Author: John D. (Page 72 of 202)

Offerings for the dead are similar to those for a kami – rice, salt and water together with some favourite food or drink

This is part of an ongoing series drawn from an academic article by Elizabeth Kenney.  For a link to the original article, see Part One.  The extracts below concern the time leading up to the funeral ceremony when the deceased is still in the house.

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Daily offerings to the deceased
Until the coffin is removed from the house, offerings are made to the deceased twice a day, in the morning and evening. The offerings may consist of the deceased’s favorite food (this type of offerings is called “usual offerings,”) or washed rice, salt and water (“fresh offerings,”). The latter are offerings usually made to the kami.

Offerings for the kami may include fish and meat, but not for the Buddhist dead

The dual offerings indicate the double, transitional nature of the deceased: he is both human and divine. Fujii Masao comments that the offering of real-people food during this stage is one thing that distinguishes a Shinto funeral from a Buddhist one, and the etiquette books advise that the Shinto dead may receive offerings of fish and meat, in contrast to the Buddhist dead, who observe vegetarian precepts.

Announcement of the “return of the spirit” to the local shrine
The announcement may be made to the local shrine or to the place where the deceased was born. The family sends a representative to the shrine to make the announcement.  This rite is often omitted (or performed via telephone) nowadays, and probably seems redundant to many people, since the death has already been announced to the household kami. It is significant for our purposes, because it has no corresponding act in Buddhist funeral activities.

Purification ceremonies for the grave site
If a new grave is to be built, an “earth pacification ceremony” is called for. This is the same ceremony conducted before the construction of a new building in order to pacify the earth gods. The norito [prayer] used for the grave is appropriately different from the house-building norito and asks the kami to look after the grave that is to be built.

After the grave has been made, another purification ceremony is performed. The area to be purified is marked off with a bamboo rope. One Shinto priest waves a purification wand, and another sprinkles salted hot water over the area.

Purification wand used by priests in their purification ritual

Shinto priest’s purification
In the period right after death, the deceased is cared for mostly by the family members. The first series of rites for preparing the corpse do not require a Shinto priest, but a funeral director may be present to offer guidance.

The Shinto priest has a liturgical role, does not touch the corpse, and usually does not participate until the wake. In preparation, the priest undertakes simple purificatory exercises, such as pouring cold water on himself or abstaining from meat. One priest told me that he took a bath in the morning before conducting a wake or funeral (whereas most Japanese people take their baths in the evening). These are the same sort of exercises that Shinto priests perform before most shrine ceremonies.

Before rituals such as this, priests have to engage in purification rites

Placing valued objects in the coffin or grave was common practice in ancient times. Here a Viking burial is shown with shield and sword accompanying the warrior to the next world.

This is the fourth in a series of articles about the Shinto funereal practices, adapted from an academic article by Elizabeth Kenney.  (For a link to the original article, see Part I.)

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Encoffining
The chief mourner and other relatives assemble in the room. There is seldom a priest present. Holding the futon, the mourners lift the corpse and put the corpse and futon together into the coffin. They then cover the body with a new futon.

Various symbolic objects or items especially valued by the deceased may go into the coffin, too. I have heard of a fishing rod, a pipe, books, a doll (“to keep her company”), clothes, rosaries, make-up, a comb, the deceased’s umbilical cord (very common), blank white paper “money” (shades of China!), and real 1,000-yen bills.

The paper doll ‘scapegoat’ used to remove impurities

(One can’t help but speculate that the doll is a vestige of the Sino-Japanese custom of putting clay figures into a grave. At the same time, since in Japan dolls (usually paper) are used in purification rites, the doll in the coffin might function as a scapegoat for the spirit of the deceased. It is worth noting that the doll I heard about was not an old-fashioned paper cut-out, but a regular plastic baby doll.)

Next, the coffin is closed and, in some cases, purified (in which case, a Shinto priest will be asked in). Next, the family members purify themselves by washing their hands and rinsing out their mouths. This is the hand-washing rite that reoccurs several times during the funeral rites.

When the coffin has been set in its proper place, the mourners sit in front of it. The chief mourner bows and everyone follows. Close family members offer food. The mourners then bow in order of closeness to the deceased. The food may be cleared away or left there. Finally, the chief mourner bows, the other mourners do likewise, and they all leave the room.

In ancient times ‘haniwa’ clay figures used to accompany burials

The encoffining was traditionally done under the direction of a Shinto priest. However, in today’s Japan, it is more often a ceremony directed by an employee of a funeral company, who leads the family through the proper steps.

