ARCHAEOLOGY,

ETHNOLOGY
& ANTHROPOLOGY
OF EURASIA
Archaeology Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 35/3 (2008) 105112
E-mail: Eurasia@archaeology.nsc.ru

105

ETHNOLOGY
E.L. Frolova
Novosibirsk State University,
Akademika Lavrentieva 2, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia
E-mail: janefr@mail.ru

ETHNIC AND CULTURAL FUNCTIONS OF NAME

IN TRADITIONAL JAPANESE SOCIETY
The article examines traditional Japanese rites of the life cycle. Ceremonies related to birth, adolescence, and
burial include manipulations with the personal name. Receiving the rst name (the evening of the seventh day)
meant entering into society and acquiring a certain status. Initiation rites including the change of name, hairdo, and
clothing were usually practiced during adolescence, but in aristocratic families they may have been performed at an
earlier age. Having received a new name, an adolescent became a member of the clan hierarchy. Meaningful events at
adulthood were accompanied either by a change of name or by the acquisition of a pseudonym. In the burial rite, the
name was replaced by a posthumous name, which dened the persons status in the afterlife by making him a member
of the cohort of ancestors. The tradition stems from the age of the legendary rst Japanese emperors and, because of
Buddhism, has been preserved to the present day.

Introduction
In traditional Japanese society, beliefs concerning life
and the life cycle were shaped by the idea of mans
spiritual evolution. As the individual passed from birth to
old age, his personality became more and more complex
and acquired more and more features determining social
age. The life span was divided into distinct periods:
childhood, adolescence, maturity, old age, and death.
Limits between them were crossed by means of strictly
observed passage rites, which dened the individuals
social status. In a culture oriented toward stability,
the regulated succession of stages in the life cycle
endowed an individual existence with social meaning
(Traditsionnoye mirovozzreniye..., 1989: 87).
Events such as naming (equivalent to birth), rites tied
with adolescence, and death involved manipulations with

the personal name. Like other ritual actions and objects,

the name was meant to dene mans status in the world.
Birth and the rst year of life
According to universal norms of traditional society,
childbirth was a central event in relationships between
family, clan, and society. The newborn changed the
parents status and was saluted by the family and the
community alike. The nine months preceding birth were
a period of hidden movement from the mythical foreworld
to the society of people (Iordansky, 1982: 235).
The belief that the soul, tamashii, entered the child
long before birth was reected in the ritual of tying on
iwata obi a maternity belt: a long piece of white raw
silk. This rite was performed two, three, four or seven

Copyright 2008, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Archaeology & Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian
Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi: 10.1016/j.aeae.2008.11.009

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E.L. Frolova / Archaeology Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 35/3 (2008) 105112

months before childbirth. The word iwata (rock) was a

kind of a magic invocation, a wish for vigor and fortitude.
The other name of the ritual belt was shirushi-no obi
the belt with a mark, since this belt bore a hieroglyph
of longevity. The ritual was normally performed on the
day of the dog according to the lunar calendar, as this sign
was considered to be a protector of the mothers health,
facilitating delivery of the child. Strict observance of the
succession of ritual actions enhanced the efciency
of the ritual: the husband gave the belt to the wife with
his left hand; the wife took it with her right hand; then
the wifes mother or a midwife wound the belt around
the womans belly (Fig. 1). The hieroglyph, if present
on the belt, had to be near the navel (Dunn, 1969: 173).
The white silk was believed to protect the child in the
mothers womb and to guarantee health and security. In
the Early Modern Period, a cotton iwata obi of white,
red, and yellow colors symbolizing purity, happiness, and
resistance to evil forces was used. The belt served as an
amulet protecting the mother and the child (Markariyan,
Molodyakova, 1990: 130).
In Japan, pregnant women were traditionally treated
with special respect, since they secured reproduction.
However, they were not freed from everyday duties.
Before the delivery and several months after it, the
woman was placed in a special room and only the closest
relatives could visit her there. As described in the diaries
of ladies-in-waiting of the 11th cent., following the old
tradition, the empress moved to the house of her parents
when the time came for her to give birth. As childbirth
approached, and the danger from the mythical world was
supposed to increase, measures were taken to protect the
future mother: People cried with all their might to ward
off evil spirits, and messengers were sent to temples to
order special ofces (Dnevniki..., 2002: 97, 148). One
of the reasons for isolating the future mother was the
belief that she was ritually impure and especially close
to supernatural powers. Therefore numerous taboos had

