Shichigosan

Change and Continuity of a Family Ritual in Contemporary Urban Japan

Melinda Papp

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN:
  9781137565372
• eBook ISBN:
  9781137565389
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Marriage & Family Sociology
• Index: Social Sciences

This book presents a case study of shichigosan, an extremely popular childhood family ritual in contemporary Japan.  It is an interesting example of a custom with very ancient roots (going back to the tenth century), that has undergone several transformations during the course of its history, adapting to changing socio-economic and cultural circumstances. Within the study, the ritual unfolds as a shared platform where basic social values, views on children and family life, and individual perceptions emerge, are expressed and moulded at the same time. This book offers a multidisciplinary approach to the study of a ritual practice in the intensely urbanized context of present-day Japan.

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016

Melinda PappShichigosanPalgrave Studies in Urban Anthropology10.1057/978-1-137-56538-9_7

Begin Abstract

Constructing the Ritual: Dress, Photographs, Actors, and Script

Melinda Papp¹

(1)

Department of Japanese Studies, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary

End Abstract

So far I have described the historical development of the ritual form starting with the rise of its urban pattern in the Tokugawa period, through the diffusion of the pattern to the rest of the country, and the following impact from the commercial sect or and media in the postwar decades. Chapter ‘Business Sector, Media and Religious Institutions’ also addressed the role of religious institutions as well as the significance of the shrine ritual within the shichigosan practice. While the observers of the ritual emerged as actors taking an active role in the development of the ritual, the main focus remained on the forms and practices of the ritual changing with the period’s socioeconomic conditions. Also, the material requisites of the celebration (dress, photo, accessories, food) emerged, thus far, as goods and services on the market. In this chapter, I am furthering the discussion by focusing on the single observer (child, mother, father, grandparents) and their role in the ritual in a temporal perspective, and by exploring the shifts in the meaning of the components of the ritual, including the festive dress, food items, the candy gift, and last but not least, the photo.

As demonstrated in the previous two chapters, the construction of a ritual experience that is compliant with the family’s own imagery occurs with the help of objects. Objects convey symbolic meanings and these convey messages to the actors as well as to their surroundings. The presence of symbols is one of the distinguishing features of the ritual mode of expression, and represents an important element in the overall interpretative framework of the ritual. The communicability of these symbols is central to ritual enactment and the communicability, or receptivity (Grimes 1982), of symbols largely depends on the particular social and cultural environment which provides the reservoir of meanings for the particular symbol (McCracken 1986). Changes in the socioeconomic conditions often cause shifts in emphases and alterations of contents, and may also bring about the need to adopt an appropriate symbolic system in order to ensure the viability of communication. Therefore, any analysis of meanings needs to be placed within a temporal frame (Douglas 2003). Moreover, symbols always have multiple meanings and serve multiple purposes; therefore, attention needs to be paid to the layers of meaning that a given symbol may represent during a ritual event (Geertz 1957).

Objects used in a ritual context are distinguished from other ordinary objects by their capacity to convey or communicate symbolic messages (Douglas and Isherwood 1984). The ritual has been interpreted as one of the means by which ordinary objects can be transformed into symbols. These objects are usually food and drink consumed during the ritual event, or objects that accompany the event, such as festive garments and gifts, among others. Some of the objects may acquire special symbolic meaning communicable only to a particular individual or group, such as a garment inherited from the grandfather can symbolize family continuity for the young generations. In these cases, the objects are treated as ‘sacred’ whereas the term ‘sacred’ is not used here with any particular reference to religion, but—following the use of the term of Belk et al.—‘sacred’ refers to things or notions (experiences, times, places) that people feel and consider as extraordinary and extremely important, as something that qualitatively differs from the everyday (Belk et al. 1989). Similarly, objects that express or represent core values and norms can emerge as powerful symbols in the ritual; so, for example, photographs that represent memories of extraordinary and important events for family life are preserved with special care in the future. Not only do tangible objects convey symbolic meanings, but intangible ones as well, such as the numbers in shichigosan—discussed in chapter ‘Shichigosan:​ The History of a Japanese Childhood Rite of Passage’—which refer to ‘tacit knowledge’ rooted in traditional cosmology.¹ Also, objects, or artifacts, tangible and intangible, can differ from each other within the ritual regarding their grade of importance; nonetheless, together they make up the overall complexity of the ritual’s meaning. They form an intricate system of symbols which contributes to a meaningful and compelling ritual enactment.

