Shopping for White Day in Tsukuba The Japanese calendar of annual events has gone through many changes over the centuries, with certain customs variously having been added, forgotten, or transformed into something unrecognizably different from what they started out as. And while the origins and evolution of many of Japan’s most famous NENCHUGYOJI (年中行事、traditional annual events) remain obscured by the veil of their antiquity (by Japanese standards), the rise of one new, but now already widely established custom, occurred in the full light of the Late Showa Period (the late 70s-late 80s), and can be traced in great detail.
White Day Shopping in Tsukuba I am talking about White Day, the UNIQUE answer which arose to Japan’s UNIQUE way of celebrating Valentine’s Day, in which WOMEN give gifts (usually chocolate), not only to one SPECIAL SOMEONE or male family members, but (also) to several (or numerous) classmates, colleagues, teachers, etc. On White Day, which falls exactly one month later, on March 14th, the men who have received their Valentine’s chocolate are expected to give OKAESHI, a gift in return, which most commonly consists of marshmallows, chocolate, cookies, or cakes (usually white, or at least light colored), and which as SPECIAL gifts to THAT SOMEONE SPECIAL might take the form of flowers or even lingerie (white, of course! ).
That is why, this week, you will notice a difference in the look of the average shopper at Seibu Department Store’s ground floor food section. Until the store closes its doors on Saturday the 14th, there will be an ever increasing preponderance of men in suits, or older men — well, just plenty of men in general — types who are not usually spotted in groups food shopping at department stores in Japan. These gentlemen, under pressure, have a daunting task ahead of them: deciding, out of all the possible choices of cakes, cookies and chocolates available at the specially set up, temporary White Day counters, which to purchase as White Day gifts. You might notice that some older men even bring their wives along to help them decide. These women are not picking out sweets for their husbands mistresses (though a few might be!). They are selecting the proper OKAESHI for all the chocolates their husbands received at work. Not returning the gifts would more than likely mean not getting chocolate from the snubbed person next year, and in contemporary Japan, the amount of Valentine’s chocolate one gets is a point of pride. Besides, for the Japanese, OKAESHI is an important part of all social relations in Japan, and not returning a gift would be considered thoughtless or even insulting in some situations.
That is why, considering the one-way, woman to man, Valentine’s Day which has developed in Japan, it is not strange at all that a day like White Day came into being. The only question for me is, why did it take so long?
It took 5 years of perseverance and close cooperation between various confectioners before a chord was struck with the general population’s deeply ingrained sense of GIRI (obligation) and the commonly held view that all gifts should be returned.
It was only in 1978, more than 10 years after Valentines Day had become a part of Japanese life, that the 3rd generation owner of Fukuoka City’s Ishimura Manseido (石村萬盛堂) Confectionery Shop asked the same question in a letter to the editor of a women’s magazine. Why was there no OKAESHI for the gifts given on Valentine’s Day? He recommended that marshmallows be a feature of any sweet given on the day that he suggested be called Marshmallow Day. It was not until the next year that a group of confectioners got together to promote this new idea, and came up with the name White Day.
In June 1979, a meeting of the the All Japan Sweets and Confectionery Makers Union (全国飴菓子工業同組合) convened in Nagoya and decided to go ahead with a White Day Campaign, which would be implemented in 1981.
The advertising campaign was a big success in the first year, with excellent sales for many of the products which were promoted. For the next 4 years, however, things went downhill. By the fifth year of White Day campaigning, the group of organizers was ready to call it quits. They decided to make one last effort.
That year, 1986, which was meant as one last try at success, proved to be the turning point in making White Day a regular NENCHUGYOJI. In fact, that year ,there was not enough supply to meet the demand for White Day products. Profits exceeded 5.5 billion yen.
Well, for better or for worse, that’s how we got White Day.
So guys, don’t forget. In Japan, its always give and take. If you don’t give back, you don’t get no more! Happy shopping!
FOR A WOMAN`S HOUR OF GREATEST NEED, A CALL TO MAN`S BEST FRIEND
Zakumata in Tsukuba City`s Oda
Sticks and stones standing at the fork in the road. Many pass by them every day. Most do not notice. I have spoken to very few who do. For me, however, the large, roughly-hewn Y-shaped sticks, leaning up against the gray, grainy, gravestone-like sacred slabs, never fail to grab my attention.
It’s as if they shout to me from a distant, pre-Yamato past, crying out from among the aluminum and asphalt, convenience store ridden jungle of a new world which has sprung up so rudely around them.