Fig. 1. Tying on the iwata obi maternity belt.

to be observed both by herself and by people around her.

Isolation was ended after a certain period had passed.
In the 11th cent., a mother with her child could return
to the husbands house after 50 days (Ibid.: 138140).
In the Early Modern Period, a tradition was formed to
show a festively dressed infant to guests on the 120th
day after the birth (The Nihon..., 1986: 504). In both
cases, the isolation was ended with a tabezome (rst
feeding) rite: a mother or a grandmother publicly put a
small bit of rice or a piece of rice cake into the infants
mouth. It meant that the child had already overstepped
the dangerous line between the mythic and social worlds
and could eat human food.
According to tradition beliefs of the Japanese, the
newborn baby had neither gender nor social status; it was
not a human being at all. It did not really belong to its
parents; the gods kami watched its growth and controlled
its behavior. People considered a child under the age
of 7 to be a messenger of the gods, which is reected in the
proverb Nanatsu mae ha kami no uchi before the age of
seven among the gods (Mikhailova, 1983: 90).
The first week of life was considered the most
important for the infant, particularly the odd days. In
the evenings, special rites were performed: cutting of the
umbilical cord, a purifying cleansing (bathing), burying
of the placenta (returning it to the mythic world), the
rst dressing, the rst hair cutting, etc. According to
descriptions of 11th19th cent. rituals, the main idea
was cleansing, breaking contacts with the mythical
space, and the return of the mother and the child to the
human world.
In the infant cycle, the most important was the rite
performed on the seventh evening o-shichiya (the
seventh night) or nazuke-no iwai (the celebration of
name-giving). On this evening, the child was ofcially
introduced to relatives and friends, and the chosen
name was publicly pronounced. The act of naming was
traditionally considered to be a very important event
in human life. Upon receiving the name, the infant
acquired a human essence; that is why before the seventh
day of its life it bore a temporary nickname given by
the mother or the midwife. In some regions of Japan,
such rites were performed a month after the birth (Ban,
2001: 34). Parents or older relatives could choose the
name; fortune-tellers or Shinto priests often assisted
them. The name was written on narrow strips of paper;
one of them was placed at the head of the babys bed and
afterwards was kept together with the dried umbilical
cord (Fig. 2). Relatives and neighbors received the
other strips together with two mochi rice cakes one
white and one red. Relatives, friends, and neighbors
responded with gifts signifying respect and joy brought
by the newborn child. The ceremony ended with a meal,
songs, and dances (The Nihon, 1986: 504505). The
name signied the rst status of the infant in society. It

E.L. Frolova / Archaeology Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 35/3 (2008) 105112

