Ethnic and Cultural Functions of Name in Traditional Japanese Society

Ethnic and Cultural Functions of Name in Traditional Japanese Society

E.L. Frolova.

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 fi 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 defi ned the person’s status in the afterlife by making him a member of the cohort of ancestors. The tradition stems from the age of the legendary fi rst Japanese emperors and, because of Buddhism, has been preserved to the present day.