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130-485: Itako ( Japanese : イタコ ) , also known as ichiko ( 市子 ) or ogamisama ( オガミサマ ) , are blind women who train to become spiritual mediums in Japan . Training involves severe ascetic practices, after which the woman is said to be able to communicate with Japanese Shinto spirits, kami , and the spirits of the dead. Itako perform rituals tied to communication with the dead and divination . The practice has been on

260-519: A yagura . Many temples also concurrently hold a cultural and food bazaar providing a variety of cuisine and art, also to display features of Japanese culture and Japanese-American history. Performances of taiko by both amateur and professional groups have recently become a popular feature of Bon Odori festivals. Obon festivals are usually scheduled anytime between July and September. Bon Odori melodies are also similar to those in Japan; for example,

390-624: A benefit from the in-group to the out-group) means "[I/we] explained [it] to [him/her/them]". Such beneficiary auxiliary verbs thus serve a function comparable to that of pronouns and prepositions in Indo-European languages to indicate the actor and the recipient of an action. Japanese "pronouns" also function differently from most modern Indo-European pronouns (and more like nouns) in that they can take modifiers as any other noun may. For instance, one does not say in English: The amazed he ran down

520-683: A ceremony is held, announcing the marriage of the itako and her patron spirit. Scholars suggest that blindness has long been associated with spiritual powers in Japan. Furthermore, options for those with severe vision impairment to become self-sufficient were limited in ancient times. This led many families to send young blind women to itako apprenticeships up until the start of the Meiji era , which outlawed itako rituals outright. Today, itako are most commonly associated with Mt. Osore in Aomori prefecture. There, itako gather for an annual festival to channel

650-414: A distinct language of its own that has absorbed various aspects from neighboring languages. Japanese has five vowels, and vowel length is phonemic, with each having both a short and a long version. Elongated vowels are usually denoted with a line over the vowel (a macron ) in rōmaji , a repeated vowel character in hiragana , or a chōonpu succeeding the vowel in katakana . /u/ ( listen )

780-419: A glide /j/ and either the first part of a geminate consonant ( っ / ッ , represented as Q) or a moraic nasal in the coda ( ん / ン , represented as N). The nasal is sensitive to its phonetic environment and assimilates to the following phoneme, with pronunciations including [ɴ, m, n, ɲ, ŋ, ɰ̃] . Onset-glide clusters only occur at the start of syllables but clusters across syllables are allowed as long as

910-479: A listener depending on the listener's relative social position and the degree of familiarity between the speaker and the listener. When used in different social relationships, the same word may have positive (intimate or respectful) or negative (distant or disrespectful) connotations. Japanese often use titles of the person referred to where pronouns would be used in English. For example, when speaking to one's teacher, it

1040-416: A period of several days. These rituals are observed by the community, which prays for a fast resolution through the early arrival of a marrying deity. Apprenticeship typically lasts three years, and involves heavy rote memorization and feats of physical purification . During this time, the itako -in-training is essentially adopted by a practicing shaman, and performs household work for the family. Ahead of

1170-417: A protective spirit, or kami . Blacker describes an old folk tale tying the box, and its contents, to an inugami ritual. In this ritual, a dog is buried up to its neck and starved, while staring at food too far for it to reach. The itako place the animal's skull into a box and offer its spirit a daily offering of food. In return, the spirit enters homes of her patrons and provides detailed information about

1300-453: A river. This symbolises the way of the souls back to the world of the dead. Both these fires mark the commencement (mukaebi) as well of the closing of the festival. Another significant ritual practiced during the Obon festival in Japan is to craft a cucumber horse and eggplant cow, known as shōryō uma ( 精霊馬 , "spirit horse") or ushi uma ( 牛馬 , "cow horse") , that act as a vessel for

1430-408: A sentence need not be stated and pronouns may be omitted if they can be inferred from context. In the example above, hana ga nagai would mean "[their] noses are long", while nagai by itself would mean "[they] are long." A single verb can be a complete sentence: Yatta! ( やった! ) "[I / we / they / etc] did [it]!". In addition, since adjectives can form the predicate in a Japanese sentence (below),

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1560-428: A single adjective can be a complete sentence: Urayamashii! ( 羨ましい! ) "[I'm] jealous [about it]!". While the language has some words that are typically translated as pronouns, these are not used as frequently as pronouns in some Indo-European languages, and function differently. In some cases, Japanese relies on special verb forms and auxiliary verbs to indicate the direction of benefit of an action: "down" to indicate

1690-580: A spiritual need created by Japan's legalization of abortion in 1948. Itako must learn a chant known as the New Year Ebisu ( 正月えべす , shōgatsu-ebesu ) , a celebration of the New Year delivered in travels at the start of Spring. The chant mixes Buddhist references (such as peacocks) and aspects of the Japanese national anthem. Scholars suggest the language reveals the chant is derived from songs associated with

1820-411: A trance-state. The ritual songs are typically repeated to many patrons, suggesting that the itako are understood, even by their patrons, to be theatrical performers. Nonetheless, a survey of 670 people with chronic illnesses in the area around Osorezan Mountain, home of many itako , showed that 35% of those patients had visited itako to take part in a kuchiyose ritual. Mizuko kuyō ( 水子供養 )

1950-596: A variety of Japanese food and drinks, art and dance, with the vast number of Japanese companies in Malaysia taking part to promote their products. Obon festivals are also celebrated in North America, particularly by Japanese-Americans or Japanese-Canadians affiliated with Buddhist temples and organizations. Buddhist Churches of America (BCA) temples in the U.S. typically celebrate Obon Festival with both religious Obon observances and traditional Bon Odori dancing around

