A History of WHITE DAY in Japan
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!
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Zakumata, Y-shaped sticks placed at cross-roads are a unique way of praying for EASY DELIVERY!
By Avi Landau
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 to 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 in which seemingly incongruous objects can be connected 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 themselves deliver their puppies easily. To this day, many women go to a temple on the first Dog Day of the year (every day on the traditional calendar is designated with a different animal of the oriental zodiac in cycles of 12) to receive a specially blessed sash called a dog-obi ( INU-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.
There is a special twist, however, to these rites, as they are held 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 ( or other palce) at which there is a sekibutsu (sacred stone). This ceremony is called Inukuyo ( 犬供養), because these offerings are made to the spirits of deceased dogs, hoping that they will intercede favorably on behalf of the pregnant women and help ensure 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. The Y shape and dogs are connected in that they both have a symbolic connection 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 Tsukuba`s Kukizaki neighborhood as explained to me by Mrs Yoko Noguchi.
In Noguchi-san's neighborhood the ceremony is carried out twice a year, on the third Sundays of March and October. They use the wood of the chestnut tree, because chestnuts come off the tree easily, with a mere touch, 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.
Noguchi-San said that her neighbors bury their 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 go 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!
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PLUM crazy! Ibaraki`s Ume Trees in Bloom! ( revisited)
By Avi Landau
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/
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