Zakumata in Tsukuba City`s Kukizaki
When long ago (much longer than I like to admit), I first began to wander the backroads of Tsukuba and had just begun to take up the study of the Japanese Language in earnest, it was coming across these rustically whittled sticks, which upon closer inspection revealed mysterious inscriptions, that drew me to the world of local MINKAN SHINKO (民間信仰), or folk beliefs. Even at that time I could discern that not all the writing on the sticks was in Japanese characters. One prong was usually inscribed in Sanskrit. And though my Japanese skills were still in their embryonic stage, there was one character familiar to me, which appeared on each stick — 犬, or DOG! How absolutely bizarre this seemed to me! My curiosity was aroused further when all of my Japanese new-resident, researcher or salary-men friends were as puzzled as I was when I asked them for an explanation.
Many years have passed and I have come a long way in gaining an understanding of this ancient and VERY localized custom. There is at present no information available in English (I believe this will be the first description of this custom in the language of Shakespeare and Joyce) and very little is available in Japanese. All the knowledge I have acquired has come from the mouths of locals, mostly farmers, and usually senior citizens. It is from them that I learned that these slingshot-like sticks are called ZAKUMATA or ZAKOMATA and that the custom of setting them at a fork in the road is called INUKUYO (犬供養）or Offerings for Dogs. Most surprising, was finding out that this custom was related to pregnancy and childbirth, probably THE most awe-inspiring and (because of the perils involved) prayer-inducing event in the human life cycle.
Trying to understand how dogs, forked-sticks and crossroads related to reproduction has given me deeper insights into traditional ways of reasoning which can connect seemingly incongruous objects through similarity of shape or sound.
Well, enough of this wordy introduction. Let’s get to the crux of the (zaku)MATA!
In Japanese culture, dogs are a symbol of safe childbirth because it is thought that dogs deliver puppies easily. To this day, many women go to a temple on the first Dog Day of the year (every day on the calendar is a different animal of the oriental zodiac) to receive a specially blessed sash called a dog-obi. This is worn throughout the pregnancy to protect the unborn child and ensure easy delivery. In this area (Tsukuba), most women go to the Amabiki Kannon Temple in Makabe to receive their sashes and blessings. Additionally, each village or hamlet (mura) holds regular prayer sessions for fertility, safe pregnancy and easy delivery. Specific customs vary from community to community (please wait for further articles).
There is a special bend, however, to these rites in Ibaraki Prefecture and its fringes in Chiba and Tochigi. This involves the cutting of a forked branch from a tree, taking it to a temple to be inscribed, then holding a ceremony to set it at a traditionally designated fork in the road at which there is a sekibutsu (sacred stone). This ceremony is called Inukuyo, because offerings are made to the spirits of deceased dogs, hoping that they will intercede favorably and help you have a safe delivery.
A zakumata set in concrete in Tsukuba`s Hanamuro
A Y-shaped branch is placed at the Y in the road because the shape is reflective of the spread legs of a woman in labor. Thus, the Y shape and dogs are connected in that they both have symbolic significance in regard to childbirth. Because of this, when an old female dog who was kept by local farmers dies,it might still be buried at the fork in the road under the zakumata.
Specifics regarding inukuyo vary greatly within Ibaraki and even within Tsukuba. Each hamlet has different customs regarding the dates and frequency of the Dog Offering Ceremony, the kind of wood used to make the zakumata, and the type (sect) of temple at which the zakumata is inscribed.
Given the limited space I plan to use for this article , I will list the specifics of the custom as practiced in Kukizaki as told to me by Mrs Yoko Noguchi.
In Noguchi-san’s neighborhood the ceremony is carried out twice a year, on the third Sunday of March and October. They use the wood of the chestnut tree because chestnuts come off the tree easily and the sound of its coming off — poro to (in Japanese onomatopoeia) — suggests easy delivery. The zakumata are taken to a temple of the Shingon sect to be inscribed and blessed. Her neighbors bury dogs and cats, especially if they are very old, under the zakumata.
In some towns in Ibaraki, offerings are made not to dogs but to cats. This is because it is believed that cats have difficulty in delivering and would want to help us avoid the suffering that they went through. The town nearest Tsukuba in which you can commonly see nekokuyo written on zakumata is Makabe.
Even with the astonishing developments in obstetrics and the great reduction in recent years in complications and death related to childbirth, you still might want a little extra spiritual support to quell your anxieties over an upcoming birth. If that is the case, you can cut yourself a zakumata and head for the crossroad. Remember Y marks the spot!