2080-437: A wedding ceremony, kamizukeshiki , is performed as an initiation. The itako trainee is dressed in a red wedding dress, and red rice and fish are consumed to celebrate her marriage to the spirit. It is suggested that the ceremony signals the death of the itako' s life as a burden and her rebirth as a contributing member of the community. In contemporary Japan, itako are on the decline. In 2009, less than 20 remained, all over

2210-451: A young age, prior to menstruation, at the encouragement of her parents. Before the introduction of special education programs in Japan, this was a choice made by the family to assure that a blind daughter could contribute to the household. Adopting the role of a medium was seen as an acceptable means for blind women to contribute to their local village and household, and avoid becoming a financial burden to their families. Training for itako

2340-624: Is compressed rather than protruded , or simply unrounded. Some Japanese consonants have several allophones , which may give the impression of a larger inventory of sounds. However, some of these allophones have since become phonemic. For example, in the Japanese language up to and including the first half of the 20th century, the phonemic sequence /ti/ was palatalized and realized phonetically as [tɕi] , approximately chi ( listen ) ; however, now [ti] and [tɕi] are distinct, as evidenced by words like tī [tiː] "Western-style tea" and chii [tɕii] "social status". The "r" of

2470-421: Is topic–comment . Sentence-final particles are used to add emotional or emphatic impact, or form questions. Nouns have no grammatical number or gender , and there are no articles . Verbs are conjugated , primarily for tense and voice , but not person . Japanese adjectives are also conjugated. Japanese has a complex system of honorifics , with verb forms and vocabulary to indicate the relative status of

2600-409: Is a ceremony performed for mothers who have lost their children in childbirth or through abortions. The ritual, Buddhist in nature, gives the unborn or stillborn child a name, and then calls upon the protection of the spirit Jizo. The ceremony is considered by many to be a scam preying on grieving mothers, owing to its relatively recent origins in the 1960s. Others, however, see the practice as addressing

2730-450: Is a collaboration with several Japanese-American organizations, and hosts thousands of people over a three-day period. The festival provides authentic Japanese music, art, dance, food, and entertainment including dancing around a yagura , sumo wrestling, taiko drums, bonsai demonstrations, music played on traditional instruments, several bazaars, food courts with authentic Japanese foods, tea ceremonies, candlelit lanterns released on

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2860-445: Is also seen in o-medetō "congratulations", from medetaku ). Late Middle Japanese has the first loanwords from European languages – now-common words borrowed into Japanese in this period include pan ("bread") and tabako ("tobacco", now "cigarette"), both from Portuguese . Modern Japanese is considered to begin with the Edo period (which spanned from 1603 to 1867). Since Old Japanese,

2990-519: Is also used in a limited fashion (such as for imported acronyms) in Japanese writing. The numeral system uses mostly Arabic numerals , but also traditional Chinese numerals . Proto-Japonic , the common ancestor of the Japanese and Ryukyuan languages , is thought to have been brought to Japan by settlers coming from the Korean peninsula sometime in the early- to mid-4th century BC (the Yayoi period ), replacing

3120-440: Is appropriate to use sensei ( 先生 , "teacher"), but inappropriate to use anata . This is because anata is used to refer to people of equal or lower status, and one's teacher has higher status. Japanese nouns have no grammatical number, gender or article aspect. The noun hon ( 本 ) may refer to a single book or several books; hito ( 人 ) can mean "person" or "people", and ki ( 木 ) can be "tree" or "trees". Where number

3250-451: Is as much an agricultural festival as a religious one. Pitri Paksha (literally "fortnight of the ancestors") is a 16–lunar day period in Hindu calendar when Hindus pay homage to their ancestors ( Pitrs ), especially through food offerings. Pitri Paksha is considered by Hindus to be inauspicious, given the death rite known as Śrāddha or Tarpana performed during

3380-684: Is associated with comedy (see Kansai dialect ). Dialects of Tōhoku and North Kantō are associated with typical farmers. The Ryūkyūan languages, spoken in Okinawa and the Amami Islands (administratively part of Kagoshima ), are distinct enough to be considered a separate branch of the Japonic family; not only is each language unintelligible to Japanese speakers, but most are unintelligible to those who speak other Ryūkyūan languages. However, in contrast to linguists, many ordinary Japanese people tend to consider

3510-462: Is better documentation of Late Middle Japanese phonology than for previous forms (for instance, the Arte da Lingoa de Iapam ). Among other sound changes, the sequence /au/ merges to /ɔː/ , in contrast with /oː/ ; /p/ is reintroduced from Chinese; and /we/ merges with /je/ . Some forms rather more familiar to Modern Japanese speakers begin to appear – the continuative ending - te begins to reduce onto

3640-413: Is called forward to protect those attending the ceremony. During the summoning of the deceased ( hotoke oroshi ), the itako sings songs, called kudoki , said to be relayed by the contacted spirit. The spirit of the dead arrives and shares memories of its life and the afterlife, answering questions for patrons. Then, the spirits are sent away, and songs are sung about "hell, insects, and birds." A final spell

3770-509: Is correlated with the sex of the speaker and the social situation in which they are spoken: men and women alike in a formal situation generally refer to themselves as watashi ( 私 , literally "private") or watakushi (also 私 , hyper-polite form), while men in rougher or intimate conversation are much more likely to use the word ore ( 俺 "oneself", "myself") or boku . Similarly, different words such as anata , kimi , and omae ( お前 , more formally 御前 "the one before me") may refer to

3900-543: Is customary for people to be given leave. The Japanese Obon Festival is heavily influenced from the Ghost Festival of Buddhism, and the Chinese Taoist Zhongyuan ( 中元 ) Festival. Before Buddhism came to Japan there was already a custom in place to beckon the deceased home to their families twice a year, both in spring and autumn, in the night of the full moon. This custom already had a close connection to

