Abstract
This chapter describes the postwar development of the shichigosan ritual, following its history through newspaper and magazine articles and advertisements, later online sources, and a case study of an important Tokyo shrine. The economic growth of the 1960s and 1970s and the proliferation of services and goods influenced modes of celebration. Observers of the shichigosan are not only observers of a ritual but also informed consumers who belong to a society with one of the most developed consumer cultures in the world. Consumption practices have become an integral part of the celebration, without which it is difficult to achieve a satisfactory and ‘receptive’ ritual experience. Consumer-observers use the means available to them, be they commercial services or services of a religious institution. The chapter addresses the various aspects of the reciprocal relationship between the media, marketplace, religious institutions, and the observers, which are all embedded in the changing socioeconomic conditions of the postwar decades in Japan.
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Notes
- 1.
Mainichi Tokyo, 1945, November 15. Nevertheless, the 1952 shichigosan was called the ‘first independent shichigosan,’ pointing at the end of the Allie Forces’ Occupation in Japan (Mainichi Tokyo 1952, November 15).
- 2.
Shimizu 2005.
- 3.
Mainichi Tokyo 1949, November 16.
- 4.
Shichigosan images were also used to illustrate the altered relations with the former enemy, the Americans. Newspaper photos of smiling American soldiers holding hands of little children dressed up for shichigosan were to demonstrate that peace and friendship had been renewed.
- 5.
Yomiuri Tokyo 1950, November 15.
- 6.
See chapter ‘Consumer Culture and Changes to the Ritual Calendar in Postwar Urban Japan’ for Dore’s analysis (1958) regarding expenditure levels in Tokyo in those years.
- 7.
Muda ja…50 %, demo ne…50 % (無駄じゃ…50 %。でもね…50 %) (Yomiuri Tokyo 1952, November 10).
- 8.
These are only approximate numbers assessed by journalists during a limited duration of observation.
- 9.
Yomiuri Tokyo 1953, November 16. See also the previous chapter for details.
- 10.
Shinzen he kuruma de mairu shichigosan (神前へ車で参る七五三).
- 11.
In 1960s, cars became more widely available. The first year of the so-called ‘My Car Era’ dates back to 1966 when the number of cars in Japan exceeded ten million (see also Plath 1990).
- 12.
Yomiuri Tokyo 1956, November 15.
- 13.
Shichigosan was not the only ritual to be criticized because of excessive expenditure. For example, critics also targeted the wedding ceremony.
- 14.
Newsletter of Jinja Honchō 1959, November 29.
- 15.
Source: www.shouwashi.com/transition-salary.html (accessed 2013, May 24).
- 16.
Yomiuri 1953, November 15.
- 17.
Yomiuri 1961, November 16.
- 18.
A local shichigosan pattern centering around lavish modes of display is still observed in the Saitama and Chiba prefectures. The so-called shichigosan reception (shichigosan hirōen 七五三披露宴) in the past used to be held only for the future heir, the firstborn child of the family, is an event that takes place in the form of a big feast. The peculiarities of the local social structure—the presence of big landowners—probably gave rise to this socially significant custom. Until the 1960s, however, it is said that the event usually was set up in the common hall of the community, where food was mainly prepared by female members of the wider kinship. In the 1970s, it became fashionable to organize the event in a hotel and to rely on the services of an indoor restaurant. The costs of these receptions average between 100 and 150 thousand Yen, but can also reach 200 thousand. However, half of said amount returns in form of gifts and cash presented by the invited guests. The event is said to serve so as to formally introduce the future heir to the members of the community, and is sometimes compared to a wedding reception (The event can host even hundred invited guests.) For a meticulous description of this trend, see, for example, the article published in 1991 in the periodical Mainichi Graph (毎日グラフ, 1991 December). Recently, an informant, himself the eldest son, told me about the reception organized for his seven-year-old daughter (in 2011) upon the grandparents’ strong request.
- 19.
Shinseikatsu Undō (新生活運動).
- 20.
Fujinkai (婦人会) is a common denomination of a number of organizations that have been present in Japan, with more or less continuity, from the Meiji period (1868–1912) up to present day. In the interwar years, these associations were used by political authorities for scopes pertaining to the military government.
- 21.