When one uses the word HANAMI (花見, flower viewing) on its own, it is understood by native speakers of Japanese to refer to the viewing and enjoyment of blooming CHERRY BLOSSOMS alone, and not of any other flower. This clearly shows the high regard given to the fragile pink blossoms which have since ancient times symbolized the transient nature of all things, one of the cornerstone concepts of Japanese aesthetics and philosophy. Going to a meisho (名所, a famous place） for viewing cherry blossoms can reveal to you how the Japanese have turned the simple pleasure of enjoying flowers in bloom into what seems like a religious pilgrimage. From near and far they come, as couples, families, or groups shuttled in on karaoke equipped tour buses. They bring lunch-boxes and of course cameras. The blossoms are observed intently (and I mean with great intention, as if posing in a kabuki play) from afar and then from way in up close.
The atmosphere is at once, solemn and celebratory, reverent and ribald.
Though not as philosophically appealing, the more prosaic plum (ume) blossoms also bring in the crowds (though the late night drinking and revelry beneath the trees is reserved for the cherry). This week you have a chance to see the 3000 plum trees of the famed Kairakuen Garden in Mito in full bloom. Until the end of the week, a temporary train station will be in use bringing you direct service to the gardens entrance. The garden offers the chance to see varieties of plum trees you never thought existed. The tora-no-o, which looks like a tigers tail, the darly pink kounshomu, the nearly translucent tsukikage, etc.
The plum blossoms are the first of the major flowers to bloom each year. Their fragrance in the air is a sign that spring is coming. Their hardiness and resistance to cold and wind make them a very auspicious symbol. If you read ancient Japanese poems, there are hundreds of references to the blossoms of the beautiful and practical plum tree. It is because they provide the medicinally important and tasty plums for umeboshi (salted plums) which have become a standard part of every boxed lunch, that the frugal and practical minded Tokugawa Nariaki, the founder of the Kairakuen Garden planted so many of the trees.
You can enjoy the fruit of his efforts by getting on the Joban line this week, heading north just one stop past Mito station, and enjoying the blossoms, the spectacle and maybe a little plum wine (ume shu, 梅酒). Entrance is FREE!
I have written more about PLUM BLOSSOMS ( ume no hana) in Japanese culture and history. Read it here:
http://blog.alientimes.org/2009/02/a-glimpse-and-whiff-of-things-to-come/
It is March 3rd and across Japan families with daughters are celebrating the Hina Matsuri (雛祭り) Doll Festival with chirashizushi (vinegared sushi-rice topped with shrimp, salmon roe and colorful strips of egg, carrot and seaweed) clam soup (hamaguri no ushio, はまぐりの潮汁）, brightly dyed traditional rice-based sweets called hishimochi (ひし餅) and a milky colored sweet rice wine called shirozake ( 白酒). Though these 3 dishes and the sake have become the standardized Girls Day FARE throughout the country, there is surprising variation to be found among the Japanese in terms of how they display and subsequently put away the star attractions of the season — the Hina Dolls themselves.
Department stores and other shops start displaying and promoting the fantastically ornate and very expensive Hina Doll sets right after the New Year Holiday. This type of set became popular in the Edo Period (1600-1867) and has been customarily presented upon the birth of a first daughter by the maternal grandparents. A full set requires a seven-tiered staircase-like deck on which to display the prince and princess, ministers, attendants, musicians and the procession of dowry goods. Of course such a set can cost an arm and a leg and even more importantly takes up a lot of precious space. Thus it has been quite common for families to have and display just the prince and princess dolls.
The Hina Dolls are taken out and displayed in February, though there seems to be no consensus on exactly when it is best to do so. Some people do it right after Setsubun in the first week of the month, or on any other auspicious date after that. It depends on the family.
In this way, Japanese families can enjoy these sublimely beautiful seasonal decorations for a few weeks or days before March third, the day of the festival itself, on which it is commonly believed that the dolls must be put away. According to tradition, if the dolls are not packed in their boxes on the 3rd, the daughters of the house will have trouble getting married.
I have found, however, that many of the old Ibaraki families do not put there dolls away until May! They explain this by saying that they like to have the dolls out right up until it’s time for the Boys Day decorations. They usually claim that it is so troublesome to set up the Hina Dolls that they would like to display them for as long as possible.
Alcohol free Shirozake ( in Kitty-Chan bottle) and Hina Dolls made from silkworm cocoons
It goes without saying that these families live in large homes in which the sets don’t get in the way of anybody. As so many Japanese now live in small apartments, I have found an endless variety of smaller rabbit-hutch friendly Hina Dolls or figures. These can be made of origami or be simple cut-outs. I have even seen families display postcards with pictures of dolls.