was the most effectual symbol separating the child from

the domain of spirits. Therefore after giving the name, it
was safe to take the infant outside the house. Thus during
the rst week of its life, the child successively received
signs of afliation into the community: its rst clothes,
rst name, gifts, etc. Food was prepared in honor of the
infant; people sang songs and danced for it as if it were
a little divinity.
The rite of introduction to the deity performed
one month after birth (on the 32nd or 33rd day) has
been known since the late 17th cent. The child was rst
brought to the Shinto temple and introduced to ujigami
(the family spirit) or to ubuso-no kami (the household
god). After making donations to the temple deity and
requesting protection of the infant, the priest performed
the purication and blessing rite on behalf of the deity
by swinging over the infants head the gohei staff
decorated with strips of paper to ward off evil spirits.
After the visit to the temple (miya-mairi), it was allowed
to take the child out of the home and to bring it to the
houses of friends. There parents handed out the sweet
delicacy, ame, and received dog gurines, inuhariko,
symbolizing good health and fast growth. When the
child reached the age of one, various implements were
placed before it: a sickle, a hammer, a Japanese abacus,
a writing brush, etc. The object the child took rst was
believed to indicate his future occupation (Markariyan,
Molodyakova, 1990: 131132).
Growing up
While growing up, the Japanese passed through several
age-related initiation rites, some of them entailing
a name change. The initiation rites were essential
components of personality development. Legalizing the
transition of an adolescent to adulthood, the rites dened
his social and gender status. The initiation rites helped
the adolescent to perceive cultural and social norms and
guaranteed recognition by surrounding people (Gromov,
2000: 103).
Younger children passed through initiation rites at the
ages of three, ve, and seven (boys at the ages of three
and ve). According to traditional beliefs, odd numbers
brought good luck. Starting from the age of three and
after performing special rituals, a new stage in the childs
life began. This was accentuated by new clothes, hairdo,
food, and name. Children under the age of three wore
their hair short, since it was believed that illnesses stick
to the hair. At the age of three, the important kamioki
rite the beginning of hair growing was held. One of the
esteemed members of the community took scissors and
pretended to cut away three locks on the left side, three
locks on the right side, and three locks on the forehead.
Then a band of white cloth intertwined with colored

107

Fig. 2. The seventh night the celebration of name-giving.

threads was wrapped around the childs head across the

forehead (the ends were brought to the nape of the neck).
In some regions, the band was substituted by a white cap
decorated with leaves of sedge and the tachibana citrus
tree. Those performing the rite wished the child hair as
thick as a mountain sedge and as rm as an evergreen
citrus tree. The white band and the cap symbolized grey
hair, which the individual was supposed to grow in old
age. Children, dressed and combed in a new fashion,
were introduced to the adult community (Markariyan,
Molodyakova, 1990: 133).
In the Middle Ages, in aristocratic families, when a
boy reached the age of three, wide male trousers, hakama,
were rst put on and he was rst treated to sh. At this
point infancy ended: When the boy turned three, a hat
was rst put on and the adult name Yoshimune (Taira)
was given to him (Povest o dome Taira, 1982: 546).
Although the ritual name change was normally practiced
in adolescence, 13th-cent. records contain evidence that
the name could be changed earlier. For the aristocracy,
due to socio-political reasons, it was important to declare
the child as an adult and competent clan member capable
of inheriting rights and property, close bargains, and join
unions. In samurai families, the ceremony of putting
on hakama and the name change could be performed
at the age of three and at the age of ve, when samurai
introduced their children to military chiefs and thus
announced the appearance of a new warrior.

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The age of seven was considered to be critical.

According to traditional beliefs, at this period, gods, if
propitiated properly, granted the child the right to exist.
For this purpose, children were brought to the Shinto
temple. At the age of seven, girls rst put on a kimono
secured by a rigid belt called an obi and footwear, geta.
Their hair was specially decorated and pinned up. Boys
were dressed in montsu (a short kimono with family
emblems) and hakama. According to written sources,
rites performed at the ages of three, ve, and seven were

Fig. 3. The childs hairdo of a youth.