Seinendan (青年団) were nationwide organizations which gather young adults in their twenties and early thirties.
- 22.
See also Papp 2015.
- 23.
Source: Asahi Shinbun 2014/11/8. Source: http://shimizu.ac.jp/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/4b37ef04ebdf8466a84c8f5e5713741d.pdf
- 24.
Shimizu 2005.
- 25.
The imperial wedding which took place in 1959 is thought to have been behind the rise in the popularity of glamorous, aristocratic designs (Taguchi 2015, 141). The ‘Mitchi boom’ was named after the empress Michiko, who enjoyed wide popularity among the population. The wedding was widely televised and watched by millions.
- 26.
A popular slogan of the time often appearing in the media was: consumption is a virtue (shōhi wa bitoku消費は美徳).
- 27.
A renowned kimono designer of the period, for example, was Toki Shimizu.
- 28.
Heike Monogatari (Tale of Heike), a popular war tale from the thirteenth century that narrates the conflict which arose between the Taira (or Heike) and Minamoto (or Genji) families, known also as the Genpei War.
- 29.
Unfortunately, most of the original documents went destroyed during the war.
- 30.
All surveys done by the Association took place in the shrine of Inaba (伊奈波神社) in the town of Gifu. The surveys were usually carried out between 10 am and 3 pm on a single celebration day, 15 November.
- 31.
Shimizu 2005. These were meticulous investigations into the details of the festive clothing, recording the exact composition of the dress worn by each family member; the type and color of footwear and head coverings; and the pattern, design, and color of the textiles used.
- 32.
The traditional Japanese outfit was by this time relegated mainly to ceremonial use. Today, most mothers do not feel familiar with this garment and they usually need help when putting it on.
- 33.
Source: weekly Shūkan Gendai (週刊現代) 1980, November 20. This number of the weekly published an extensive analysis of the latest trends regarding the celebration of shichigosan. Much of the information in the following paragraph derives from this article. The analysis focused in particular on the commercial sector, giving—where possible—data on sale figures of various business actors.
- 34.
Shūkan Gendai 1980, November 20. Not all photo studios started the ‘shichigosan service’ in this period. Toyoko Orihashi’s findings in the Shibuya district of Tokyo show that local photo studios included shichigosan-packs among their services only around 2000 (Orihashi 2008).
- 35.
The effects that photography has on the ritual will be addressed more in depth in the next chapter.
- 36.
Shūkan Yomiuri (週刊読売) 1977, December 3.
- 37.
The expenditure was calculated on the sum spent for the child’s festive dress. Seventeen percent of families spent between 100,000 and 150,000 Yen, and 23 % spent over 200,000 Yen.
- 38.
In 1977, a town employee earned around 280,000 Yen (source: www.shouwashi.com/transition-salary.html, accessed 2013, May 25).
- 39.
The cost of the festive meal, photographs, and other items, excluding the dress, was about 45,000 Yen. In 1977, families spent around 173,000 Yen on shichigosan on average. For comparison, some estimates suggest that today if a new dress is purchased for the child between 100,000 and 200,000 Yen is spent on the seventh year’s celebration (the maximum in the hundreds of thousands of Yen) (source: http://www.zengokyo.or.jp/life/reward/03.html, site of the mutual aid company Zengokyo). Today, however, the popularity of dress rental services means that costs can be considerably lower. See below.
- 40.
Shūkan Gendai, 1980, November 20.
- 41.
Shūkan Gendai 1980, November 20.
- 42.
Kyōto Orimono Oroshishō Kumiai (京都織物卸商組合).
- 43.
Shūkan Gendai 1980, November 20.
- 44.
In 1974, one million girls were born, and they reached the age of six/seven in 1980. Additionally, there were 980,000 boys in the five-year-old age group, and 850,000 girls in the three-year-old segment (1980 statistics of the Ministry of Health 厚生省人口動態調査) quoted in the weekly of Shūkan Gendai (1980, Nov. 20).
- 45.
The estimate was carried out by renowned ceremonial etiquette specialist Yaeko Shiotsuki (塩月弥栄子), author of several manuals, quoted in the weekly of Shūkan Gendai (1980, November 20).
- 46.
Shūkan Gendai (1980, November 20).
- 47.
Shūkan Meisei (週刊明星) 1977, November 20.