The coffin must be set up in the manner in which it will remain for a day or two. Behind the coffin stands a folding screen. The coffin is placed on benches so that it is raised up. A photo of the deceased may be propped up in front of the coffin. A small table with the protective sword is placed to the right of the coffin, near the head of the deceased.

As many as three long, narrow tables are placed in front of the coffin: on one are placed the awards, medals, commendations, and so forth, that the deceased had received in life; another table is for the food offerings; and on a third are placed tamagushi. Pairs of sakaki and lanterns (lights) may also be set up in front of the coffin. The whole area should be enclosed with curtains on three sides.

A priest prepares to hand a tamagushi offering to participants to present to the kami.

Death is usually associated with Buddhist practices, as pictured here, but Shinto funerals take a slightly different form

3. Announcement of the death (to the ancestral altar, and shrines connected to the deceased.)
The Shinto death is reported to the kami (either in the family kamidana [house altar] or at a shrine). If the deceased or relatives had prayed for a cure at a certain shrine, then a visit should be paid to that shrine in order to announce the death. If the shrine is far away, then a representative can be sent or the family can “pray from afar”. The death may also be reported to the ancestors (who are kami, after all) at the place within the house where ancestral rites are conducted (usually the ancestral altar, but sometimes the kamidana).

After the announcement, a white piece of paper is pasted over the kamidana in order to insulate the kami from the impurity of death. The soreisha, which houses the ancestral tablets of a Shinto family, is also covered with a sheet of white paper. In contrast, a Buddhist household covers the kamidana but not the butsudan [Buddhist altar], since the Buddhist ancestors do not need to be sealed off from the impurity of death. It is the chief mourner, the most polluted person, who covers the soreisha with the white paper.

4. Pillow decorations
The body of the deceased is placed with his head pointing north or to the right (from the point of view of the mourners facing it). The face is covered with a white cloth. Behind him is a plain white folding screen, which may be provided by the funeral company.

Kamidana with Shinto-style utensils for offerings

On a small table of unvarnished wood, the relatives set out food offerings for the deceased. The low table used for Shinto pillow decorations is distinctive, made of plain wood, with four legs on each side, joined together at the bottom by a horizontal foot. The offerings are the deceased’s favorite foods, along with the characteristic Shinto offerings of sakaki, washed rice, salt, sake, and water (The Jinja Honchô manual specifies the deceased’s favorite foods or washed rice, salt, and water).

In addition, a protective sword or knife may be laid on top of the corpse, pointing away from his face, or set out on a separate table (the preferred Shinto arrangement). An ordinary knife or even a razor may stand in for the sword, but the funeral company will supply a sword. For women, a mirror may be used instead of a sword (to deflect, rather than cut down, the forces, never clearly named, that hinder one’s journey to the netherworld).

For Buddhist pillow decorations, one might use candles, flowers, incense (usually one stick at a time), a bell, water, glutinous rice balls, and a bowl of rice with a pair of chopsticks stuck straight into the rice.

Sakaki branch tied to a torii pillar

The tree used in Buddhist pillow decorations is the shikimi ([illicium religiosum]) — also written, significantly, with a made-in- Japan character consisting of “tree” plus “Buddha”, a perfect counterpoint to the character for sakaki, which is comprised of “tree” plus “kami”

The chart below shows a clear pattern of differences between the Shinto and Buddhist pillow decorations.

Shinto  kami tree (sakaki); uncooked rice / for the gods; water / for the gods; salt; sake; [sometimes tamagushi]; [sometimes one or two candlesl
Buddhist   – Buddha tree (shikimi); flowers (“living”);  cooked rice / for the dead; water / as though for the living; dango dumplings; bell; incense; one or two candles; favorite foods of the deceased

The Shinto dead eat uncooked rice that is not normally eaten by a civilized Japanese person. (Raw rice is eaten at certain Shinto ceremonies as part of the naorai, a shared meal in the presence of the kami. This is another example of the kami’s preference for uncooked food. In the Tenrikyô religion, raw rice is used as spiritual medicine. Both these examples illustrate the fact that raw rice, usually “less than” food, becomes “more than” food in certain ritual settings.)

Both the Buddhist and Shinto dead drink water. But the Buddhist dead drink it out of a regular glass or teacup, even a mug. In contrast, the Shinto dead drink their water from the container used at Shinto rituals. Here again, the details of presentation can be matched with patterns of food symbolism to demarcate the Buddhist vs. Shinto dead.