Fig. 4. Kammuri headgear

Fig. 5. A boy and a man with kammuri

headgear put on.

practiced as early as the 12th13th cent. When you

have turned seven, and when the adulthood rite has been
performed, I will send you to serve in the palace. When
he turned seven, his coming of age was celebrated and he
was named Daita in honor of his grandfather, whose name
was Daitayu (Ibid.: 108, 362). The tradition of the Shinto
Sichigosan holiday (November 15), when three-, ve-,
and seven-year-old children are brought to the temple, has
existed for over 300 years (Markariyan, Molodyakova,
1990: 132).
Rites performed at the age of seven directly led to
the status of an adult member of society. According to
numerical magic, the following favorable age would be
13 coinciding with adolescent initiations.
During the Nara period (710794), the marriageable
age began at 13 for girls and at 15 for boys. Among
aristocratic families of the 9th16th cent., the main
initiation was conducted at the age of 1115, when in the
parents opinion, the boy had reached his physical and
spiritual maturity. However, the initiation was not timed
to a particular age. Among the fourteen emperors from
Montoku (850859) to Go-Ichijou (10161036), ve boys
passed through the initiation rite at the age of 11, ve at
the age of 15, and the rest at the ages of 14, 16, and 18
(Okagami..., 2000: 3950).
The adulthood rite named genpuku envisaged the
change of the hairdo and the headdress. Boys often passed
through the initiation publicly (Mescheryakov, Grachev,
2002: 314). Preadolescent boys in aristocratic families of
the Heian period were called warawa and did not wear
headdresses. During the gempuku rite, the childs hairdo
was rst undone (the hair was parted in the middle and
tied up under the ears on both sides (Fig. 3)); next the
hair in the front was cut, and the hair on the back of the
crown was tied up in a knot or arranged in a ponytail and
enlaced with a string, and nally the kammuri headgear
was put on (Fig. 4, 5). The ceremony was also called
covering the head (uikaburi, mikaburi, or kanmuri rei)
(Povest o Genji, 1992: 73). After that, the childs new,
adult name was proclaimed: In the land of Shinano, in
the Kiso district, a descendent of the Minamoto clan has
appeared, named Yoshinaka. At the age of thirteen, he
performed the adulthood rite and made this vow: My
ancestor of the fourth generation, the noble Yoshiie,
declared himself son of this Bodhisattva (Hatimana) and
assumed the name of Taro Hatiman. I will follow in his
steps! Thus he acquired the name of Jiro Yoshinaka of
Kiso (Povest o dome Taira, 1982: 285).
Girls had infant names until the age of 7 or 13,
i.e. until the moment they rst put on the mo (a festive
folded train attached to their belt with ribbons) and
obi attributes of an adult woman. In aristocratic circles,
the girls adulthood rite was named chakumo or mogi
(putting on the mo). During this ceremony, the girls hair
was tied up (before this she wore her hair loose), and the

E.L. Frolova / Archaeology Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 35/3 (2008) 105112

mo train was put on. After this rite, the girl was considered
an adult and marriageable (Povest o Genji, 1992: 74).
The initiation rite marked the childs transition to the
status of a competent clan member liable to a full (or
nearly full) range of rights and duties. The infant name
(jimei or jimyou) was changed to a new and real one
(jinmei).
In samurai families of the HeianMuromachi
periods (9th16th cent.), the initiation rite was named
eboshigirei. The so-called eboshioya (cap father)
put on an eboshi (a black silk cap worn by courtiers
(Fig. 6)) on the boys head. After the eboshigirei
ceremony, the boy changed his infant name warawa into
an adult one (eboshina). To form the new name, one or
several symbols from the eboshioya name were normally
borrowed. This procedure was named ichijikakidashi
conferment of one sign (Kida, 1999: 65). Conferment
of a sign was also practiced during adoption. Okagami
(The Great Mirror, a historical tale of the 11th cent.)
reads as follows: The son of this gentleman by the name
of Tadatoshi was adopted by his grandfather, Minister
Ono-no miya, who called him Sanesukeh and favored
him very much. The hieroglyph sane in this passage
is part of the ministers name Saneyori (Okagami...,
2000: 70). The 13th cent. Tale of the Taira House also
attests to this custom: I am Munezane, the junior son
of Count Shigemori Komatsu. When I was three, I was
adopted by the Minister on the left side, Tsunemune.
I was given a new name (Povest o dome Taira, 1982:
589). Conferring a hieroglyph from the name of a
wealthy and prosperous adopter upon the adoptee may
be interpreted as an attempt to bequeath a part of the
formers vital force. Precisely such a man was likely to
play the role of eboshioya.
Reliable data about the initiation rite in families
of lower classes (e.g., peasantry) are known from the
Kamakura period (11851333). For instance, in the
village of Kuriyama, Tochigi Prefecture, the rite was
performed on January 21 for all youths who attained the
age of 20 the age of adulthood in modern Japan. This
rite, as it was performed during the Edo period (1600
1868), is still regarded as an important eternal national
value (Niwa, 1975: 48). One of the most esteemed village
dwellers was elected. This man took on responsibility for
further education of the initiated boys. Together with
the parents, he gave new names to the boys, introduced
them to adult duties, and taught them the sacral rites of
the community. The youths, dressed in new short cotton
jackets, progressed along the main street. The walk
alternated with an imitation of battle encounters and
ritual dances. Boys hit each other with wooden swords or
bats such that bruises and scrapes were left on the body
essential elements of the initiation. The generation
forming initiation rites determined the age structure
of the community. They were instrumental in tying the