- 48.
The traditional childhood rite of passage typical in the Kansai region is the jūsanmairi (十三参り), a rite observed at 13 years of age (see Naoe 1994).
- 49.
For comparison, while in 1960, 74 % of mothers wore kimono in Gifu and Aichi areas, this rate fell to 33 % in 1988 (Sano et al. 1990, 15).
- 50.
Fasshonka (ファッション化), shichigosan būmu (七五三ブーム), shichigosan fībā (七五三フィーバー).
- 51.
See, for example, Shūkan Gendai 1980, November 20.
- 52.
Another example is the term ichiji gōkashugi (一児豪華主義) that could be translated as ‘luxurious one-child-ism’. The phenomenon is comparable to the situation in China where the one-child policy of the government, launched to control population growth, brought about the so-called ‘Little Emperor’ syndrome referring to excessive forms of indulgence with which Chinese children are treated by the family.
- 53.
General Affair Department, Sōmuchō, Survey on household economy (source: http://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/zensho/, accessed 2015.09.03.
- 54.
See also chapter ‘Consumer Culture and Changes to the Ritual Calendar in Postwar Urban Japan’.
- 55.
In 2014, 22 % of the 180 respondents to a survey by Enfant child-rearing magazine planned to spend around 30,000 Yen, nearly the half of the respondents said they would spend less, and 29 % more (source: http://enfant.living.jp/mama/mama-data/186087/). In 2011, a similar survey suggested an average spend of around 40,000 Yen (source: https://www.sankeiliving.co.jp/news/upload_pdf/20100820175803.pdf). It should be noted, however, that these estimates do not usually take into account the cost of the festive meal or the mother’s festive dress.
- 56.
Based on a survey of 500 women aged between twenty and forty-nine years. The report also concluded that the proportion spending less than 30,000 Yen will probably increase owing to the increasing number of companies offering discounts for early booking and on photography and clothing rental services. Source: https://www.i-research.jp/report/report/r_20111115.pdf (accessed 2015, September).
- 57.
The ‘shichigosan program’ of Ceremonia, for example, asks for a total of 100,000 Yen (paid in monthly installments of 1000 Yen) for which members get rental of a child’s dress complete with all accessories, beauty, and dressing assistance and, with some additional options, for example, chitoseame (http://www.ceremonia.co.jp, see also zengokyo.or.jp).
- 58.
Entertaining aspects are often judged as ‘less elevate’ in the ritual experience, and thus, less important. Examples for such approaches come in big numbers from both popular writings and scholarly literature (Belk et al. 1989). A recent example is quoted by Elisabetta Porcu when she refers to the words of the Japanese renowned folklorist and religionist, Tōru Yagi, complaining over the prevalence of ludic aspects in the Gion festival which he sees as the sign of the secularization of the festival. Yagi calls for the need to return to the past when faith was the ruling principle of the festival (Hinatani 2011 quoted in Porcu 2012, 102). On the role of ludic elements in contemporary ritual forms see also Boissevain 1992, and in the Japanese context Graburn 1993.
- 59.
DIME 2005, November 17.
- 60.
Shūkan Shinchō 2005, September 8. In Kinki area in 2005, there were families leaving for a shichigosan trip to Hawaii nearly every day during the two months of October and November.
- 61.
The number of Japanese couples choosing a foreign country for their wedding ceremony started to grow after 1992. Since then, Hawaii figures among the most popular places (Watabe Wedding S.p.a. on www.knt.co.jp, accessed 2011, May 20). On the other hand, as one mother in her blog noted, after the birth of a child, couples often renounce on journeys and trips abroad. Once children reach shichigosan age, the celebration can become an occasion to retake the custom of traveling (http://sundaykodomo.blog92.fc2.com, accessed 2011, May).
- 62.
The Hawaii Kotohira Jinsha shrine is offering the shichigosan rite since 1994.
- 63.
According to the COMO survey, the average family spend on the event in 2005 was less than 100,000 Yen (Como 2006, September). The surveys which are available are typically carried out by parenting magazines and online sites and are not based on large samples.
- 64.
COMO 2009, September.
- 65.
In the 2009 COMO survey, 62 % of families declared that they had planned to spend no more than 50,000 Yen on the celebration, but in practice, only half had managed to stick to their budget.
