|
|
YAIKO105.JPG
|
YAIKO101.JPG
|
YAIKO102.JPG
|
YAIKO103.JPG
|
YAIKO104.JPG
|
YAIKO106.JPG
|
Gallery 1
| Gallery 2
| Gallery 3
| Gallery 4
| More Japanese Women at No Dead Trees
|
Aishwarya
WebZoop
Things Japanese - Japanese Wedding
Spring and fall are wedding seasons in Japan as much as they are favored
by tourists. In some places where wedding ceremonies and receptions are
held as many as forty couples are united and congratulated on a day of
fortune under the almanac.
Putting aside the Christian wedding or Buddhist matrimonial service for
the time being, let us introduce to you how more often marriages are
arranged and wedding ceremonies are performed under the Shinto system in
Japan.
While it is true that more and more young men and women are united in
marriage on their own will through love, the practice of "Mi-Ai" is still
widely observed to end in a happy married life for many. "Mi-Ai" is an
interview for a man and woman with a view to marriage, as arranged by
their parents or a third party acting as a gobetween. It is proposed with
due consideration to social backgrounds and other factors of the
prospective bride and bridegroom and their families. It is not compulsory
on either of the parties concerned to accept such "Mi-Ai" as a promise for
marriage. Usually, however, preliminary studies are made to assure a
success in "Mi-Ai" where the prospective bride and bridegroom are more or
less to make a final decision through personal impressions of each other.
Before we go further into "Mi-Ai" interviews which may be observed in
hotels, theaters and such public planes, it may be of interest to review
some history of marriage practices in Japan.
A History of Japanese Marriage
In the long history of Japan the marriage system must have gone through
various changes in the social system and conditions. Such changes are now
difficult to trace in detail but the most important and historical change
in the Japanese marriage system is said to have been made from the
"Muko-iri" practice for a bridegroom to enter the family of his aimed-at
bride to the "Yome-iri" system for a bride to be accepted into her
bridegroom's home. The change seems to have taken place in the 13th and
14th centuries by the rise of "Bushi" warriors in power.
During the age of aristocracy a bridegroom would nightly visit his bride
at her home and only after the birth of a child or the loss of parents to
the bridegroom or husband, the bride would be accepted as the wife in the
man's home. Among common people labor power was and essential factor to
maintain a family. It was an accepted practice in the Tohoku area in north
for a bridegroom to live with his bride's family to offer his labor for a
certain length of time. More widely spread was the system for a bridegroom
and bride to offer their time and labor to their own families. In such
cases the husband would visit his wife nightly to maintain the married
life. Again in Izu Islands it was for a wife to work for the family of her
husband who would, however, stay at her home. The practice remains today
in the system of adoption by which a man becomes a member of another
family by marriage. Under either of such system it was necessary for
families concerned to reside in neighborhood.
In the old days of aristocracy men seem to have been freer and more
insistent than those to follow in later ages in proposing marriage to
women. Court Lord Fukakusa is said to have called on Ono-no-Komachi, "Miss
Kyoto" of the 9th century day and night for one hundred consecutive days
and broken down from exhaustion without her word of "yes".
After nightly visits of a man at the home of his aimed-at bride, he might
be invited by her parents to a bedside and offered "Mochi" rice cakes.
"Tokoro-Arawashi", as the ceremony was called was the most important
function in the ancient wedding among aristocrats. A similar practice was
seen among common people for a man to visit on the parents of a
bride-to-be for approval of his marriage to their daughter.
With the rise of "Bushi" warriors whose spheres of activities were no
longer limited within Kyoto or close neighborhood, the system of women
marrying into men's families was gradually adopted and widely accepted in
the 14th century and on. Under the feudal system marriages were often used
as plitical and diplomatic approaches to maintaining peace and unity among
feudal lords. Thus the personal will of men and women for marriage was
ignored in the face of family interests and the social intercourse of
unmarried persons was denied. Marriages came to be arranged by and for
families and the role of "Nakodo" gobetween became very important in
Japan.
