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This article explores Shinto birth, marriage and funeral ceremonies, showing how this ancient tradition continues to shape collective and individual life in Japan. Introduction Birth and Shinto
- Fertility Rituals
- Rituals and Taboos During Pregnancy
- Childbirth Rituals
- Postpartum Rituals
Marriage symbolises the establishment of a new family by a man and a woman, and preparations for childbearing. Hence, wedding traditions includes childbearing traditions.
Due to poor medical and sanitary conditions in the past, many families were concerned about a difficult childbirth. This gave rise to many taboos and superstitions during the pregnancy. Nowadays, with the advancement of technology, pregnant women will go for regular check-ups with their doctors, so as to ensure that the baby will be safely delivere...
Childbirth is the process where the baby is being delivered. The most important ritual during the delivery process can be seen as the handling of the child’s placenta. Different dialect groups have certain differences in the way that they handle the placenta. According to Hainanese traditions, they will hang longan, lychee and pandanus leaves on th...
Postpartum Confinement Rituals
Postpartum confinement refers to the traditional practice of allowing one’s body to recuperate and recover from childbirth. The duration of the confinement is usually around a month. Nowadays, the wives only need to spend a couple of days recuperating in the hospital before they can be discharged, and families will usually have everything required for confinement prepared at home by then. There are several restrictions when it comes to postpartum confinement. The mothers are not allowed to be...
“Full Month” Celebration
The first month of a new-born’s life is known as “Full Month” (满月), which calls for a Full Month Celebration. The most common way of celebrating this occasion is to hold a banquet and invite friends and relatives over to celebrate. At this celebration called the “Full Month Banquet”, elders will bring gifts for the baby as blessings. Grandparents from the maternal side of the family will bring over a rooster, eggs, along with clothes and various accessories for the child. Other Full Month tra...
First Birthday Celebration
This tradition is the end of birth traditions and the start of ageing traditions. It is highly important as it is the first birthday of the new-born, and often a larger-scaled event compared to the Full Month Celebration. Families that are more particular will palm sized red tortoise glutinous rice cake for the baby to step on. This symbolises longevity, as reflected by the tortoise, and the ability to walk independently. Additionally, some people will rub puffed rice on the baby’s mouth sayi...
Sep 9, 2021 · Social practices, rituals and festive events involve a dazzling variety of forms: worship rites; rites of passage; birth, wedding and funeral rituals; oaths of allegiance; traditional legal systems; traditional games and sports; kinship and ritual kinship ceremonies; settlement patterns; culinary traditions; seasonal ceremonies ...
Sep 16, 2020 · For a Japanese person it is completely normal to bring a newborn baby to a Shinto shrine for a blessing, have a Christian-style wedding and a Buddhist funeral. The reason is that in Japan, religions are often seen as being defined by their rituals and practices, not so much by their doctrines.
The use of rituals and traditions such as weddings, bar mitzvahs, funerals and baptisms to celebrate and denote the life cycle transitions have been found to offer the members of a family to reaffirm their status and identity within the household. [17]
May 17, 2019 · Today, more families spread the news in their family chat groups informally, and print obituaries are going the way of public birth and wedding announcements – out of favour. But some families still see the need for this customary rite and make the announcement with an obituary as it is a way to show their respect and sorrow for the deceased.
Weddings, and Funerals provides a clear guide for new preachers and creative insights for the more experienced among us. Utilizing the proven strategy of connecting the Bible and the Liturgy to create a unique preaching for a particular assembly, this work approaches these rites with a variety of practical