109

Fig. 6. Eboshi headgear.

group together and in allocating rights and duties among

the generations (Nihon no matsuri, 1992: 138).
Adulthood
In traditional societies, only those who had passed
through all infant and adolescent initiations were
considered full-fledged members of the society and
received the right to wear adult names. The universal
indication of maturity is marriage. Creating a family
heightened the status of both men and women. Marriage
never was the private affair of a boy or a girl. It
signied the union of two clans establishing relations
of cooperation and mutual aid. Marriage was especially
important for a woman since thereby she attained the
fullness of existence and became capable of fullling
her mission by giving birth to children and raising them
(Traditsionnoye mirovozzreniye..., 1989: 130).
Neither marriage nor divorce entailed the change of
family or personal name. Ties with a certain clan and
clan deities were so strong and important that nobody
wanted to break them by changing the family name. Not
much is known about female personal names since they
were tabooed and never mentioned in written sources.
It can be conjectured, however, that they also remained
unchanged. After the wedding, a woman normally
moved to her husbands house and lived there with her
mother-in-law, but she still continued to be the member
of her clan and prayed to her family deity. Among males,
the change of name at marriage occurred when a man
was adopted by a more wealthy family with a view of
maintaining a family business (Nihon jinmei daijiten,
2001: 16).
Heightened status attained by a man after he married
and had a child did not inuence his personal name either.
However, events such as victory in battle, appointment to
a position or acquirement of a title often entailed a name
change. The name of a woman could be changed if her

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E.L. Frolova / Archaeology Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 35/3 (2008) 105112

