Samurai wedding?

[gurdymonkey]

Here's a topic header to strike fear in one's heart first thing in the morning: "samurai weddings." 

What I had in the house was Ivan Morris' "The World of the Shining Prince," which has a section on marriage in the Heian period, so I posted the following:

There's a section on marriage during the Heian period in Chapter 8 of "The World of the Shining Prince," by Ian Morris. A nakadachi (matchmaker or go-between)would inform a man of a suitable girl and make arrangements on both sides if he was interested. There would be an exchange of poems with the girl. If that went well, the man would show up and spend the night "secretly" with his prospective bride while her parents seemed apparently deaf and blind to the fact there was some stranger in their daughter's room. If THAT went well, there would be an exchange of morning after poems. He'd spend two more nights with her, the third night being most important. On that evening, mikayomochi (third night cakes) would be prepared by her family and left in the room. "They are in honor of the Shintoist progenitors Izanagi and Izanami and the couple's acceptance of the cakes may be regarded as the central marriage rite; for the connection between the man and the girl now has religious sanction." On the third morning, the man would not have to sneak home by dawn, but could remain openly with his bride....

.....When we left our aristorcratic Heian couple, they had spent three nights together. Morris (the following is paraphrased from Chapter 8 of "The World of the Shining Prince") says the third night is known as "the exposure of the event," or "tokoro-arawashi", at which point the consummation of the marriage is publicized. The girl's father (or guardian) woulkd send the couple a formal letter of committal (mika no yo no goshosoku) officially approving the marriage. A wedding feast also publicizes the marriage and openly signifies the union before family and friends. During the Heian period, the feast generally took place on the evening after the rice cakes or within a few days of it. Sake and
food were prepared at the bride's home and the groom, with some friends (but not, interestingly, necessarily his parens), would be invited. The groom would officially meet his wife's family at this time. A priest (Shinto) would recite norito (purification prayers) and wave a branch of the sakaki. The couple would perform sansan-kudo, another Shinto purification rite, exchanging cups and taking turns taking three sips (for a total of nine each) of sake. By the Muromachi period, sansan-kudo became the central action of the marriage ritual, but during the Heian period, it was "ancillary to the presentation of rice cakes and was not an essential part of the proceedings."

At this point, the couple were married. The man could visit his wife whenever he liked. Whether or not she moved into his house, remained with her parents or was installed in a house of her own might depend on whether or not she was his principal wife, a secondary consort or a concubine. Remember, this is the case for kuge (court nobility) during the Heian period.

Marital age was relatively young. Minimum ages by law were fixed at fourteen for boys and twelve for girls, however, betrothals might be arranged earlier, particularly at about age twelve shortly after a boy underwent his coming of age ceremony.

The concept of "the wedding dress" is relatively modern, both in the West and in Japan. Morris makes no mention of what would have been worn for the ritual and feasting after the third night, but given the Heian penchant for displaying one's rank and importance in dress, it seems likely that all present would honored the occasion by dressing their best. [EDIT: Presumably this would also be the case for a wedding in the up-and-coming samurai castes of the later periods as well.]

This link to one of the Japanese-language pages at the Kyoto Costume Museum is of a young woman dressed for her wedding in Heian style: http://www.iz2.or.jp/fukushoku/f_disp.php?page_no=0000035

This shows Emperor Akihito and Empress Masako in formal dress for their wedding in 1959. They wore costume derived from Heian styles.
http://wodefordhall.com/emperor.jpg

The traditional ensemble worn by most Japanese brides appears to be an Edo period development out of period roots. The word "uchikake" refers to what we think of as a wedding kimono, however, in our period, an uchikake was simply a robe worn open over other robes and left trailing.

Compare this 16th century samurai woman from the Kyoto Costume Museum:
http://www.iz2.or.jp/english/fukusyoku/busou/29.htm

to this traditional Japanese bride with kimono, uchikake and hairstyle based on Edo period styles:
http://www.marlamallett.com/Kimonos-Uchikake-2.jpg

I found this clip on Youtube showing a modern traditional wedding. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F288j5ZNr8g&feature=related
(Can I say that I think the modern uchikake-over-back-tied-obi makes the most willowy bride look like a hunchback? Poor girl. At least she's not wearing a wig. Do you wonder WHY I prefer pre-Edo styles? ) The addition of wedding rings is obviously a relatively modern development, most likely borrowed from the West. The video does give one an idea of what the Shinto purification ritual and sansan-kudo are like, and those components are mentioned in Morris' description of the celebration after the three-night routine of a Heian marriage.

Comments

[sarcasm-hime.livejournal.com]

I love Edo style (hairstyles and kimono), but have to agree that haori or uchikake over the obi looks odd. When wearing haori I often wonder if people seeing me on the street think "is something wrong with her back?".

[karisu-sama.livejournal.com]

I think the modern uchikake-over-back-tied-obi makes the most willowy bride look like a hunchback?

I quite agree. Obi bows just don't work well under things.

[erink.livejournal.com]

Hey, that sounds like how I got "married". Only we went out for pancakes, nobody brought mikayomochi ... ;-)