In fact, these smaller, paper dolls are more authentic than the ornate artworks created by the Edo Period craftsmen. This is because the Hina matsuri has its roots in Heian Period ( 794-1185) Japan when people would purify themselves by projecting all their sins into paper dolls which were then cast off into the sea or a river. In Wakayama Prefecture I have seen the dolls being set afloat on rivers as the tradition still lives on there.
For a more detailed discussion of this festival`s history see my article:
http://blog.alientimes.org/2010/02/the-evolution-of-japans-hina-dolls-hina-ningyo-a-brief-look/
I guess it can be said that the custom of packing away the dolls is what has replace the casting off. It became impracticle to discard the dolls each time when they evlved into elaborate and extremely EXPENSIVE sets. Many families still believe that the bad energies absorbed by the dolls would bring bad luck if not PUT AWAY..
Shirozake- a special sweet rice wine for Hina matsuri
Update
Hina Doll Set in the Lobby of Tsukuba`s Okura Hotel
If you are interested in Japanese culture, February is a good time to be invited into Japanese homes. Hotel lobbies, community centers and department stores can also be interesting at the same time of year. This is because, traditionally, from early to mid-February through March 3rd, Japanese people take their HINA DOLLS, in all their variety, out of storage, and put them on display. These past few weeks I have seen and photographed a wide spectrum of these popular festive decorations, from enormous and elaborate ( and extremely expensive!) multi-level sets, to tiny, hand-made origami ( folded paper) dolls. Many families have put out more than one set, and then, other Hina Doll decorations, for example hanging scrolls or paintings, as well.
To simply explain what this custom is all about, Japanese friends will tell you that these dolls are meant to celebrate daughters- and represent a prayer for their healthy growth and a happy marriage in the future. They will also probably tell you that these dolls should be PUT AWAY right after the Hina Festival, which is on March 3rd. The reason for this is that there has long been the belief that if a family does not put the dolls away promptly, their daughters will not be able to find a husband.
Hina Dolls on a Hanging Scroll in Tsukuba
The fact is, however, that now, customs are changing. Even families without daughters might display dolls. In families with only sons ( or no children at all ), these are often the mother`s own Hina Dolls brought from her parents home. Then there are those without family who simply like to decorate their apartments with Hina Doll motifs just to get into the spirit of the season.
Interesting Dolls at a home in Matsudo
There are also many families with daughters these days who do NOT follow the custom of promptly putting the dolls away. Either they are too busy to do so, or they just like to keep them out on display. Anyway, they are not worried about the old superstition. Thus, you might find dolls still on display at people homes throughout march. For more on this read my past post: http://blog.alientimes.org/2008/03/tsukubans-in-no-rush-to-pack-up-hina-dolls/ .
What Japanese friends will probably not tell you ( because they might not know!), is about the amazing evolution of this beautiful custom and about how dolls, or figurines have been so important in Japan for millenia as SCAPEGOATS used for taking on the impurities and bad energies of humans.
First lets look at why there is a festival held on March 3rd.
In ancient China, the first DAY OF THE SNAKE of the 3rd month ( in the Chinese calendar there is a 12 day cycle with each day representing an animal of the zodiac) was a day for ritual purification known in Japanese as JOSHI NO SEKKU 上巳の節句 （which is still an alternate name for the Hina Doll festival in Japan).
These symbolic ablutions were performed by a pond or a river, with water and rice wine being used to cleanse the mouth hands and feet.
Hina Doll motif chocolates
The day for performing these rituals eventually changed to the 3rd day of the 3rd month according to the Chinese calendar. This is because for the Chinese, ODD NUMBERS were considered lucky, thus making 3/3 an auspicious day. The 3rd day of the 3rd month became one of the five seasonal change days, called SEKKU ( all on odd numbered days of odd months), which were celebrated ( in China , and later in Japan) with special rituals and foods. These days are the seventh day of the first month ( 1/7), the third day of the third month ( 3/3), the fifth day of the fifth month ( 5/5), the seventh day of the seventh month ( 7/7), and the ninth day of the ninth month ( 9/9)
It became customary on this day ( 3/3) for Chinese aristocrats to hold poetry parties by artificial streams. A bowl would be floated down the stream with a cup of wine . Participants sitting at various points downstream, would have to compose and recite a poem before the bowl reached them. This was an elegant and cultured festival game, played under the peach blossoms which bloomed in April( the month on the Gregorian Calendar which usually corresponds to the 3rd Chinese month).
