Wrapping

1. Reflecting about today's class

Today we discussed the Japanese concept of "wrapping". Do you agree with the web site's description? What do you do that can be called "wrapping"? Give examples and reasons for your actions.

I disagree with the opinion of the website we looked at in our class. I thought it was unfortunate that everyone laughed when we were looking at the web site, especially the part about Kimonos and construction sites. If you ask me, I wouldn’t say we’re “wrapping” ourselves with Kimonos, and that people are “wrapping” buildings just because we love “wrapping” something. I know it looks like “wrapping”, but all of these actions have reasons why people are wrapping something. For example, people wrap buildings when we build them because they want to protect citizens from hazards and the noise from the construction. Japanese people wrap something like rope around shrine entrances because they distinguishing the separation of God’s world and the outside world. For me, Tatemae and Enryo ( to refrain, to hesitate) are totally different.


2. Reparation for the next class "Death and Funerals" Answer these questions in your blog.

a. Where do you go when you die?

I believe I will be born again as a new living being, which I haven’t become yet, like a flower, an animal, or a human when I die. I believe everyone and everything was born to learn something they don’t know yet, so I am alive now to learn something as a woman. In Buddhism, people say they will go to heaven or hell when they die. If people did something not good, like crime then they have to go to hell be punished for it. I don’t know what is considered “not good”, but it is said that the great king of the Buddhist Hades (in Japanese he is called 閻魔 Enma ) is in front of the entrance of the hell to judge and give them punishments for what they did when they were alive. Therefore, I think that is why many people say to kids “If you do that again, the great king of the Buddhist Hades in hell will take your tongue away!” when kids did something bad (especially, when kids lie because they can’t speak or lie anymore without their tongues).

b. Explain why do Japanese have death memorial services 1 month, 1 year, 3 years, 7 years, etc. after a person's death?

I think it’s because of the influence from Confucianism in China. I am not sure about that, but I have heard something like that. There is 冥界 (Myoukai) on the way to go to hell. There are about 10 kings (including 閻魔 Enma) in the hell, and all of them judge people after die every 7 days, like 初七日(7 days later), 十四日(14 days later),　二十一日(21 days later),　二十八日(28 days later),　三十五日(35 days later),　四十二日(42 days later),　四十九日(49 days later)…. Plus after that there are 3 more additional judges. That is 一回忌(first year), 三回忌(3 years later), 七回忌(7 years later). So people are judged 10 times and 3 more times from each kings of Myoukai to lighten their sin as much as possible before going to hell. They might change direction from going to hell and being judged to being born again. It called 十三仏信仰in Japanese. (I am not sure how to read it in Japanese because words of Buddhism have sometimes different reading). So I guess that is the reason why Japanese people have death memorial services 1 month, 1 year, 3 years, 7 years, etc. after a person's death.