Offerings of sake and salt at a shrine

The extracts below from Elizabeth Kenney’s article will bring to mind the 2008 Oscar-winning film called Okuribito (The Departed), which begins with the mesmerising scene detailing the extraordinary care and deference with which the corpse is ritually cleansed.  There is however an important step before that known as matsugo no mizu (the last water). Please read on…

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1 . Wetting the lips of the deceased
A close relative of the deceased takes a disposable chopstick with cotton tied to the end, dips it in a small bowl of water and touches it to the lips of the deceased. Traditionally, a writing brush was used. Because today 80% of deaths occur in hospitals, a doctor and nurse may solemnly observe the rite, giving medical professionals a role in the rituals of death.

Symbolically, this last offering of water is the final chance to revive the corpse. Since the dead will no longer drink of the water of the living, this water is both an offering to the deceased and a guarantee that he is truly dead. In addition to providing hope (of revival) and proof (of death), this water is the first in a long series of offerings of food and drink made to the deceased in his new status as an ancestor.

Offerings to the kami originated with a desire to nurture the dead

Lying in his hospital bed, the deceased still has an ambiguous status: human yet dead. His last sip of water as a human is also the first he receives as an ancestor. The dead in Japan revert to a condition of babyhood, needing to be fed by living adults. This role reversal (children feeding parents) casts the living as maternal nurturers of the dead. The living provide the dead with the food they need in their new existence… it is thoroughly integrated into Japanese funeral practices, being performed by Shintoists as often as Buddhists, and usually without the presence of any religious official.

2. Washing the corpse
Both the Buddhist and Shinto dead (like the dead in most cultures) receive a last bath. Even today in Japan, it is usually relatives, rather than funeral or medical specialists, who perform this final cleansing. Today, people use alcohol and gauze (which may have been provided by the hospital or by the funeral company), rather than giving the deceased a true bath.

It may be, as several Japanese scholars contend, that the awareness of death pollution is diminishing in modern Japan. Death taboos are less strictly observed, and many young or middle-aged people do not readily think in terms of impurity or pollution (kegare). When asked, for example, why they do not send new year’s cards when there has been a death in their family or why they refrain from entering a shrine after a relative’s death, they will respond that it has to do with “sadness” or “mourning,” and the term “death pollution” is unlikely to be uttered.

Although the notion of death pollution (an intangible condition) may be fading, today’s Japanese (like citizens of other industrialized countries) are squeamish about the actual corpse. As death becomes less familiar to the Japanese, the bathing of the corpse may gradually become abhorrent.

Ritual purification of the body is important in life as in death

Several Japanese college students have told me they were “surprised” to encounter this rite after the death of their grandparent or great-grandparent. But the more important point is that these Japanese students did help wash the corpse or observed the activity (with some reporting that they felt “uncomfortable”). In contrast, American and Australian college students ask, “Isn’t it illegal?”

In Japan, the washing is already sanitized by the hospital setting, the use of alcohol, and the quickness of the procedure. The ritual washing may eventually be entirely in the hands of professionals, as it already is in the U.S.

While the intimate handling of the corpse grants the mourners a last chance to attend to the deceased, it is also the most polluting moment in the funeral process, since it requires direct contact with the corpse. Shinto priests naturally do not participate in the handling of the corpse (and neither do Buddhist priests). If the family needs guidance and support during this act, they will get it from a funeral company employee or from a community group. The Shinto priest does not arrive until the next stage.

The corpse needs not only to be bathed but dressed and made up (“death makeup,”). Buddhist rites focus on the dress of the deceased far more than do Shinto rites. A student told me that when her family bathed the corpse of her great-grandmother, they wore straw wreaths (“like a life-saver”) over one shoulder and across the torso. Her mother explained that the wreath “had the power to keep my great-grandmother from bringing us into the other world with her.”

The wreath is clearly akin to the big straw circles, like freestanding doorways, erected at Shinto shrines at the end of June and December. People step through these straw circles at the liminal times of midyear and year-end in order to purify themselves and ensure health and safety for the next half year.

Vaginal symbolism is surely also part of the meaning (rebirth), especially in the case of the family members attending to the deceased. By wearing the wreath, pushing themselves through the circular opening headfirst, they enact the dead person’s rebirth in the realm of the dead (but do not go all the way through themselves). At the same time, the straw wreath retains its symbolism as an agent of purity and thus protects the mourners from the power and pollution of death.

Stepping through the straw circle is a form of rebirth, whether in terms of a new purified self or of entering the world beyond