husband, son or ward received a title. For instance, the

wife of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (15371598) wore the name
of Yasuko, but when he became the shogun, she changed
her name to Yoshiko and thus emphasized the rise of her
status. Iemitsu, a wet nurse of shogun Tokugawa (1604
1651), received a new name every time her ward received
a promotion (Ibid.: 23). For religious and magic purposes,
the name could be changed in case of lasting serious
illness or upon recovery.
The nominative model for male heirs (especially in
noble families) was rather sophisticated, including: the
infant name; the name received upon initiation; the
azana type of name given by the preceptor after the boy
had completed his studies (this was the name the boy
used to introduce himself); and, nally, the name (or
names) given or taken in connection with a remarkable
event. The model could also include pseudonyms (up
to several dozens), diminutives, and nicknames. For
instance, the complete model (mid 19th cent.) could
be as follows: Arai Hakuseki Shiyo Kimi Arinaka
Norinami Zenzo Kageyu (family name, pseudonym,
real name, name of the azana type, and colloquial
name) (Bakumatsu..., 1994: 1314).
The highly developed tradition of giving pseudonyms
was probably associated with the tabooing of personal
names. Not only artists, but also warriors, peasants,
and tradesmen were normally known under their
pseudonyms. Artists usually chose their pseudonyms
from the Chinese language: for instance, Natsume
Soseki* (18671916) and Tokutomi Roka** (1868
1927). In the Middle Ages, entrance to a university
was preceded by the ceremony of giving the student a
pseudonym (Gobetsumei..., 1990: 1117).
During the Edo period, artists and artisans used to
inherit their instructors or heroes names by adding a
formant -th: Namiki Gohei (Namiki the Fifth), Tsuruya
Nanboku (Tsuruya the Seventh), Ichikawa Danjuurou
(Ichikawa the Tenth), etc. (Chkhartishvili, 2000: 15). The
artist Katsushika Hokusai (17601849) had more than
50 pseudonyms. The most famous one Hokusai rst
appeared in 1796 (Katsushika Hokusai, 1972: 211).
Names of Buddhist and Shinto priests can also be
regarded as professional pseudonyms. Upon ordination,
priests and monks forsook mundane life, left their
families, and took on new names. Religious schools
differed as to the principles underlying the choice of
names. In some of them, traditional signs were used: the
*Natsume is a real surname; Soseki is a pseudonym
borrowed from Chinese phraseology. The idiom, soseki tinryu,
literally means to rinse the mouth with a stone and to put the
head in a brook, i.e. to behave absurdly, do not learn from
mistakes.
**Tokutomi is a real surname; Roka is a pseudonym
meaning reed ower.

sun (Nichiren school), a character from the hieroglyphic

representation of Buddhas name (Shinkyuu school),
honor (Jousou school), etc. Confucians choose their
pseudonyms following Chinese models; symbols of joy
and happiness were often used Ogyuu Sourai, Butsu
Sourai, Kan Chazan, etc. (Watanabe, 1958: 187).
In sum, analysis of pseudonyms of famous people
in Japan allows for the following classification:
(1) ancestral (ordinal) pseudonyms; (2) toponymic (after
the place of residence); (3) functionary (after the place of
work or study); (4) imaginative (by aesthetic preferences,
facetious nicknames); (5) characteristic (by appearance
or behavior); (6) desirative; and (7) monastic. As we
can see, general principles governing the construction of
pseudonyms nearly completely match those regulating
the choice of personal names and nicknames, suggesting
that pseudonyms were basically similar to other names.
The fact of name changes marked important events in
human life, so that life history could be traced by the
chain of names.
Death
The last important milestone in human life is the departure
to the other world or, in traditional understanding, to the
world of ancestor spirits. In Japan, a worthy end to ones
life is regarded as a spiritual rising. In traditional society,
the signicance of human life was determined by the
plentitude of social and family relations. Ancestral and
personal names served as indicators of status and place
in the hierarchy of these relations. Therefore people
strove to earn a worthy name in which their descendents
would take pride.
In Japan, the burial rite included lavation, change
of clothes, and conferment of the posthumous name.
In a sense, it repeated the birth related rites. The main
purpose of giving the rst name was to tie an infant to
the human world, whereas the deceased spirit had to
rid himself of the human name, viewed as a material
substance bearing the imprint of fate. All belongings of
the deceased, including his name, were transferred to the
other world and could not be used by people who were
alive. That is why names of deceased relatives were not
given to newborn babies and were not normally used in
conversation. Speaking of a dead person, people used
kinship terms adding the word late or, in the case
of an emperor or a noble person, a posthumous name
(Juugaku, 1979: 112).
The first recorded posthumous names (okurina)
belonged to Japanese rulers, starting from the rst Jinmu
emperor (660585 BC). Up to the period of emperor Junna
(died in 840), the posthumous names were polysynthetic,
as were the names of ancient Japanese gods. The Chinese
model prevailed during subsequent periods: names

E.L. Frolova / Archaeology Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 35/3 (2008) 105112

composed of two symbols of primarily abstract meaning.