4030-409: Is described as the moment in which Fudo Myoo , or Nittensama, or some other deity, has taken possession of the itako' s body. In some cases, the itako must collapse while naming the spirit. In other cases, the names of various deities are written and scattered, while the itako sweeps over them with a brush until one of them is caught, which denotes the name of the possessing spirit. At this point,

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4160-572: Is home to the largest Japanese population outside Japan . São Paulo is the main city of the Japanese community in Brazil, and also features the major festival in Brazil, with street odori dancing and matsuri dance. It also features taiko and shamisen contests. The festival also features a variety of Japanese food and drink, art and dance. Obon is also celebrated in communities of Japanese immigrants and their descendants and friends throughout South America: Obon festivals can be found in

4290-417: Is important, it can be indicated by providing a quantity (often with a counter word ) or (rarely) by adding a suffix, or sometimes by duplication (e.g. 人人 , hitobito , usually written with an iteration mark as 人々 ). Words for people are usually understood as singular. Thus Tanaka-san usually means Mx Tanaka . Words that refer to people and animals can be made to indicate a group of individuals through

4420-722: Is less common. In terms of mutual intelligibility , a survey in 1967 found that the four most unintelligible dialects (excluding Ryūkyūan languages and Tōhoku dialects ) to students from Greater Tokyo were the Kiso dialect (in the deep mountains of Nagano Prefecture ), the Himi dialect (in Toyama Prefecture ), the Kagoshima dialect and the Maniwa dialect (in Okayama Prefecture ). The survey

4550-463: Is locally associated with this "traditional" ritual, though evidence suggests itako withdrew to the mountain to escape pressure from the Meiji state . The ceremony had traditionally taken place in the ancestral home of the dead. Ceremonies draw on a series of Shinto practices, but most often call upon Buddhist gods. Some chants of the itako are similar to secret practices of Yoshida Shinto , and may be tied to practices at Ise shrine . Itako perform

4680-420: Is often called a topic-prominent language , which means it has a strong tendency to indicate the topic separately from the subject, and that the two do not always coincide. The sentence Zō wa hana ga nagai ( 象は鼻が長い ) literally means, "As for elephant(s), (the) nose(s) (is/are) long". The topic is zō "elephant", and the subject is hana "nose". Japanese grammar tends toward brevity; the subject or object of

4810-489: Is preserved in words such as matsuge ("eyelash", lit. "hair of the eye"); modern mieru ("to be visible") and kikoeru ("to be audible") retain a mediopassive suffix - yu(ru) ( kikoyu → kikoyuru (the attributive form, which slowly replaced the plain form starting in the late Heian period) → kikoeru (all verbs with the shimo-nidan conjugation pattern underwent this same shift in Early Modern Japanese )); and

4940-464: Is repeated three times: “The old fox in the Shinoda woods, when he cries during the day, then he does not cry in the night”. The interaction lasts about 15 minutes. As recently as 1962, ethnographers observing itako rituals noted a shaking of hands and use of special voices when channeling the dead. More recent observers note that itako sang in their own voices, without any visual performance of entering

5070-402: Is the version of Japanese discussed in this article. Formerly, standard Japanese in writing ( 文語 , bungo , "literary language") was different from colloquial language ( 口語 , kōgo ) . The two systems have different rules of grammar and some variance in vocabulary. Bungo was the main method of writing Japanese until about 1900; since then kōgo gradually extended its influence and

5200-471: Is used for the present and the future. For verbs that represent an ongoing process, the -te iru form indicates a continuous (or progressive) aspect , similar to the suffix ing in English. For others that represent a change of state, the -te iru form indicates a perfect aspect. For example, kite iru means "They have come (and are still here)", but tabete iru means "They are eating". Questions (both with an interrogative pronoun and yes/no questions) have

5330-405: Is why some linguists do not classify Japanese "pronouns" as pronouns, but rather as referential nouns, much like Spanish usted (contracted from vuestra merced , "your ( majestic plural ) grace") or Portuguese você (from vossa mercê ). Japanese personal pronouns are generally used only in situations requiring special emphasis as to who is doing what to whom. The choice of words used as pronouns

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5460-464: The Eiga monogatari ( 栄花物語 ) . The ritual is held during a funeral or anniversary of a death, though some itako claim the dead cannot be contacted until 100 days have passed. Once the spirit communicates its own status in the afterlife, patrons receive advice and predictions for the future. Visitors to the itako typically bring fruit, candy or other gifts, and offer the age, relationship, and gender of

5590-459: The Bon Odori or "Bon Dance", a time during which ancestors and their sacrifices are remembered and appreciated. See also: Ullambana Sutra . In recorded history Obon was practised as a Buddhist tradition first under the reign of Empress Suiko (592—628). By 733 it seems to have been introduced as a customary Buddhist holiday in Japan within the court. The Japanese word obon is composed of

5720-456: The Kojiki , which describes a koto 's sound in conjunction with the possession of a medium and the channeling of the dead. Another poem describes the sound of the instrument as a reflection of his wife's spirit possessing the instrument. The biwa hoshi , itinerant blind priests, have a similar history with the instrument. The chant which opens the kamioroshi ceremony makes several references to

5850-502: The Man'yōshū . Anthropologist Wilhem Schiffer describes a local legend about the practice of recruiting blind women into shamanism . According to this legend, the practice began in an undetermined era when blind children were killed every 5 years. A local official, impressed with a blind woman's ability to describe her environment despite her lack of vision, determined that the blind must have special powers. Rather than being killed, he pressed for

5980-401: The hinin . The kamioroshi ( 神降ろし ) ritual is a musical performance dedicated to Oshirasama , a god of family. This ritual includes the performance of a song describing a horse who falls in love with a young human girl and is flayed alive; the girl falls ill, but is cured when the horse descends from heaven and flies her to India. The story is told through a dance including sticks with