- 66.
Rental studios offer shichigosan dresses for a period of days.
- 67.
In the COMO 2006 (September) survey, 34 % of families stayed at home, 44 % opted for a restaurant.
- 68.
Families who have the festive meal in a restaurant prefer to hire a private room which is more comfortable with small children.
- 69.
- 70.
Matsuoka 2003. See further discussion concerning this survey and its findings in the next chapter.
- 71.
See also Ishii 2009 on the effect of television on New Years’ ritual in Japan.
- 72.
- 73.
One example is a site started a few years ago by a father who—by his own account—wanted to create a site that would collect together a comprehensive range of information after having witnessed the difficulties his wife encountered when planning their child’s shichigosan. Today, he runs a website which provides not only basic information about the ritual itself but information on commercial enterprises located in various places of Japan providing goods and services for shichigosan.
- 74.
Taguchi notes that thanks to the media sometimes ‘lost knowledge’ is reacquired. One example is the belief connected to ujigami (guardian god of the local communities; see chapter ‘Shichigosan: The History of a Japanese Childhood Rite of Passage’). Media articles explaining the traditional association of rites of passage to the ujigami belief probably raised the level of knowledge about it, even if not the level of belief (Taguchi 2015, 112–113).
- 75.
See a further discussion on this topic in chapter ‘Constructing the Ritual: Dress, Photographs, Actors, and Script’.
- 76.
In the Japanese religious context, single ritual events are not always strictly appropriated by one religion or another.
- 77.
One such example is Nakayama-dera in the Kansai region, described by Reader and Tanabe, a Buddhist temple that capitalizes greatly from s hichigosan (Reader and Tanabe 1998, 206–207).
- 78.
Nelson 1997, 700–703. A significant number of rites (wedding rite, shichigosan, baby’s first shrine visit) are offered to the worshipers and conducted for a fee by Shinto and Buddhist priests.
- 79.
The involvement of religious institutions in commercial activities has never been seen as something improper in Japan. Both Buddhism and Shinto historically catered for several worldly needs of the population (see on this theme also Reader and Tanabe 1998).
- 80.
In some cases, the ritual of shichigosan is also used as a fund-raising event. See the example from 1984 given by Jennifer Robertson in the case of Shinmei-gū in a bed-town of Tokyo (1994). In his study on Shinto shrines, John Nelson gave a fairly precise estimate of how much the income from shichigosan contributes to the finances of the examined shrine (Nelson 1997, 700, Note 10). According to information obtained by Nelson, it represents approximately 2.5 % of the yearly income of the shrine. His study was based on data from the 1990s, which means that this income represents only fees paid for purification rites and offerings by the shichigosan visitors; at that time, the shrine did not provide a shichigosan service pack.
- 81.
On the meaning and custom of yakudoshi see also chapter ‘Consumer Culture and Changes to the Ritual Calendar in Postwar Urban Japan’. For an analysis of factors contributing in the growing popularity of the yakudoshi observance in the recent years in Japan, see Taguchi’s study (Taguchi 2008).
- 82.
Shūkan Gendai 1980, November 20.
- 83.
COMO 2006, September.
- 84.
Not all shrines in Japan provide regular service of rites.
- 85.
The word jingū commonly indicates within the system of Shinto shrines that the shrine is connected to the imperial house.
- 86.
The account was constructed mainly based on the interview with Mr. Daimaru, resident priest of the Meiji Jingū. An interview with the employees of the indoor rental studio of shrine was carried out as well. Precise numbers of observers can be also obtained from the publications of the shrine, such as the Meiji Jingū gojūnenshi (1979) (明治神宮50年誌).
- 87.
The actual number of families applying for the purification rite was lower.
- 88.
The total fertility has never gone above 2.0 since 1973, and it has continuously decreased since then. In 2010, it arrived at 1.3 (Source: www.mhlw.go.jp, accessed 2011, January 20). See also Yoshizumi 1995, 4.
- 89.
Life-cycle rites list the following occasions: naming ceremony (meitsuke or meimei), first shrine visit (hatsumiyamairi), first solid food rite (okuizome), shichigosan, school entrance and graduation, coming-of-age rite, wedding, wedding anniversaries, yakudoshi, kanreki-iwai (60th birthday celebration).
