Category Archives: Customs

Customs, conventions, and traditions of a group

Festival – Japan

Nationality: Japanese
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Tokyo, Japan
Performance Date: April 27, 2008
Primary Language: Japanese
Language: English

(Original Kanji)

(Japanese in English)

(English Translation)

Mikoshi at Kamakura – 2007

Seiko Takeshita – Summer Festival

During the summer time in Japan, every town holds a festival known as mat-tsu-ri. Mat-tsu-ri translates directly to “festival,” and it is one of the biggest celebrations that the Japanese hold every year. The sizes of the festivals vary from location to location. The smaller towns and villages hold smaller versions of the mat-tsu-ri festival while big cities hold extravagant and opulent festivals where thousands and thousands of people attend. People come to the festivals to relax and have fun. There is lots of food, games, and attractions for everyone to do. Seiko said the main food that is eaten is cotton candy and chocolate-covered bananas. At some of the biggest locales, fireworks are even set off at the end of the festival. The mat-tsu-ri festival is the biggest cultural event that occurs during the summer, and is something that every Japanese person looks forward too.

At these festivals, there are traditional garments that are worn by the women who attend. They are called Yukata’s, and are a variation of another traditional garment known as the kimono. This robe was frequently worn by many women in ancient Japan but is no longer seen in common culture. The mat-tsu-ri festival is one of the only times of the year when it is customary to wear this traditional clothing.

Another tradition regularly seen at the mat-tsu-ri festival is the inclusion of the very old transportation carriage known as a mikoshi. It was once used as a royal family transportation device so they could safely be carried within the festival. Now the mikoshi is no longer used as transportation but merely as a symbol representing the mat-tsu-ri festival and honoring ancient Japanese culture. (Picture of a mikoshi can be found at the beginning of this essay.) Among the other activities that are performed at the festival, Seiko said she remembers playing with bouncy balls and water balloons quite frequently when she attended. There is also a cultural Japanese dance known as the bon-odo-ri that people would take part in. The crowd could join in and have a fun time with their friends and family.

The mat-tsu-ri festival is great example of a traditional cultural event which unites the Japanese and allows them to gather together in their respected locations and enjoy themselves. There are many festivals similar to this all around the world which vies to achieve the same unifying goal. The purpose of festivals is to bring people together who might not originally have met and promote communion among the people attending.  Ultimately the principle of a festival is to have a good time. And from Seiko’s description of the festival, it’s clear that she always has a wonderful experience.

Annotation:

Journal Article:

Roemer, Michael K. “Ritual Participation and Social Support in a Major Japanese Festival.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 46 (2007): 185-200.

Folk Game – Japan

Nationality: Japanese
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Toky, Japan
Performance Date: April 27, 2008
Primary Language: Japanese
Language: English

(Original Kanji)

(Japanese in English)

(English Translation)

Seiko Takeshita – Fish Scoop

During the mat-tsu-ri festival in the summer time, there is one game in particular that is played every all the time. The game is called kin-gyo-sukui, or fish scoop. The objective of the game is to catch as many gold fish as possible from a tub of water before your paper fish-scooper breaks. Any fish you catch you are allowed to take home with you in a plastic bag. However, if you choose not to take the fish home, you can place them back in the tub for other players to try and catch. The ultimate goal of the game is entertain small children with little critters and keep them happy by giving them fish to take home.

The games’ origin began during the Edo period, approximately 1700 A.D. The game has always predominantly been played during the summer festival. The average cost to play the game in Japan is 100 to 200 yen. (1 to 2 dollars American.) The game is also mainly targeted at young children, but anyone is allowed to play. Seiko clearly remembered how she used to play this game when she was a child but her mom never let her keep the fish. She was always saddened by this. To this day; Seiki still plays the game whenever she has the chance to during the summer.

Since 1995, this children’s game has been promoted to new heights. Every year in August there is a national competition for fish scooping. This tournament highlights how much the Japanese like to compete and play games, even when the game is something as miniscule as seeing how many gold fish one can scoop into a paper cup. On top of the national competition, the game has also migrated to other countries. For example, I can clearly remember playing this game when I was in pre-school. I grew up in San Diego County, in a little rural town about 20 minutes from the ocean. At my pre-school, we would occasionally have carnivals where there would be lots of little games we could play. Ironically, this was always my favorite game at the carnivals because I cannot remember any of the others that I played, but I clearly remember playing this one.

Intrinsically, I think the game signifies little children getting older and being able to take care of a pet. At the ripe age of seven or eight, a child yearns to be responsible for something. For girls this might be Barbie dolls, and for boys it might be GI Joes. But for some they desire for a pet. That age is a little too young to have a dog or a cat, but it is perfect for a gold fish. They learn responsibility because they have to feed it, take care of it, and clean its living environment. They also learn how to deal with loss because gold fish do not tend to live that long and the children must experience what it feels like to lose something dear to them. This is important because in the future, these children need to learn to endure the loss of things they care for and still be able to continue their life. Who knew that a gold fish could be so important?

Holiday Tradition

Nationality: Mexican
Age: 45
Occupation: Administrator
Residence: Bonsall, CA
Performance Date: April 27, 2008
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

Patricia Newman – Mother’s Day Tradition

In Tijuana, Mexico, my Mother and her friends had a tradition that they kept every Mother’s day. Every night before Mother’s day, my mother and a group of her girlfriends would sneak out the house, bring their acoustic guitars, saxophones, tambourines, or whatever musical instrument they played and gather at a central place in the neighborhood. After all her friends convened in one location they would then go to every one of the people’s homes. Once they arrived, they would climb fences, hop walls, and find their way to their respective mother’s bedroom window. Here they would all begin playing and singing “Las Mananitas,” but modified for Mother’s Day. Las Mananitas is a common song that is sung at most Mexican birthday parties. So anyone growing up in Mexico would immediately recognize the tune and understand what the occasion was. Where my Mom grew up, it was also a commonality for the other children throughout the city to perform this tradition for their Mothers. She also said that this same tradition is performed all over Mexico as well.