6110-620: The Japanese people . It has around 123 million speakers, primarily in Japan , the only country where it is the national language , and within the Japanese diaspora worldwide. The Japonic family also includes the Ryukyuan languages and the variously classified Hachijō language . There have been many attempts to group the Japonic languages with other families such as the Ainu , Austronesian , Koreanic , and

6240-455: The Japonic language family, which also includes the Ryukyuan languages spoken in the Ryukyu Islands . As these closely related languages are commonly treated as dialects of the same language, Japanese is sometimes called a language isolate . According to Martine Irma Robbeets , Japanese has been subject to more attempts to show its relation to other languages than any other language in

6370-504: The Philippines , and various Pacific islands, locals in those countries learned Japanese as the language of the empire. As a result, many elderly people in these countries can still speak Japanese. Japanese emigrant communities (the largest of which are to be found in Brazil , with 1.4 million to 1.5 million Japanese immigrants and descendants, according to Brazilian IBGE data, more than

6500-716: The United States (notably in Hawaii , where 16.7% of the population has Japanese ancestry, and California ), and the Philippines (particularly in Davao Region and the Province of Laguna ). Japanese has no official status in Japan, but is the de facto national language of the country. There is a form of the language considered standard : hyōjungo ( 標準語 ) , meaning "standard Japanese", or kyōtsūgo ( 共通語 ) , "common language", or even "Tokyo dialect" at times. The meanings of

6630-794: The de facto standard Japanese had been the Kansai dialect , especially that of Kyoto . However, during the Edo period, Edo (now Tokyo) developed into the largest city in Japan, and the Edo-area dialect became standard Japanese. Since the end of Japan's self-imposed isolation in 1853, the flow of loanwords from European languages has increased significantly. The period since 1945 has seen many words borrowed from other languages—such as German, Portuguese and English. Many English loan words especially relate to technology—for example, pasokon (short for "personal computer"), intānetto ("internet"), and kamera ("camera"). Due to

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6760-566: The kamisama . Both kamisama and itako believe in a marriage to a spirit, and both follow the Buddhist deity Fudo Myoo . However, kamisama are sighted, typically claiming prophetic powers in the aftermath of a traumatic disease. Unlike itako , they are associated with small Shinto shrines, which they may operate themselves. Kamisama tend to view itako with suspicion, though ethnographers have found that kamisama often associate themselves with itako and itako traditions. Itako are said to have

6890-455: The lunar calendar was changed to the Gregorian calendar at the beginning of the Meiji era , the localities in Japan responded differently, which resulted in three different times of Obon. Traditionally, Obon was celebrated on the 15th day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar. Obon is now observed during one of the following periods: These days are not listed as public holidays, but it

7020-500: The spirits of the dead, the style of celebration varies in many aspects from region to region. Each region has a local dance, as well as different music. The music can be songs specifically pertinent to the spiritual message of Obon, or local min'yō folk songs. Consequently, the Bon dance appears different from region to region. Hokkaidō is known for the folk-song " Sōran Bushi " . The song " Tokyo Ondo" takes its namesake from

7150-555: The "helping" sense of the Pali verb ullumpana ("raising, helping"), present participle of ullumpati ("to raise up, to help"). This suggests that explanations of the dead hanging upside-down in hell are more likely to be folk etymologies based on a mistaken connection to the Sanskrit verb, rather than a more direct semantic link to the Pali. Alternatively, Takakusu Junjiro propounded that

7280-518: The 1.2 million of the United States ) sometimes employ Japanese as their primary language. Approximately 12% of Hawaii residents speak Japanese, with an estimated 12.6% of the population of Japanese ancestry in 2008. Japanese emigrants can also be found in Peru , Argentina , Australia (especially in the eastern states), Canada (especially in Vancouver , where 1.4% of the population has Japanese ancestry),

7410-421: The Bon dance events are held among the five major islands ( Kauai , Oahu , Molokai , Maui and Hawaii ) on weekend evenings from June to August. They are held usually at Buddhist missions, but sometimes at Shintoist missions or at shopping centres. At some Buddhist missions, the dance is preceded by a simple ritual where the families of the deceased in the past year burn incense for remembrance, but otherwise

7540-482: The Japanese language is of particular interest, ranging between an apical central tap and a lateral approximant . The "g" is also notable; unless it starts a sentence, it may be pronounced [ ŋ ] , in the Kanto prestige dialect and in other eastern dialects. The phonotactics of Japanese are relatively simple. The syllable structure is (C)(G)V(C), that is, a core vowel surrounded by an optional onset consonant,

7670-724: The Old Japanese sections are written in Man'yōgana , which uses kanji for their phonetic as well as semantic values. Based on the Man'yōgana system, Old Japanese can be reconstructed as having 88 distinct morae . Texts written with Man'yōgana use two different sets of kanji for each of the morae now pronounced き (ki), ひ (hi), み (mi), け (ke), へ (he), め (me), こ (ko), そ (so), と (to), の (no), も (mo), よ (yo) and ろ (ro). (The Kojiki has 88, but all later texts have 87. The distinction between mo 1 and mo 2 apparently

7800-535: The Ryūkyūan languages as dialects of Japanese. The imperial court also seems to have spoken an unusual variant of the Japanese of the time, most likely the spoken form of Classical Japanese , a writing style that was prevalent during the Heian period , but began to decline during the late Meiji period . The Ryūkyūan languages are classified by UNESCO as 'endangered', as young people mostly use Japanese and cannot understand

7930-426: The Sanskrit word was sparsely, if at all, attested; in addition, it would be the present participle of verb Sanskrit ullamb ("to hang", intransitive), with no inherent "upside-down" meaning. Moreover, neither the purported meaning of "hanging upside-down" nor the verifiable meaning of "hanging" match the semantics very well, given that the urabon ceremonies are about helping the dead, closer in meaning to