Another result of the "Yome-iri" wedding and family marriage was the
increased importance of engagement. The "Yui-no" betrothal thus became a
serious step in the Japanese marriage. A "Nakodo" gobetween would make
further certain of a proposed marriage by the ceremonial exchange of
drinks with the bride side immediately upon acceptance of the proposal.
"Yui-no", as still observed and later described more in detail, is the
exchange of various items between two families concerned assuring the
engagement to be followed through.
The wedding ceremony became also more elaborate. A messanger would be sent
to the bride's home where family members hold a farewell party before
hanging her over to the bridegroom side. At the wedding ceremony proper in
addition to the "San-San-Kudo" exchange of drinks between the bridegroom
and bride, drinks were now exchanged between members of the families for
unification on the family basis.
Having briefly reviewed the history, we are now ready to go back to
marriage and wedding, as more widely practiced in Japan today.
"Mi-Ai"
Until the turn of the century, the "Mi-Ai" interview of a man and woman
was more of formality than an opportunity to know each other with a view
to marriage. When practiced, it is arranged by a gobetween today to
provide the prospective bridegroom and bride with an initial opportunity
for knowing each other personally.
A theather, hotel or restaurant may well be used for "Mi-Ai" where the
proposed couple and their families make their acquaintance. The "Mi-Ai"
interview is no longer considered to force any compulsory consequence upon
either of the parties concerned. It is a proctice for parents, gobetweens
and friends with a particular view to unite, if desired, a young man and
woman, thought out to be ideal partners in marriage. Even when
successfully conducted, the man and woman concerned are usually given
months to get to know each other and possibly to learn to love each otehr.
When "Mi-Ai" was a mere formality, a bridegroom-to-be might be invited to
the home of a bride-to-be and if he was favorably impressed, he would
leave behind a fan to indicate his acceptance. The bride-to-be had little
chance of expressing her views on the subject.
"Yui-no"
"Yui-no" is a derived form of "Ii-ire" meaning "to apply". It is said
also to mean for families to be united in marriage to dine and drink
together. In any case it is an important function in betrothal in Japan.
At "Yui-no" gifts are exchanged between the bridegroom-to-be and
bride-to-be. The main item to be presented to the bride-to-be is an "Obi",
representing female virtue. A "Hakama" skirt is returned to the
bridegroom-to-be, expressing fidelity. The "Yui-no" gifts include as many
as nine items of happiness and fortune, if formally prepared, in addition
to the "Obi" and "Hakama".
Naga-Noshi
Prepared from abalones, it used to be an important and costly item in
the old barter trade. It is to express the sincere wishes of a sender, as
widely used in making gifts in Japan.
Mokuroku
It is the list of gift delivered.
Money
Money is exchanged as a ceremonial gift.
Katsuo-bushi
It is dried bonito, used in making soup stock and vaiued high as
preserved food.
Surume
Dried cuttlefish. Both "Surume" and "Katsuo-bushi" are presented to
indicate "quality" to last.
Konbu
"Konbu" tangles are included for their strong power of breeding,
wishing for happy and healthy generations to follow in the family.
Shiraga
Another name for "Asa" or hemp. Strong fibres are exchanged to signify
ties and cooperation in the married life. "Shiraga" phonetically means
also white hair, expressing wishes for long life together to the newly
married.
Suehiro
A fan is always a symbol of happiness, as it expands to the end,
suggesting a better and bigger future.
Yanagi-daru
It is a wine cask. It may be replaced by cash, as designated for the
purpose of purchasing "Sake" wine.
"Sake" casks are usually made of "Sugi" cryptomeria but such as used in
"Yui-no" are of willow trees with tender leaves. It is meant to pledge
obedience and gentleness in the married life.
All these "Yui-no" gifts are accompanied by a list of family members, as
they are exchanged between the two families through the gobetween on a
"lucky" day of the almanac.
