extended set of related activities3. different people play different roles4. change over time – sometimes gradually, sometimes at critical junctures (beginning of Meiji era, beginning of postwar period)5. generational differences – older people continue traditional rituals, younger people create new rituals

Life Cycle Rituals in Japan

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6. many are the same across Japan, but many differ depending upon the region7. many are very gendered8. life-cycle events are increasingly marked by money ('commodified') e.g. 7-5-3, marriages, writing marriage proposals9. are usually accompanied by gift-giving to mark relationships (and how they change), and there are many rules for gift-giving10. shrines often sell talisman お守りfor them

Life Cycle Rituals in Japan

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7-5-3

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7-5-3

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7-5-3

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千歳飴

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entering and leaving school

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the schooling system

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becoming an adult

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就職活動

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getting married

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getting old

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death

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after death

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Homework Tasks: A. Write a list of the major yearly cycle events that are important in your culture, from January to December.1. Divide them into culturally universal events and culturally specific events. 2. Note if they are lucky or unlucky events.3. Think about how they are 'gendered'.B. Complete the reading, make notes.

Yearly and Seasonal Cycle Rituals

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