Japanese Wedding Dress And Traditional Shinto Costume

A Japanese wedding is a beautifully simple ceremony, which relies heavily on carefully carried out traditions. Only family members of the bride and groom can attend. It is usually held in a Shinto temple and performed by a Shinto priest. Because of the climate in Japan, most weddings occur in spring or autumn. Also, particular days of the year are considered lucky for anniversaries, and so many couples choose to marry on one of those days.

During a traditional wedding, Japanese brides must be painted white from head to toe as a symbol of purity. The Japanese wedding dress consists of a long white kimono called shiro-maku. Japanese brides also wear their hair in an elaborate traditional style decorated with combs and other accessories. During the Japanese ceremony a hood covers the Japanese brides head to signify that she will be a serene and patient wife.

Japanese brides also carry traditional accessories much like the "something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue" of the American wedding. They carry a small, sack-like purse, known as hakoseko, and a delicate sheathed dagger, called a kaiken.

The groom's ensemble is much simpler. He wears black pleated pants, and a short black kimono, emblazoned with his family seal.

The traditional Japanese ceremony consists of three parts. First, the couple is purified by the Shinto priest. Then, the bride and groom recite the traditional vows. Finally, Japanese brides and grooms perform a ceremony known as san-san-kudo, or three times three, during which they drink nine cups of sake, a wine. Their families also drink sake to symbolize the unity of both the couple and the two families. During the ceremony the two families do not face the couple being married, instead they face each other, as though the families are being married along with couple.

After the wedding, Japanese brides put on a more colorful kimono for the wedding reception. This second kimono is usually red, because red is a lucky color in Japan. It is always heavily embroidered with colorful scenes from nature. The sleeves are long and flowing. Never again will the bride wear such sleeves, or such a richly patterned gown, since only young, unmarried women are allowed to wear them. For this reason, the Japanese wedding dress is often rented rather than bought.

The wedding reception is a more open affair. Friends, co-workers, and more distant relatives are all allowed to attend. They often give monetary gifts in decorative envelopes to help the couple pay for their wedding. Games, songs, food, and speeches provide entertainment during the reception. Some time during the reception, Japanese brides may change again, this time, into a western-style gown.

Especially among the young couples, the Japanese ceremony is starting to take on more Western elements, such as the exchange of rings, and the traditional wedding is beginning to be replaced by a melding of cultures that mirrors the diversity of the young couples of Japan.

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A History of Japanese Marriage,Wedding Dress And Kimono

In the long history of Japan the marriage system must have gone through various changes in the social system and conditions. Such changes are now difficult to trace in detail but the most important and historical change in the Japanese marriage system is said to have been made from the "Muko-iri" practice for a bridegroom to enter the family of his aimed-at bride to the "Yome-iri" system for a bride to be accepted into her bridegroom's home. The change seems to have taken place in the 13th and 14th centuries by the rise of "Bushi" warriors in power.

During the age of aristocracy a bridegroom would nightly visit his bride at her home and only after the birth of a child or the loss of parents to the bridegroom or husband, the bride would be accepted as the wife in the man's home. Among common people labor power was and essential factor to maintain a family. It was an accepted practice in the Tohoku area in north for a bridegroom to live with his bride's family to offer his labor for a certain length of time. More widely spread was the system for a bridegroom and bride to offer their time and labor to their own families. In such cases the husband would visit his wife nightly to maintain the married life. Again in Izu Islands it was for a wife to work for the family of her husband who would, however, stay at her home. The practice remains today in the system of adoption by which a man becomes a member of another family by marriage. Under either of such system it was necessary for families concerned to reside in neighborhood.

In the old days of aristocracy men seem to have been freer and more insistent than those to follow in later ages in proposing marriage to women. Court Lord Fukakusa is said to have called on Ono-no-Komachi, "Miss Kyoto" of the 9th century day and night for one hundred consecutive days and broken down from exhaustion without her word of "yes".

After nightly visits of a man at the home of his aimed-at bride, he might be invited by her parents to a bedside and offered "Mochi" rice cakes. "Tokoro-Arawashi", as the ceremony was called was the most important function in the ancient wedding among aristocrats. A similar practice was seen among common people for a man to visit on the parents of a bride-to-be for approval of his marriage to their daughter.

With the rise of "Bushi" warriors whose spheres of activities were no longer limited within Kyoto or close neighborhood, the system of women marrying into men's families was gradually adopted and widely accepted in the 14th century and on. Under the feudal system marriages were often used as plitical and diplomatic approaches to maintaining peace and unity among feudal lords. Thus the personal will of men and women for marriage was ignored in the face of family interests and the social intercourse of unmarried persons was denied. Marriages came to be arranged by and for families and the role of "Nakodo" gobetween became very important in Japan.

Another result of the "Yome-iri" wedding and family marriage was the increased importance of engagement. The "Yui-no" betrothal thus became a serious step in the Japanese marriage. A "Nakodo" gobetween would make further certain of a proposed marriage by the ceremonial exchange of drinks with the bride side immediately upon acceptance of the proposal. "Yui-no", as still observed and later described more in detail, is the exchange of various items between two families concerned assuring the engagement to be followed through.