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8060-411: The ability to communicate with both kami and the dead. An itako' s role varies depending on the spirit she is connected to. Ceremonies vary by prefecture, but typically itako are called upon to communicate with kami spirits to garner favor or advisement on harvests, or to communicate with the spirits of the dead, particularly the recently deceased. The rituals typically take place on Mount Osore , which

8190-543: The addition of a collective suffix (a noun suffix that indicates a group), such as -tachi , but this is not a true plural: the meaning is closer to the English phrase "and company". A group described as Tanaka-san-tachi may include people not named Tanaka. Some Japanese nouns are effectively plural, such as hitobito "people" and wareware "we/us", while the word tomodachi "friend" is considered singular, although plural in form. Verbs are conjugated to show tenses, of which there are two: past and present (or non-past) which

8320-506: The age of 40. Itako are increasingly viewed with skepticism and disdain, and contemporary education standards have all but eradicated the need for specialized training for the blind. An annual festival is held on Mt. Osore beside the Entsuji Buddhist temple, which hangs signs disavowing any connection to the itako . The festival is held July 20–24, coinciding with the Obon holiday, which is

8450-614: The ancestor-veneration characteristic it has in modernity. The Buddhist tradition originates from the story of Maha Maudgalyayana (Mokuren) , a disciple of the Buddha , who used his supernatural powers to look upon his deceased mother only to discover she had fallen into the Realm of Hungry Ghosts and was suffering. Greatly disturbed, he went to the Buddha and asked how he could release his mother from this realm. Buddha instructed him to make offerings to

8580-452: The ancestors to come back home and return, respectively. As Obon occurs in the heat of the summer, participants traditionally wear yukata , a kind of light cotton kimono . Many Obon celebrations include a huge carnival with rides, games, and summer festival foods. The Korean version of the Obon celebration is known as Baekjung . Participants present offerings at Buddhist shrines and temples, and masked dances are performed. It

8710-405: The arrest of mediums across Japan; by 1875, itako and their healing rituals were specifically targeted and could be arrested on sight. Arrests of itako were based on charges such as spreading superstition, to obstruction of medical practices. Newspaper accounts of these arrests indicate that itako were commonly attributing illnesses to possession of the ill by cats or foxes. Newspaper reports at

8840-564: The blind to study necromancy . Itako is the common term for these women in Aomori , Iwate and Akita prefectures, but the term can vary by location. They are also commonly called ogamisama in southern Iwate and Miyagi prefectures; miko, mogodo, onakama or waka in Yamagata prefecture ; and waka in Fukushima , Tochigi and Ibaraki . There are similarities to another group of shaman women,

8970-523: The blind. During the Edo era , women were expected to contribute to family wages. However, blind women of the era had limited opportunities to support themselves or their families. The reputation of blindness and spiritual abilities led many families to seek training for young girls, typically aged 11 to 13, in a folk religious tradition in which the young girl was wed to a deity, and there on able to communicate with spirits. Despite this power, blind women who became itako were still considered to occupy one of

9100-602: The capital of Japan. "Gujo Odori" in Gujō in Gifu Prefecture is famous for all night dancing. " Gōshū Ondo " is a folk song from Shiga Prefecture . Residents of the Kansai area will recognize the famous " Kawachi Ondo " . Tokushima in Shikoku is very famous for its " Awa Odori " , and in the far south, one can hear the "Ohara Bushi" of Kagoshima . The way in which

9230-591: The ceremony using Tsugaru dialect , and a series of " taboo words" that are not understood by all native Japanese speakers. Locals, who understand the Tsugaru dialect, are therefore often employed as translators for the itako . Folklorists suggest that this allows the itako to avoid any need to personalize the communication from the departed spirit. The ritual of contact with the dead, kuchiyose ( 口寄せ ) , has been named an intangible cultural heritage asset of Japan . The ritual has been documented as early as 1024 AD in

9360-555: The ceremony. In the Philippines , Filipinos of Japanese descent, with support from the Philippine Nikkei Jin Kai Inc., Philippine Nikkei Jin Kai International School, Mindanao Kokusai Daigaku, and various other Japanese Filipino-based organizations, hold an Obon festival every year along with other Japanese-based Filipino festivals, to celebrate the ancestors of Filipinos of Japanese descent, and to celebrate

9490-573: The course of time, the original religious meaning has faded, and the dance has become associated with summer. The Bon dance performed in the Okinawa Islands is known as eisā . Similarly, the Yaeyama Islands have Angama . The altar in Japanese households, kamidana , are given care by the families with decorations and offerings such as flowers and straw figures of animals and food. They do this not only for their own deceased but for

9620-437: The dance Tankō Bushi from Kyushu is also performed in the U.S. In California, due to the diffusion of Japanese immigration, Bon Odori dances also differ from Northern to Southern California, and some are influenced by American culture, such as "Baseball Ondo ". The "Obon season" is an important part of the present-day culture and life of Hawaii . It was brought there by the plantation workers from Japan, and now

9750-429: The dance is performed is also different in each region, though the typical Bon dance involves people lining up in a circle around a high wooden scaffold made especially for the festival called a yagura . The yagura is usually also the bandstand for the musicians and singers of the Obon music. Some dances proceed clockwise, and some dances proceed counter-clockwise around the yagura . Some dances reverse during

9880-682: The dance, though most do not. At times, people face the yagura and move towards and away from it. Still some dances, such as the Kagoshima Ohara dance, and the Tokushima Awa Odori , simply proceed in a straight line through the streets of the town. The dance of a region can depict the area's history and specialization. For example, the movements of the dance of the Tankō Bushi (the "coal mining song") of old Miike Mine in Kyushu show

