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詳細表示 (Complete Article)

カテゴリー1： 5. Rites and Festivals
カテゴリー2： Rituals in Daily Life
Title
Shinzenkekkon (lit. Marital Rites in the Presence of the Gods)"
Text
The term broadly includes all nuptial rites conducted "before a kami," but in common usage refers to wedding ceremonies performed at shrines or wedding halls by Shintō priests (shinshoku). In the Edo Period, there was a conscious association between marital observances and the gods. Both the Ise and Ogasawara schools of etiquette for the warrior class maintained set procedures for wedding ceremonies; in a popularized form these influenced the ceremonies of the common people in towns and cities. In his Teijō zakki ("The miscellany of Sadatake"), Ise Sadatake (1717-1784) of the former school writes that celebrations are a way of worshipping the kami and that in a wedding it is Izanagi no Mikoto and Izanami no Mikoto who are so honored. However, in those days Shintō priests did not officiate at ceremonies. Shinzen-kekkon in the modern style were first held during the Meiji Period. They were influenced by the Christian wedding ceremonies introduced to Japan during that age, but this type of marriage ceremony was still far from common and was perceived as something new at the time. The actual programs for these rites were not standardized, with allowances made for a given practitioner to establish his own ritual etiquette, and the principal deity (saijin) to be honored during the service was likewise left unspecified.
The marriage in 1900 of the then Crown Prince (later the Emperor Taishō) was the prompt that helped spread the shinzen-kekkon-style wedding ceremony. The Investigative Bureau of the Imperial Household System (Teishitsu seido chōsakyoku) established in August 1899 to prepare for the event began research toward establishing a formal liturgy. The liturgy was codified in the April 1900 Imperial Household Marriage Edict and the Crown Prince's wedding ceremony carried out on its basis that May. On March 3, 1901, the Section for the Correct Practice of National Rituals of the Lay Support Association of the Grand Shrines of Ise (Jingūhōsaikai kokureishugyōbu) conducted a mock shinzen-kekkon ceremony at the Tokyo Grand Shrine (Tōkyō Daijingū, more commonly known as the Hibiya Grand Shrine) as a workshop on the liturgy of the Crown Prince's wedding rites. After having been revised further at the shrine, the emergent liturgy was disseminated broadly. There were another movement around the same time aimed at establishing the order of ceremonies for such services; ceremonies were performed in accordance with this new procedure and it, too, began to spread. Some have also emphasized the role of shinzen-kekkon wedding ceremony that was being performed at the Izumo Shrine (Izumo-taisha) during the final years of the Edo period, but its influence was limited to that region and it did not have direct bearing on today's customs.
Shinzen-kekkon are generally performed at a shrine, at a wedding hall, or at home. Whatever the case, the order of ceremonies is basically as follows: (1) a purification rite; (2) a bow from the officiate; (3) the raising of shinsen (food and sake offered to the kami); (4) a norito litany performed by the officiate and addressed to the gods; (5) the lowering of the now-blessed sake (miki) and the pouring of it for the bride and groom, who drink it in one of two ritualized patterns. The first pattern, known as sankon no gi, dictates that the first cup is drunk first by the groom then bride, the second cup by the bride then groom, and the third cup by the groom then bride. The second—so-called san-san-ku-do, or "three by three, nine times" ritual—dictates that three cups of sake are drunk in three sips each: the first sip by the groom, the second sip by the bride, and the third sip by the groom again. If the couple exchanges rings, the exchange typically occurs thereafter; (6) the marriage partners read their marriage vows; (7) the performance of music; (8) sacred offerings of evergreen branches (tamagushi) are made in turn by the officiate, the couple, and, if applicable, the matchmaker; (9) the mutual pledge between families as symbolized by their partaking of the sacred wine; (10) the lowering of food offerings; and (11) a bow from the priest to conclude the ceremony.
— Endō Jun

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Footage of a Shintō wedding ceremony. As part of the ceremony, an oharai is performed, norito are recited, bride and groom ritually share rice wine (sansankudo), and worship in front of the kami.
2006年 **月 **日
Tan Kazunobu

Marital Rites in the Presence of the Gods_Fujii Hiroaki___2005****_Tokyo