- 90.
The price of the pack seems not to have changed singificantly between 2009 and 2015.
- 91.
The information refers to 2009. In 2009, child menu cost 3150 Yen, and adult menu 9000–7000 Yen.
- 92.
The indications refer to 2015. For comparison, in 2009 the time set for these activities was shorter, 30 min for each.
- 93.
Data refer to 2009.
- 94.
This service was offered in 2009. The details of services, as well as the explanations provided in the pamphlets (print and online) can change year by year.
- 95.
www.meijijingu.or.jp. For services, see also http://www.meijikinenkan.gr.jp/ (last access 2015, October 10).
- 96.
For example, there are detailed explanations of patterns and colors used on the kimono sash (obi) as part of the seven-year-old girls’ outfit.
- 97.
In 2006, 830 families opted for the shichigosan plan, a number continuing to grow year after year. In 2007, 921, in 2008, 970 (Hansen 2009).
- 98.
It would be difficult to estimate the total number of shichigosan families visiting the shrine during the period of October and November, but the number of applications for the purification rite can be also indicative. According to Hansen’s estimate, in 2006, this number amounted to 6700, and in 2008, it amounted to 7300, clearly showing an increasing trend (Hansen 2009).
- 99.
The first place is occupied by yakudoshi, the purification rite to avoid bad luck during the unfortunate years.
- 100.
- 101.
Hie Jinja (日枝神社), situated in the Akasaka area of Tokyo, claims to be the place where the ‘first shichigosan’ (in other words, the first urban Edo shichigosan) was observed by the members of the Tokugawa family at the end of the seventeenth century. According to the shrine’s official website, this occurred in 1681.
- 102.
Regarding this issue, Taguchi’s findings do not offer evidence of the repeated visits to the shame religious institutions. The authors says that the shrine or temple to be visited seems to be chosen according to the ritual occasion and usually the chosen site differs every time (2015).
- 103.
Fitzgerald notes that “[L]ike “economics” and “politics”, “religion” has been disembedded historically into a distinct sphere of western ideology in a way that, arguably, is not characteristic of Japan”. (Fitzgerald 2003).
- 104.
- 105.
For instance, in a recent study, Galen Amstutz argued that materialism and commerce have been part of Shin Buddhism since at least the early eighteenth century (Amstutz 2012).
- 106.
Nonetheless, questions addressing faith of respondents figure still among the principal questions of the surveys. This, authors of the Kokugakuin survey explain with the prevailing importance of this type of questions in religion-related surveys worldwide. As a matter of fact, the results of the two opinion polls carried out by the Kokugakuin group showed a very low rate of affirmative responses to questions about faith (in both surveys less than 30 % of respondents claimed to have faith) (Kokugakuin 2006).
- 107.
According to the Jinja Honchō survey in 2007, it was somewhere between 3 % and 4 %. Buddhism was the faith most commonly endorsed by respondents, but the proportion of believers declined from 38 % in 1996 to 27 % in 2006. In the 2009 NHK survey: Shinto 3 %, Buddhism 35 % (www.nhk.or.jpbunken/summary/resarch/report/2009).
- 108.
A shrine or temple visit is not commonly seen as part of the seijinshiki event, which was established as a public ceremonial event in 1946, by the town council of Warabi (Saitama prefecture). The custom spread throughout Japan and the municipality usually organizes an event for all residents who have reached twenty years of age. In 1948, January 15, the central day of koshōgatsu (small New Year) in the traditional festivity calendar, was made an official holiday, seijin no hi (adult’s day). Since 2000, the official holiday falls on the second Monday in January. The fact that in recent years a growing number of persons choose to visit a shrine on this occasion warrants further investigation.
- 109.
Chapel weddings are wedding rites designed along the lines of the Christian marriage ceremony; in most cases, no religious affiliation is required and only the external trappings of the Christian ceremony are present (chapel interior, decorations, white bridal dress). Often, chapel wedding is performed without a priest.
- 110.
- 111.
- 112.
See also the survey carried out by Taguchi (2015).
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Papp, M. (2016). Business Sector, Media, and Religious Institutions. In: Shichigosan. Palgrave Studies in Urban Anthropology. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56538-9_6
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