The wedding ceremony became also more elaborate. A messanger would be sent to the bride's home where family members hold a farewell party before hanging her over to the bridegroom side. At the wedding ceremony proper in addition to the "San-San-Kudo" exchange of drinks between the bridegroom and bride, drinks were now exchanged between members of the families for unification on the family basis.

Having briefly reviewed the history, we are now ready to go back to marriage and wedding, as more widely practiced in Japan today.

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Little a Bout Japanese Weddings

Spring and fall are popular seasons for weddings in Japan. Traditional Japanese wedding ceremony are Shinto-style and are held at shrines (jinja). In a Shito-style wedding ceremony, the bride wears a traditional wedding kimono called shiromuku (white kimono), and the groom wears montsuki haori hakama. Usually, only family members and close relatives of the couple attend the Shinto-style wedding ceremony. The ceremony includes sake drinking rituals, exchanging wedding rings, and more. There are neither bridesmaids nor a best man, and an older married couple called nakoudo (matchmaker) attend the ceremony.

Most of weddings in Japan are held at hotels or wedding halls. Chapels and shrines are conveniently located within the facilities, and couples can choose the style of their wedding ceremonies. A Japanese wedding ceremony can be Christian, Buddhist, Shinto, and non-religious styles. The wedding style doesn't necessarily match with one's religion. Non-Christian couples often have their weddings ceremony at chapels.

After the wedding ceremony, the reception party called "kekkon hiroen" is held. The style and scale of wedding receptions vary depending on the regions. Typically, relatives, friends, co-workers, and neighbors attend the reception. When you receive an invitation card, you need to return the enclosed card and let them know if you can attend or not as soon as possible.

If you are attending a Japanese wedding reception, you are expected to bring cash for a gift. The amount depends on your relationship with the couple and the region, unless fixed amount is indicated in the invitation card. It is recommendable to ask someone who are attending the same wedding. The average is 30,000 yen for a friend's wedding. It's important that the cash is enclosed in a special envelope called shugi-bukuro, and your name is written on the front. It's polite to use new bills with no creasing. When you go to the party, give the envelope to the person at the reception desk and sign your name in the guestbook. People usually dress formally to attend a Japanese wedding reception. Female guests wear dresses, suits, or kimono. Male guests wear black formal suits.

The bride and broom change costumes a couple of times during the wedding reception. The bride wears a wedding kimono or a wedding kimono, and colorful dresses. The groom wears a men's montsuki hakama and a tuxedo. During the reception, the married couple sits on a stage enjoying the guests' speeches and performances. Some guests are asked to do something at the reception. Many people sing their favorite songs. The couple cut a large wedding cake and walks around the room, lighting the candles and greeting guests. A full course meal is often served at the table.
At the wedding reception, souvenirs called hikidemono are prepared in a bag for guests to take home. They are often tableware, sweets, interiors, and so on. In recent years, gift catalogs from which guests can choose gifts are popular as hikidemono.

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Korean Weddind: Ceremonial Clothing

Commoners generally wore white clothing except for special occassions or festivals. Whereas wedding clothes were bright and festive, funeral clothes were subdued and bland. People also wore colorful clothes during festivals and other celebrations. These clothes represent formal ceremonial clothes worn by females during the Chosun (1392-1910) Dynasty.


Wedding Clothes
With marriage being one of the most important steps in ones life, the wedding ceremony has grown into a very formal and lavish ceremony, with bright, intricate clothes worn by the bride and groom. In addition to the clothes, they also wore ceremonial head gear. The groom wore a black hat, while the bride wore a veil covering her face until halfway through the ceremony. Additionally, she wore a long hair pin. (For more information, see the Traditional Marriage spotlight.)

The costume to the left depicts the clothes worn by the bride-to-be when the future groom delivers the ham to the bride's family. The ham was originally a box from the groom containing red and blue silk that was to be used to make a dress. It also had various other gifts for the family such as bedding, money, charcol, or food. The family would then offer the bearer of the ham food and some money for travel expenses. In recent years, the tradition has degenerated into the groom and his friends demanding large sums of money for delivering the ham, then spending all the money getting drunk.

Modern wedding clothes are more subdued with lighter colors than their traditional counterparts. These pictures actually represent modern interpretations of traditional clothes. These days, most couples opt for a more Western style, with the groom wearing a suit or tuxedo and the bride wearing a white gown similar to those found in the West.

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Korean Wedding Dresses

Are you a newly wed? Or, have you attended a wedding ceremony lately? Anyone who has attended a
wedding ceremony in Korea may feel that something needs to be done about the wasteful and
irrational aspects of the Korean wedding custom.

In Korea, a bride and her family pay a heavy price for her marriage. She is customarily supposed to
buy many articles for her marriage, from furniture to small items of kitchen ware, and to offer gifts to
her bridegroom's family and even his distant relatives, not to mention her part of the cost for their
wedding ceremony.