This is significant because the Japanese Doll Festival is still strongly associated with PEACH BLOSSOMS ( another alternate name for the festival in Japan is the Peach Festival and little peach trees are part of the full doll sets). Strangely, however, since 1873, when the Japanese changed their calendar, the Peach Festival has been celebrated in March ( the new 3rd month), making it fall about one month before the arrival of the actual peach blossoms- see my article:http://blog.alientimes.org/2009/03/where-are-the-real-blossoms-at-peach-festival-time/
HITOGATA figurines at the Nara Culture Center
These Chinese customs were adopted by the aristocracts and noblity of Japan , probably in the Nara Period ( 710-794), when everything Chinese was the rage, and certainly by in the Heian Period ( 794-1185). Thus, each of the seasonal change days ( SEKKU) was recognized and celebrated by the Japanese court.
However, as with so much else which came from China, customs evolved and blended with native Japanese traditions.
Today`s Hina Dolls evolved from HITOGATA such as these
In Japan, the ritual cleansings for the 3rd day of the 3rd month were performed in a typical and very ancient Japanese way- by rubbing the body with human shaped figurines made of paper, straw, clay or wood. These were called KATASHIRO or HITOGATA, and were believed to have the power to absorb all spiritual impurites and bad energies.
Straw figurine used for UNLUCKY YEAR purification ( yakuharai 厄払い)
The Japanese have used figurines in this way for thousands of years. The clay figurines called DOGU, commonly found at JOMON period ( 10,000 BC-300 BC) archaeological sites, are believed to have been used for similar ritual purposes, as surrogates to take on sickness or bad luck before being smashed, to rid the individual or community of these evils.
Paper Hina Dolls at the Okura in Tsukuba
For the purification on the 3rd day of the 3rd month ( the Peach Festival) , however, under the influence of the Chinese poetry recitings by the stream, the KATASHIRO figures were cast off onto rivers or ponds, sending away impurites and bad luck.
DOGU figurine found at a Jomon Period site in Nagano Prefecture
(It is very important to keep in mind that at this early stage, the Peach Festival, the day for ritual cleansings with the HITOGATA was NOT yet thought of as GIRLS DAY, and the ceremony was carried out for both sexes.
No one is exactly sure when, but probably in the Edo Period, the seasonal change day on the 3rd day of the third month became associated with girls, while that of the 5th day of the fifth month became so for boys.
The rationalization for doing this can be seen in GORO AWASE ( association by similarity in shape or sound) which is so important in Japanese culture.
Simply stated the JOーSHI of JOーSHI NO SEKKU( First Day of the Snake, the original name of thr festival) was similar in sound to the word JOSHI 女子, which means female, while the SHOBU of SHOBU NO SEKKU ( which is a plant,calamis, used for ritual ablutions on the 5th day of the fifth month) is a homophone for sho-bu 勝負, which means TO BATTLE, which was associated with boys of the samurai class.)
The ritual dolls themselves then came to be more decorative, dressed in kimono etc., and children would sleep with them the night before they were cast off ( letting impurities be drawn out overnight!).
Nagashi-Bina dolls floating away on a stream
By the Muromachi Period ( 1336-1573) beautiful Hina Dolls were being made for the aristocracy using new techniques imported from China. They were posed in a standing position ( Tachi-Bina)
Tachi-Bina in Tsukuba
It was only later, in the Edo Period ( 1600-1868), that Japan`s craftmen created the elaborate Hina Dolls, which we know today, for a growing merchant class which could afford them, as well as for the warrior class and the aristocracy. There were special doll markets held in Edo, at the end of the 2nd month. The competition between families vying for the most exquisite dolls led the Shogunate to issue order for restraint and modesty during the festival.
Still throughut the Edo Peiod Hina Dolls were mostly sold and displayed in Edo (Tokyo), and other major cultual and commercial centers.
It was not until the Meiji Period ( beginning in 1868) that the custom of displaying Hina Dolls became universal throughout Japan.
Even with the creation of the elaborate sets, which represented an Imperial wedding procession, the Japanese believed that each years impurities were absorbed by the dolls.
Interestingly, the custom of putting away the dolls right after the festival, is probably a replacement for the casting dolls off into the rivers. Naturally, the expensive sets could not be thrown away each year.
For more on these dolls read my past articles:
http://blog.alientimes.org/2009/02/hina-dolls-coming-out-of-the-closet-in-the-literal-sense/
and
http://blog.alientimes.org/2009/02/makabe-all-dolled-up-until-march-3rd/
tsukubans speak