10010-455: The dead for thousands of tourists. Itako perform ceremonies to communicate with spirits of the recently deceased, including those of aborted and stillborn children. Itako are always blind, or have very poor vision. In pre-modern Japanese society, blindness was widely associated with spiritual capabilities; after the introduction of Buddhism, it was considered evidence of a karmic debt. These beliefs lent an aura of "ambiguous sacred status" to

10140-418: The dead through trances. Meanwhile, women in the north performed the dances and rituals of shrine miko . Over time, the two groups merged, creating the modern concept of itako . In 1873, the Meiji era government attempted to ban itako and their associated kuchiyose rituals as a means of encouraging the adoption of modernized medicine. An estimated 200 itako were practicing at the time. The law led to

10270-576: The dead. Itako also carry a black cylinder, often bamboo , containing another protective charm and their certificate of itako training. The cylinders are said to be used to trap the spirits of animals that attempt to possess a human being. Finally, the women carry beaded necklaces ( いらたか念珠 , irataka nenju ) , which are used in ceremonies and made up of beads and animal bones. The bones are typically jaw bones of deer or foxes, but have also included bear teeth, eagle claws, or shells. The term "itako" has associations with beggars, and some mediums reject

10400-403: The deceased, but not the name. During the ceremony, purifying rice and salt are scattered, and a spirit is said to enter the body of the itako . Gods are called forward and asked to compel the desired spirit or ghost to come forward. Calling the dead usually involves calling upon a hierarchy of spirits in reverse order, beginning with kami and rising to the level of ghosts. Then, the local kami

10530-421: The decline, with only 20 living itako in Japan, all more than 40 years old. Training for itako traditionally began at a very young age, and included ritualized exposure to cold water. Hundreds of buckets of ice water could be poured on their bodies over the course of a few days. This education for itako takes about three years, and also includes memorization of songs and sutras . At the end of this training,

10660-564: The effect of changing Japanese into a mora-timed language. Late Middle Japanese covers the years from 1185 to 1600, and is normally divided into two sections, roughly equivalent to the Kamakura period and the Muromachi period , respectively. The later forms of Late Middle Japanese are the first to be described by non-native sources, in this case the Jesuit and Franciscan missionaries; and thus there

10790-547: The event is non-religious. The songs played differ among the regions - one or two hour Bon dance in the Western part of the Big Island (in and around Kailua Kona ), for example, typically starts with Tankō Bushi , continues with songs such as Kawachi Otoko Bushi (using wooden clappers), Yukata Odori (using tenugui given at the donation desk), Asatoya Yunta and Ashibina from Okinawa Prefecture (reflecting

10920-471: The fact that many Okinawan descendants live in Hawaii), Pokémon Ondo for children, zumba songs for the young, Beautiful Sunday , etc., and ends with Fukushima Ondo , celebrating abundant harvest. The participants, Japanese descendants and the people of all races, dance in a big circle around the yagura , the central tower set up for the dance, from which recorded songs are broadcast and, most of

11050-455: The flow of loanwords from European languages increased significantly, and words from English roots have proliferated. Japanese is an agglutinative , mora -timed language with relatively simple phonotactics , a pure vowel system, phonemic vowel and consonant length, and a lexically significant pitch-accent . Word order is normally subject–object–verb with particles marking the grammatical function of words, and sentence structure

11180-751: The friendship between Japan and the Philippines. In Argentina, the Obon Festival is celebrated by Japanese communities during the summer of the southern hemisphere. The biggest festival is held in Colonia Urquiza, in La Plata . It takes place on the sports ground of the La Plata Japanese School. The festival also includes taiko shows and typical dances. Obon Festival is celebrated every year in many Japanese communities all over Brazil, as Brazil

11310-609: The genitive particle ga remains in intentionally archaic speech. Early Middle Japanese is the Japanese of the Heian period , from 794 to 1185. It formed the basis for the literary standard of Classical Japanese , which remained in common use until the early 20th century. During this time, Japanese underwent numerous phonological developments, in many cases instigated by an influx of Chinese loanwords . These included phonemic length distinction for both consonants and vowels , palatal consonants (e.g. kya ) and labial consonant clusters (e.g. kwa ), and closed syllables . This had

11440-487: The heads of a horse and human girl on each side. This dance is known as the Ebisu Mai, or the "God of wealth dance," and it is said that the dolls become possessed by kami spirits during the performance. Itako are associated with the catalpa bow ( 梓弓 , azusa yumi ) , a plucked instrument with ties to summoning the dead. The necromantic ritual of plucked instruments is found in the earliest document of Japan's history,

11570-457: The honorific prefix o- and the word bon . The bon portion is from the longer Japanese names Urabon ( 盂蘭盆 ) or Urabon'e ( 盂蘭盆会 ) , in turn from the Chinese terms 盂蘭盆 ( Yúlánpén ) or 盂蘭盆會 ( Yúlánpénhuì ). The Chinese terms are often described as deriving from Sanskrit ullambana meaning "hanging upside down", in reference to souls suffering in hell. However,

11700-402: The initiation ceremony, itako dress in a white kimono for several days, similar to a burial gown. She is not permitted to consume grain, salt, or meat, and must avoid artificial heat for three weeks before the ceremony. The lead-up to the ceremony had been described as incorporating "sleeplessness, semi-starvation and intense cold." This process usually leads to a loss of consciousness, which

11830-430: The language, affecting the phonology of Early Middle Japanese . Late Middle Japanese (1185–1600) saw extensive grammatical changes and the first appearance of European loanwords . The basis of the standard dialect moved from the Kansai region to the Edo region (modern Tokyo ) in the Early Modern Japanese period (early 17th century–mid 19th century). Following the end of Japan's self-imposed isolation in 1853,