A survey conducted in 1996 shows that a newly married couple on average spends 36.2 million won
to start their married life. The amount covers all aspects of married life plus the cost of their wedding
ceremony including the wedding hall fee, rent of a wedding dress and a tuxedo, photographs,
honeymoon, wedding banquets and so forth. However, the figure doesn't include money to rent or
buy a house.

It is just an average. Many spend much more than that. Furthermore, the dowry sometimes becomes
a cause of post-marriage disputes which may lead to divorce. Last year, a medical doctor made
headlines by beating his wife and even her mother because he thought that the marriage dowry,
'honsu' in Korean, was too small. She and her family bought as much as 170 million won worth of
'honsu', but it was insufficient to satisfy the doctor bridegroom and his parents. Citing the lack of
honsu, he asked for a divorce about a year after marriage, but his bride and her family refused. So,
he beat his wife and her mother.

Another shocking accident related to the Korean wedding custom took place in March, this year. It
was related to 'hahm', a box or a suitcase which a fiance's family sends to his bride-to- be's family a
few days before the wedding and which is later used on the honeymoon. During the brawl with her
husband over 'hahm', the bride accidentally fell from her honeymoon suite to her death on the very
first night of their honeymoon. The groom argued that the amount of money customarily given to a
group of his friends for carrying the 'hahm' to her place had been too small, meaning that his friends
might have been disappointed.

Traditionally, 'hahm' contains rolls of red and blue silk cloth tied with bunches of red and blue threads,
a scroll of paper on which a bridegroom's astrological chart is written, and jewerly for a bride.

In the past, a fiance's family hired a man to carry the box on his back to the bride-to-be's house,
which then served the courier with food as a token of gratitude for carrying the box on his back to
her place. But these days this custom has lost its color. Now, hahm is carried by a band of the
fiance's friends, who expect a considerable sum of money as well as food from his bride-to-be's
family. The problem is the amount called hahmgap (the price of hahm). It ranges from 400,000 to one
million won. According to the Korean Women's Association last year, seven out of 10 people wanted
the hahm custom to be abolished or changed.

Wedding problems do not end here. Commercial wedding halls demand that brides should rent
wedding dresses from the halls and use beauty parlors and photographers hired by the halls. A recent
survey of 151 newlyweds by a department store shows that they spent an average of 7.77 million
won per couple on wedding halls. And the amount almost doubled to 14.13 million won in five-star
hotels or high-class restaurants. Religious facilities such as churches and cathedrals were places
where couples can hold wedding ceremonies at the lowest cost of 6.19 million won. A Korean couple
spends 36.2 million won on average on wedding costs, while those in the U.S. or Europe spends
$1,500 to $2,000 (1.2 to 1.6 million won). Considering a Korean urban salaryman's monthly pay of
1.7 million won, the wedding expense is equivalent to a year and nine months of his income. As for
wedding expenses, the Japanese spend more than Koreans do. But given the exchange rate and the
cost of living in Japan, we reportedly spend five or six times more in real terms than they do. It is
undeniable that wedding halls have played a big role in commercializing our wedding culture and raising
our wedding costs.

Most Korean newlyweds, who have to follow the costly wedding custom, say that the true meaning of
the Korean wedding custom has been distorted. The wedding ceremony for a couple in a wedding hall
takes only 30 minutes because other couples are waiting for their turns. Couples march out of halls
like they are on an assembly line here in Seoul. Some couples from rich families ask event companies
to make their wedding ceremonies look impressive. The companies fly helicopters in the sky or set up
large multivision video screens showing the ceremonies with the aim of showing off to the attendants.
News media point an accusatory finger at such couples and their parents for staging the luxurious
extravaganzas.

Another aspect of the Korean wedding culture that should be reconsidered is the meaning of money
that well-wishers customarily give as gifts to brides or bridegrooms in front of the halls where their
wedding ceremonies take place. Guests offer donations containing from 20,000 won to 200,000 won
as a formality uniformally before entering the ceremony halls. Even if we don't know the bride well, the
bridegroom or their parents, we are invited to their wedding. Some come to the wedding ceremonies
just to convey congratulatory money but don't actually attend them. If so, not only their money but
also their precious time are in a sense wasted.

Moreover weekend wedding ceremonies cause traffic congestion around wedding halls. Traffic
policymakers have suggested that you write down your bank account number on wedding invitation
cards so that online remittance may relieve weekend traffic. Inhumane as it may sound, the
suggestion must be a practical solution.

Articles and journals on marriage give some alternative ideas to solve wedding problems. First, the
upper class of our society should play a leading and exemplary role by holding thrifty wedding
ceremonies. Second, civic groups should launch campaigns to correct the view of wedding customs
and expenses. Third, more facilities providing places for wedding ceremonies at lower cost need be
constructed. With our economy about to join the OECD, now is the time to develop the cultural
aspect of our society, particularly the wedding culture, an important cultural factor.

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