Wedding Ceremony
The Shinto wedding is performed before a Shinto sanctuary, set up for the
occation unless the wedding takes place in a Shinto shrine. It is presided
by a Shinto priest who first holds the purification service of all
present. Such a wedding is usually attended by memberrs of both families
and close relatives in addition, of cource, to the couple to be united and
gobetweens. Gobetweens are often selected more for ceremonial purposes
from among elderly couples known and close to either or both of the
families to be united in marriage.
After a ritual by the priest, reporting to olds on the marriage and
requesting their lasting favors on the newly-weds it is now customary for
the bridegroom to read an oath to keep faithful and obedient to each other
in the married life. The oath may be given by the gobetween in behalf of
the new couple.
The "San-San-Kudo" or ceremony of the Three-Times-Three Exchange of
nuptial cups is then performed by the bridegroom and bride. The exchange
of wedding rings is also a popular practice today.
The bridegroom and bride proceed to the sanctuary to offer twigs of
"Sakaki" sacred tree in worship to gods to end the main part of the
wedding ceremony.
Drinks of "Sake" are then exchanged between members and close relatives of
the both families to signify their union through the wedding.
The Shinto wedding is accompanied by the traditional music and attended by
"Miko" maidens who serves "Sake" in red and white dresses.
It is a short service, simple in procedure but full of solemn
atomospheres.
Many hotels and restaurants are equipped with a special room for wedding
ceremonies. In fact weddings are a good source of business for them,
including receptions to follow sometimes in elaborate scale.
Many a wedding in Japan is performed in other styles. Christian weddings
in the church, Buddhist nuptials in the temple and civil weddings in
public offices are preferred for religious or other reasons. A wedding
ceremony may also be performed at home in the Shinto style, in which case
a temporary sanctuary is set up on the "Tokonoma" alcove. Except for local
differences the bride is seated first in such a family wedding and the
ceremony to give her away to the bridegroom is included.
A Buddhist wedding as performed at the Honganji Temple includes a prayer,
the presentation of Buddhist rosaries, address by the priest, incense
burning, drinks of oath and a Buddhist worship by clasping hands. A
Buddhist temple used to be a place for funerals, as far as such events in
life as birth, marriage and death were concerned. It is still to be seen
how far the buddhist wedding may go with millions of otherwise Buddhist
followers found in the country.
Wedding Receptions
The scale and style of wedding receptions in Japan vary from one end to
another, depending on budgets and other factors involved.
The usual procedures in wedding receptions have the gobetween introduce
the bridegroom, bride and their family backgrounds. Sometimes such
introductions are made to cover parents of the newly-weds more in length
than the principal figures of the occation.
The traditional costume as worn by the bride is perhaps the most colorful
element in the reception. Big "Kanzashi" ornaments as worn by the bride in
the hair, done in the old fashion, are hidden under the "Tsuno Kakushi"
hood. It is meant to hide "Tsuno" or horns to show obedience. The
"Uchikake" gown worn over the colorful wedding "Kimono" may be most
gorgeous. During the course of the reception the bride is led out to
change her dress. The second wedding dress is different in design and
color but is just as beautiful and elaborate as the first one. The "Tsuno
Kakushi" and "Uchikake" are no longer worn to exhibit the bride in all she
is. The bridal dresses are sometimes handed down in the family or made
into "Futon" beddings or matresses later in life.
Red and white are a happy color combination in Japan, as abundantly used
in a wedding. The soup may have ingredients in such color scheme and ice
cream may be served in the same color combination.
A Japanese wedding reception is a colorful affair, particularly with yound
friends of the bride attending in beautiful "Kimono". Married ladies in
black formal dresses have multi-color designes on the "Kimono" skirts to
be no less attractive than young maidens. It is really a show for the
newly-weds to remember for many years.
The honeymoon is also an accepted custom, which may start immediately
after the wedding reception. On "lucky" days the Tokyo Station may be full
of new couples boarding trains for Atami, Hakone and other favorite places
on the honeymoon.
