The Shinto Wedding Essay Example

During our class period of Understanding Asian Cultures, we have learned a lot about different anthropology categories, but I found Japanese marriage customs to be the most intriguing. I found certain ethnic groups in Japanese like the Shinto group to have very special wedding traditions. Shinto is a Japanese religion that has a literal translation of “the way of the gods”. Shinto is a Japanese belief system and predates historical records. According to the Asian Society, “The many practices, attitudes, and institutions that have developed to make up Shinto revolve around the Japanese land and seasons and their relation with the human inhabitants”. This paper will show how the Shinto religious group has affected the different culture groups in Japan.

The Shinto religion has a very specific image among the Japanese people. As previously stated, the Shinto religion revolves around land, seasons, and nature of their landscape. The way Shinto people appreciate nature is by the “recognition of a divine spirit (kami) in venerable old trees, large mountains, and tall waterfalls, as well as celebrations of the highlights of each season”. Traditionally, Shinto beliefs also includes purification customs to overcome the death and decay of family member and friends. In a religious Shinto wedding ceremony, typically is held to a small group, including close friends and family members. The bride is often seen wearing a white Kimono and a white scarf. The color white tends to signify purity. Another special tradition within the Shinto wedding is that after exchanging wedding vows and rings, the couple will then exchange cups of sacred sake between one another’s families. This event is very closely associated with the Japanese culture and is called ‘San San Kudo’. After this process, the reception is open to many more friends and family that are invited by the hosts. 

One of these culture groups that have certain requirements for marriage is the Okinawa group. Some of these procedures to get married as an Okinawa are that you must get married is you have to go to the city hall that the Japanese international is registered at and ask them to allow the marriage. Okinawa is very unique to the Country of Japan, most traditions at a wedding could seem foreign even to natives of mainland Japan. This is because of the history of the island. Before Okinawa was established as a part of Japan it was its own individual nation, called Ryukyu Kingdom. According to some of the research I have done on these Okinawa weddings, they seem to be like a concert/party type of event, and not a formal event. These ‘weddings’ consist of 300-500 guests, huge dinner, floor shows, dancers and live bands that keep the party live for multiple hours. Of course, if this production goes on for hours this means the show has been rehearsed for months before the weddings, so there are countless hours and dollars put into these large-scale events. 

The Ryukyu Kingdom took many traditions from the Roman Empire, and they are portrayed in modern day weddings in Okinawa, like mentioned before. Similar to Roman times, the June wedding tradition is very popular in Okinawa. During the Roman Empire, every year on the 1st of June the Romans would celebrate a festival in honor of ‘June’, who was the “Deity who was recognized as the wife of Jupiter and the revered goddess of marriage and childbirth”. This is the reason June is seen to be the month to have weddings in these cultures. 

Other cultural groups in Japan only allow family members to marry specific people. For instance, according to eHRAF, “Among the Ainu along Saru River in Hokkaido, an individual is prohibited from marrying a cousin on his or her mother’s side”. Among other Ainu groups, there are males in communities that practice polygyny. Polygyny is when males have more than one wife, which is not common in most areas of the world. 

Marriage is a very complex concept that people all around the world celebrate in different manners. Some like their special day to be small with close family, some, similar to the Okinawa people, like their weddings to be huge with special performers and concerts. Whoever you are marrying, who is there, how it happens, we can all agree that it is essential to have your own culture involved in it to make your day that much more special.