11960-453: The languages of the original Jōmon inhabitants, including the ancestor of the modern Ainu language . Because writing had yet to be introduced from China, there is no direct evidence, and anything that can be discerned about this period must be based on internal reconstruction from Old Japanese , or comparison with the Ryukyuan languages and Japanese dialects . The Chinese writing system

12090-449: The languages. Okinawan Japanese is a variant of Standard Japanese influenced by the Ryūkyūan languages, and is the primary dialect spoken among young people in the Ryukyu Islands . Modern Japanese has become prevalent nationwide (including the Ryūkyū islands) due to education , mass media , and an increase in mobility within Japan, as well as economic integration. Japanese is a member of

12220-427: The large quantity of English loanwords, modern Japanese has developed a distinction between [tɕi] and [ti] , and [dʑi] and [di] , with the latter in each pair only found in loanwords. Although Japanese is spoken almost exclusively in Japan, it has also been spoken outside of the country. Before and during World War II , through Japanese annexation of Taiwan and Korea , as well as partial occupation of China ,

12350-453: The lowest social strata within the community, especially those who relied on community support for financing their training. Itako are thought to have risen from an ascetic cult of the Edo era, the yamabushi , male monks who were encountered during popular pilgrimages to the Kumano mountains in the 9th–10th centuries. These monks had wives who traveled with them, selling amulets and channeling

12480-440: The many Buddhist monks who had just completed their summer retreat on the fifteenth day of the seventh month. Mokuren did this and, thus, saw his mother's release. He also began to see the true nature of her past selflessness and the sacrifices she had made for him during her lifetime. The disciple, happy because of his mother's release from suffering and grateful for her many kindnesses, danced with joy. From this dance of joy comes

12610-452: The movements of miners, i.e. digging, cart pushing, lantern hanging, etc.; the above-mentioned Soran Bushi mimics the work of fishermen such as hauling in the nets. All dancers perform the same dance sequence in unison. There are other ways in which a regional Bon dance can vary. Some dances involve the use of different kinds of fans, others involve the use of small towels called tenugui which may have colourful designs. Some require

12740-401: The nearby temple to encourage sustained tourism throughout the year. Itako , though few in number, have formed an association, the itako-ko and do occasionally work with Buddhist temples, usually providing support for funerals. Japanese language Japanese ( 日本語 , Nihongo , [ɲihoŋɡo] ) is the principal language of the Japonic language family spoken by

12870-418: The now-discredited Altaic , but none of these proposals have gained any widespread acceptance. Little is known of the language's prehistory, or when it first appeared in Japan. Chinese documents from the 3rd century AD recorded a few Japanese words, but substantial Old Japanese texts did not appear until the 8th century. From the Heian period (794–1185), extensive waves of Sino-Japanese vocabulary entered

13000-425: The only strict rule of word order is that the verb must be placed at the end of a sentence (possibly followed by sentence-end particles). This is because Japanese sentence elements are marked with particles that identify their grammatical functions. The basic sentence structure is topic–comment . For example, Kochira wa Tanaka-san desu ( こちらは田中さんです ). kochira ("this") is the topic of the sentence, indicated by

13130-413: The origin was in fact Pali ullumbana , a colloquial corruption of the Pali ullumpana ("raising up; saving; helping"), and that the etymology was mistakenly attributed to Sanskrit. Bon Odori ( 盆踊り ) , meaning simply "Bon dance", is a style of dancing performed during Obon. It is a folk entertainment, which has a history of nearly 600 years. Originally a Nenbutsu folk dance to welcome

13260-470: The out-group gives a benefit to the in-group, and "up" to indicate the in-group gives a benefit to the out-group. Here, the in-group includes the speaker and the out-group does not, and their boundary depends on context. For example, oshiete moratta ( 教えてもらった ) (literally, "explaining got" with a benefit from the out-group to the in-group) means "[he/she/they] explained [it] to [me/us]". Similarly, oshiete ageta ( 教えてあげた ) (literally, "explaining gave" with

13390-415: The particle wa . The verb desu is a copula , commonly translated as "to be" or "it is" (though there are other verbs that can be translated as "to be"), though technically it holds no meaning and is used to give a sentence 'politeness'. As a phrase, Tanaka-san desu is the comment. This sentence literally translates to "As for this person, (it) is Mx Tanaka." Thus Japanese, like many other Asian languages,

13520-505: The past people would lit a line of lights towards the cemetery to make sure the souls would find their way. On the third day of the festivities the souls are sent back to the other side with fires to see them off, this is referred to as Okuribi ("sending fire"), or, in a larger scale, the Burning of the Character Big in the mountain. In this practice small lanterns are used that float down

13650-439: The plucked bow. The chant announces that the first pluck of the string calls down the gods of the village, the second calls down the gods of the prefecture, and the third calls the gods of all prefectures in Japan. Additional notes summon more powerful gods, responsible for ever-increasing spans of land and spiritual realms. These gods are sent away in reverse order at the end of the ceremony. Women usually enter itako training at

13780-504: The police attempts to arrest prominent itako . Today, the small number of living itako gather annually during the Obon holiday at Mt. Osore in Aomori, known locally as "Mount Dread". The gathering has received televised news coverage since the 1960s. Itako typically carry several artifacts. These include a kind of box called a gehōbako ( 外法箱 , literally "non-Buddhist box", in reference to practices outside of Buddhism) , which contains secret items that may be representative of

13910-477: The proposed larger Altaic family, or to various Southeast Asian languages , especially Austronesian . None of these proposals have gained wide acceptance (and the Altaic family itself is now considered controversial). As it stands, only the link to Ryukyuan has wide support. Other theories view the Japanese language as an early creole language formed through inputs from at least two distinct language groups, or as

