shiyakujin no hokora
A Book of Little Traditions
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ToCminzoku shintôsekai-kanmatsuritsûka girei

tsûka girei (Rites of Passage) – 06 / 26 / 2014
tsûka girei つうかぎれい 通過儀礼
tsû (traffic, pass through, commute)
ka (overdo, exceed, go beyond)
tsûka (passage)
gi (ceremony, rule, affair, case, a matter)
rei (salute, bow, ceremony, thanks)
girei (etiquette)

❖ (rites of passage)
❖ Conducted when an individual encounters changes in rank, status, or space
shinsôsai – shintô funeral ritual
hatsumiyamairi はつみやまいり 初宮参り
hatsu (first time, beginning, new)
miya (shintô, shrine, palace)
mai.ri (going, visiting, visit)

❖ The first visit paid by a newborn child to its ujigami
❖ As the mother's period of taboo may not yet be over, the child is generally taken to the shrine by a female relative
❖ On the 32nd day after the birth of a boy, and the 33rd day after the birth of a girl
❖ Also called omiyamairi, miyamairi, hatsumiyamôde
omiyamairi おみやまいり 御宮参り
お宮参り
miyamairi みやまいり 宮参り
hatsumiyamôde はつみやもうで 初宮詣で
o (honorable) – written with kanji or hiragana
miya (shintô, shrine, palace)
mai.ri (going, visiting, visit)

miya (shintô, shrine, palace)
mai.ri (going, visiting, visit)

hatsu (first time, beginning, new)
miya (shintô, shrine, palace)
môde (visit, pilgrmage)
shichi-go-san matsuri しちごさんまつり 七五三祭
shichi (seven)
go (five)
san (three)
matsuri (ritual, offer prayers, celebrate, deify, enshrine, worship)

❖ 7-5-3 festival
❖ After a ritual (kamioki) three year old boys and girls hair is allowed to grow long
❖ Five year old boys ritually put on their first hakama (hakamagi or hakamagi no gi)
❖ Seven year old girls ritually put on their first wide obi (obitoki or obitoki no gi)
❖ November 15
hakamagi (no gi) はかまぎ(のぎ) 袴着(の儀)
hakama (men's formal divided skirt)
-gi (doning, wearing)
no (possessive particle)
gi (ceremony)
kamioki かみおき 髪置き
kami (hair of head)
o.ki (leaving behind, keeping)
obitoki (no gi) おびとき(のぎ) 帯解(の儀)
obi (sash, belt)
to.ki (untying, undoing)
no (possessive particle)
gi (ceremony)
seijin-shiki せいじんしき 成人式
sei (turn into, become, grow, reach)
jin (person)
shiki (ceremony, rite, function)

❖ Coming-of-age ceremony (currently at 20 years)
❖ Also called genpuku
genpuku げんぷく 元服
gen (beginning, origin)
puku | fuku (to obey, discharge, to serve)
seijin-no-hi せいじんのひ 成人の日
sei (turn into, become, grow, reach)
jin (person)
no (possessive particle)
hi (day, sun)

❖ Held in honor of all those who reached their twentieth birthday during the previous year
❖ Coming of age day, celebrated on January 15
shinzen kekkon しんぜんけっこん 神前結婚
shin (kami)
zen (before, in front of)
kek | ketsu (tie, bind, contract, join)
kon (marriage)

❖ shintô wedding
yakudoshi やくどし 厄年
yaku (unlucky, misfortune, bad luck, disaster)
doshi | toshi (year)

❖ (unlucky year, critical age)
❖ With a big chance of encountering misfortune or injuring one's health; one must be careful
❖ When men turn 25, 42 and 60, and women 19 and 33
❖ One's yakudoshi is measured by adding one to the actual age
❖ 42 for men and 33 for women are considered to be particularly bad years, and are called "great calamity"
kanreki かんれき 還暦
kan (return)
reki (calendar)

❖ One's "sixtieth" birthday, or alternately one's "sixty first" calendar year
❖ Traditionally in Japan, when a person was born they were said to be "one," and at every New Year's day thereafter turn a "year" older
❖ Based on the sixty year cycle of the 12 astrological animals and the 5 Daoist elements

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