This system was adopted as late as the Heian period
(7941185), when Japanese rulers were post factum
given Sinicized names. For instance, the posthumous
name of the legendary emperor Jinmu (660 BC) was
Kamuyamato Iwarebiko Hohodemi-no Sumeramikoto,
while the Chinese type name Jinmu (divine warrior)
was given to him, as with other ancient rulers, as late
as the second half of the 8th cent. The posthumous
name of emperor Tenmu was Ama-no Nunahara Oki-no
mahito, where Oki (in Chinese, Inchzhou) is one of the
sacred Taoistic mountain islands inhabited by immortals
(Mescheryakov, Grachev, 2002: 386).
The hypothesis concerning the genealogical lists of
Japanese rulers the earliest prototypes of chronicles
is noteworthy in this respect. In the 6th7th cent. burial
rites, mourning speeches became especially important.
Ancestors of the deceased ruler ascending to the supreme
solar deity were named in these speeches. In the situation
where succession rules were not clearly formulated, those
names were meant to justify the heirs rights to the throne.
Such genealogical legends rst were publicized orally and
later on they were recorded in a written form (Baksheyev,
2001: 14).
In the 7th 8th cent., when the positions of Buddhism
had strengthened and mainland rites began to be practiced
in Japan, local burial practices changed. According
to Buddhist tradition, sutras were brought to the altar
which was erected to commemorate the deceased. The
posthumous Buddhist name (kaimyou) composed of
hieroglyphs bearing moral and legal meaning were
engraved on the gravestone. The name was supposed to
serve as a guiding star leading the deceased into the other
world. Nowadays, the kaimyou is written on a special plate
(ihai) incarnating the soul of the deceased. It is placed on
the domestic altar (butsudan), and commemoration rites
are performed near it (Fig. 7, 8).
According to archaic beliefs, life continued after
death, passing to another dimension, where the dead
person was supposed to live among the spirits with a
posthumous name. As in the actual world, mans status
in the afterlife was of primary importance. Therefore
the Buddhist practice of raising the dead mans status
by giving him a proper Buddhist name comes as no
surprise. Care of the dead person was a matter of honor
for the family and evidenced deference to the ancestors
(Toyoda, 2000: 50).
Conclusions
From birth to death, human life was stringently regulated
and accompanied by diverse and complex rites. At several
turning points, man underwent spiritual transformations.
In the rst days after birth, the nameless, wild creature,

111

Fig. 7. Ihai commemorative plate.

10
2

9
8

3
4
5

7
6

Fig. 8. Butsudan domestic altar.

1 Buddha statuette; 2, 9 ihai plates; 38, 10 ritual objects.

living outside the mythical space, died. Social birth was

marked by naming.
During the passage rite, the initiate died through
the loss of his previous name and was reborn into a new
role of a competent person bearing an adult name.
Having ascended the social ladder, he married and raised
children.
Death was perceived not as a disappearance, but as a
transition to a new state a rebirth for a new life where
man joined the cohort of ancestors. The mundane name
was abandoned, and a posthumous name, believed to
be more sublime, was acquired. The ancestor cult was
based on the idea that the persons life continues in his

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descendants, and ultimate death occurs only when the

last descendant has died. In later periods, due to a gradual
weakening of kin and community ties, this cult turned into
a relic maintained through social inertia.
The existence of a sophisticated system of names
was caused by a need for encrypting the true name, the
mentioning of which was tantamount to surrendering
oneself. The possibility to change names in the course
of ones life gave rise to a complex system of naming,
which functioned from the Early Middle Ages to the 1872
family revolution.
Echoes of beliefs concerning the independent
existence of a name and its identity with an individual can
be traced to this day in modern Japanese society.

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Received October 10, 2007.