Several objects in contemporary shichigosan were already present in its past patterns (festive dress, traditional gift of chitoseame); nonetheless, their meaning and role in the ritual have undergone important alterations over the course of time. As indicated in chapter ‘Shichigosan:​ The History of a Japanese Childhood Rite of Passage’, two themes have emerged frequently with regard to childhood rites of passage in Japan centering around the progress of the human soul in the life cycle, and the display of social status, in other words, the reaffirmation of social ties that the household sustains within its social environment. Over the course of history, these two themes have received varying emphases depending on factors such as social class, local customs, and economic situations. In pre-Meiji Japan, ritual patterns differed and changed mainly along the lines of social membership, and accordingly, social membership was one of the main factors that defined the system of symbols used in a ritual. A move on the social scale could bring about a shift in ritual practice as happened, for example, when the warrior class seized power and moved up on the social scale. The military class adopted a number of customs from the court aristocracy as well as a significant portion of its etiquette. Later, changes in the structure of economic power during the seventeenth–eighteenth centuries led the merchant population to embrace the ritual etiquette of the elite classes in a similar manner.

Today, a majority of the ritual objects come from the market. Indeed, it is through these objects (or services) that the marketplace actively partakes in the creation and shaping of the ritual form and meaning. Dennis W. Rook in his analytical framework distinguishes four components on which rituals generally rely: ritual artifacts, ritual script, ritual performance roles, and ritual audience (Rook 1985).² Whereas Rook adopts this framework to analyze rituals and ritualized behavior principally in consumption contexts, it can be applied to the analysis of the ritual in general. The identification of the above-listed four components can be helpful in the individuation of the single elements of the ritual event and in organizing related data.

In the case of shichigosan, some components have already been mentioned and will be further analyzed below. As for ritual scripts, these are usually manuals (etiquette), in other words, written or non-written rules of proper conduct, the right sequence of actions during the ritual, or the appropriate way to use ritual artifacts. Rituals can differ in the degree of rigidity concerning these rules (Rook 1985). Ritual roles are roles performed by single actors directly involved in the ritual. The role of actors can be strictly defined and formalized but can enjoy relative freedom, too, depending on the ritual in question. Lastly, the ritual audience is one that while not directly involved in the performance of the ritual, that is, is not playing an active ritual role, does give testimony to the ritual by attending and/or watching it. Whereas in the case of public mass rituals it is usually easy to point out the target audience, in the case of family rituals the audience is not clearly definable. Ritual actors themselves can play at some point during the event the role of the audience, as for example in shichigosan when family members attending the celebration are enacting the role of audience by watching the child adorned in a festive outfit observe parts of the ritual. Also, the public audience can consist of persons witnessing and viewing, actively or passively, the event. Mothers often take pride in the sight of their embellished daughters. The appraisals offered incidentally by people also comprise part of the satisfaction felt about the ritual. These feelings are echoed in mothers’ words, for example: ‘I really was delighted to hear the many praises uttered by people watching my daughter in the shrine’.³ In addition, relatives or friends taking part in the celebration indirectly (by receiving a gift or photos of the celebration) comprise part of the audience giving testimony as well as recognition to the celebration.

All four components unfold the multilayered aspects and meanings of the ritual as well as the process by which the celebration is being constructed by the actors. Ritual roles unfold the social dimension in the most marked way as their enactment is firmly embedded in the social environment and alterations in this environment imply changes in meanings as well as interpretations enclosed in ritual roles (Rook 1985). Family ideals, norms, and views on children all define, to a great extent, roles individuals are expected to play in the ritual. Lastly, a close examination of the ritual script sheds light on the changing sphere of influence that ritual experts hold. It also has important implications on the ways knowledge about the ritual is being transmitted. In contemporary shichigosan, shrine priests together with etiquette experts and the media play a crucial role in shaping ritual scripts by means of not only proposing new elements but also acknowledging and legitimating changes occurring in the ritual.

Multiple Meanings of the Dress

Today the festive dress, in particular, the Japanese traditional style, is the most visible and important symbol of shichigosan.⁴ Dress, ornaments, and makeup often figure as symbols in rituals worldwide. Douglas argues that this kind of adornment of the body can be regarded as a form of bodily control and communication toward the external world and puts the prevalence of symbols of bodily control within a given culture in connection with the degree of social constraints existing in the examined context (Douglas 2003).⁵ It is, however, important to examine the meaning of them within a temporal frame as meanings transform over the course of history. So although the children’s festive dress has always been present as an important feature of the celebration during its history, the domains enclosing its meanings have undergone numerous changes over time, some details of which are discussed below.

Clothing in the past used to be a clear marker of status, gender, and age in Japan. Much of the symbolism of rites of passage in the past was associated with visible changes in the dress code and hairstyle. Any change in status or age entailed a visible change in dress code, and often hairstyle (Tanida and K...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Frontmatter
• Introduction
• The Study of Ritual in Contemporary Urban Society
• Consumption and Ritual
• Consumer Culture and Changes to the Ritual Calendar in Postwar Urban Japan
• Shichigosan: The History of a Japanese Childhood Rite of Passage
• Business Sector, Media, and Religious Institutions
• Constructing the Ritual: Dress, Photographs, Actors, and Script
• Conclusion: Children, Women, and Families—Creating a Ritual for One and All
• Backmatter