As far as my Mother knew, this tradition is only two generations old in her local neighborhood. She did not know where her parents learned this tradition. She was unable to contact her parents to find out. But what she does remember is that her Mother told her that she did not start doing this tradition until her teenage years. So by a terminus post quem analysis, I can deduce that if my great-grand-parents had begun this tradition then my grandmother would have started when she was a young child rather than a teenager because she would have known about it earlier in her life. Apart from this uncertainty, my Mother performed this tradition with her friends from the moment they were capable of playing instruments together. It was around the age of eight or nine. She was adept at playing the guitar and piano at a very young age. On top of that, she enjoyed performing for her Mother and celebrating Mother’s day with her friends and family.

Mexican’s are well-known for their dedication and respect to their families. Sadly, some Mexican’s are even violent to protect their family’s name. The importance that Mexican’s and other Hispanics allocate to their families cannot be surpassed by much. Perhaps the only thing of greater importance would be religion. However, I think this is why a tradition such as this Mother’s day event is so prominent in Mexican society and culture and not that relevant here in America. Statistically, we do not place as much importance or efforts into maintaining our family relationships as Hispanics do. From cultural research on Latino nations, it is easy to understand how Hispanic families maintain close connections and relationships with their families over the generations. Close family ties and frequent performed traditions will holistically improve family’s relationships over a longer period of time than if nothing is done to promote relations amongst family members.

Competition Ritual

Nationality: Chinese
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Gabriel, CA
Performance Date: April 15, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Cantonese, Mandarin

Pierre Liu – Speech Tournament Ritual

Pierre Liu attended high school at San Marino. While he attended San Marino High, he was on the speech team. The team would travel to different high schools and compete in speech, vocal, and debate competitions and would then be rated by a panel of judges to determine who the best speaker was. The school with the most points would win the match. (I never realized there was such a thing as a “speech team,” let alone a national competition for one.) Where other people might have sports rituals before a football or baseball game, such as not washing ones jersey or wearing the same underwear, Pierre had his own set of rituals he performed before every single speech match.

On Pierre’s third match during his sophomore year, he was in a big hurry to get to his meet. Since the meet was close, he had his mom drive him to the match so he would arrive in time. Because he was in such a hurry, he promptly forgot to tie his shoelaces and caught himself minutes before he arrived at the match location. He proceeded to tie his shoes, and then walked inside. He did not think much of it then, but for every proceeding speech match that came up, Pierre refused to tie his shoes until he arrived. I asked him if he ever broke this ritual. And he replied with a firm “No, not once.”(Liu) He said that he would make this “shoe-tying” event very important. Every time he would stand back up after tying his shoes he would do a robotic dance and say “Nothing can stop me. I am Iron Man.” This was Pierre’s way of preparing for the match ahead.  After his ritual, he knew he was ready for the match.

During the match, he also had a couple different rituals. Whenever there was a humorous round, he said he would shake his whole body to get the jitters out. “Shake it out,” he called it. He would then proceed to say the following words to himself, “It’s better to go all-out and act like a complete dumbass on stage, then to half-ass the performance.” These words pumped him up each and every time he would go out and perform. By his senior year his rituals became second nature and he did them without even thinking twice. He also felt like the rituals subconsciously helped his performance during his matches. By the end of his senior year, the hard work he put into his speech training finally paid off. He attributes a modest portion of his successes to his rituals as well. He believes they helped with his overall confidence level and allowed him to relax. He had made it to the national speech competition on the east coast where his master skills in speech along with his own personal rituals would help him to an 8th place overall finish in the nation; quite impressive.

Food Ritual – Japan

Nationality: Japanese
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Tokyo, Japan
Performance Date: April 27, 2008
Primary Language: Japanese
Language: English

(Original Kanji)

(Japanese in English)

(English Translation)

Seiko Takeshita – Thanks before and after meals

Before every meal Seiko always expresses thanks by saying these words right before she will eat. This ritual has been in Japanese culture since ancient times. It was normally only uttered by the peasantry because they did not have much food. They were self-sufficient and normally only cultivated rice farms. So generally all they ever got to eat was rice and vegetables. Seiko told me that meat was considered a delicacy and only the upper class and royal family got to indulge in such food. Because of this monarchical system, Japanese peasants would sometimes get their crops taken from them by the local government. This is the reason why they would say thanks before and after every meal, because they didn’t know when their next one would be.

The circumstances are not nearly as bad anymore, so now Japanese people just say it as a tradition honoring the past and their ancestors. This act is generally performed as a family together, but it can also be performed alone. The family mutters these words in unison and then begins their meal. They all remain at the table until everyone has completed their meal and then they say the second phrase. Which is basically the same thing, but with an extra phrase at the end that means, “I am full.” Seiko told me that when she performs this tradition at home with her family it gives off a homely feeling. It unites them as one particularly for that small time while they are all at the dinner table. She really liked the sensation that she experiences after saying the phrase. This act is also a common courtesy that one uses when they are thanking the host or hostess for the meal they are about to eat. In Japanese culture, it is polite to let the cook know that their effort is appreciated.

As far as Seiko knows, this tradition is common throughout all Japanese families. They all perform this with their family and friends. One peculiarity is that Japanese people only do this with other Japanese people. If they are with friends who are not Japanese then they do not perform the ritual. They do not want to be viewed as impolite for leaving someone out of something. Seiko also told me that this is not a religious tradition. It is purely a cultural tradition that has been passed down through the ages and the Japanese continue to honor it.