14040-459: The same structure as affirmative sentences, but with intonation rising at the end. In the formal register, the question particle -ka is added. For example, ii desu ( いいです ) "It is OK" becomes ii desu-ka ( いいですか。 ) "Is it OK?". In a more informal tone sometimes the particle -no ( の ) is added instead to show a personal interest of the speaker: Dōshite konai-no? "Why aren't (you) coming?". Some simple queries are formed simply by mentioning

14170-399: The souls of the households who no longer have relatives within their vicinity. The offerings are placed in front of the tablets with the deceased person's name on it. Families who have lost a family member during a current year are known to give special attention to the preparations of Obon . They will light a small fire on the first evening of the festival to guide the souls back home. In

14300-439: The speaker, the listener, and persons mentioned. The Japanese writing system combines Chinese characters , known as kanji ( 漢字 , ' Han characters') , with two unique syllabaries (or moraic scripts) derived by the Japanese from the more complex Chinese characters: hiragana ( ひらがな or 平仮名 , 'simple characters') and katakana ( カタカナ or 片仮名 , 'partial characters'). Latin script ( rōmaji ローマ字 )

14430-797: The state as at the time the constitution was written, many of the elders participating in the process had been educated in Japanese during the South Seas Mandate over the island shown by the 1958 census of the Trust Territory of the Pacific that found that 89% of Palauans born between 1914 and 1933 could speak and read Japanese, but as of the 2005 Palau census there were no residents of Angaur that spoke Japanese at home. Japanese dialects typically differ in terms of pitch accent , inflectional morphology , vocabulary , and particle usage. Some even differ in vowel and consonant inventories, although this

14560-512: The state of Selangor, is the brainchild of the Japanese Expatriate & Immigrant's Society in Malaysia. In comparison to the celebrations in Japan, the festival is celebrated on a much smaller scale in Penang, Selangor and Sabah, and is less associated with Buddhism and more with Japanese culture. Held mainly to expose locals to a part of Japanese culture, the festival provides the experience of

14690-518: The states of Santa Catarina, São Paulo, Goiás, Amazonas, Pará (Tomé-Açu), Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Pernambuco, Bahia, Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul and Brasília. In Malaysia , Obon Festival is also celebrated every year in Esplanade, Penang , Shah Alam Stadium in Shah Alam , Selangor , and also Universiti Malaysia Sabah at Kota Kinabalu , Sabah . This celebration, which is a major attraction for

14820-476: The street. (grammatically incorrect insertion of a pronoun) But one can grammatically say essentially the same thing in Japanese: 驚いた彼は道を走っていった。 Transliteration: Odoroita kare wa michi o hashitte itta. (grammatically correct) This is partly because these words evolved from regular nouns, such as kimi "you" ( 君 "lord"), anata "you" ( あなた "that side, yonder"), and boku "I" ( 僕 "servant"). This

14950-583: The surrender of Japan in 1945, many families sought out itako to communicate with the war dead, particularly those who were lost in combat abroad. Just before the end of the war, itako were also called upon to conduct "living seances" ( ikiguchi ) with soldiers overseas. An editorial by intellectual Orikuchi Shinobu at the time noted that the itako in Aomori prefecture had "not been subject to prohibition", in contrast to itako and shaman in other prefectures, and that "persecution would be counterproductive". News stories reported locals occasionally interfering with

15080-494: The time tended to refer to itako in negative terms, and often associated the arrest of itako and the arrest of prostitutes. One editorial wrote, "These miko disgorge reckless and empty gossip, squeezing the pockets of the common people, and prostitutes tempt loose men and rob them of their money. While the professions are different, they are the same in disrupting public morals and deceiving people of their possessions." Public support, however, continued. Shortly before, and after,

15210-573: The time, the taiko group accompany the songs playing drums. In larger cities, Bon dance lessons are given by volunteers before the actual events. Some Japanese museums may also hold Obon festivals, such as the Morikami Museum in Florida. In St. Louis, Missouri , the Botanical Garden has hosted an Obon festival over Labor Day weekend every year since 1977. Known as the Japanese festival, it

15340-651: The topic with an interrogative intonation to call for the hearer's attention: Kore wa? "(What about) this?"; O-namae wa? ( お名前は？ ) "(What's your) name?". Negatives are formed by inflecting the verb. For example, Pan o taberu ( パンを食べる。 ) "I will eat bread" or "I eat bread" becomes Pan o tabenai ( パンを食べない。 ) "I will not eat bread" or "I do not eat bread". Plain negative forms are i -adjectives (see below) and inflect as such, e.g. Pan o tabenakatta ( パンを食べなかった。 ) "I did not eat bread". Bon Festival The festival of Obon lasts for three days; however, its starting date varies within different regions of Japan. When

15470-405: The traditional day on which spirits of the dead return. They also attend the summer festival at Kawakura Sainokawara. Despite the disavowal of many religious organizations and temples in Japan, both events have become tourist attractions that attract crowds of hundreds. The local government includes the image of an itako in its tourist brochures, and attempted to fund a permanent itako position in

15600-419: The two consonants are the moraic nasal followed by a homorganic consonant. Japanese also includes a pitch accent , which is not represented in moraic writing; for example [haꜜ.ɕi] ("chopsticks") and [ha.ɕiꜜ] ("bridge") are both spelled はし ( hashi ) , and are only differentiated by the tone contour. Japanese word order is classified as subject–object–verb . Unlike many Indo-European languages ,

15730-577: The two methods were both used in writing until the 1940s. Bungo still has some relevance for historians, literary scholars, and lawyers (many Japanese laws that survived World War II are still written in bungo , although there are ongoing efforts to modernize their language). Kōgo is the dominant method of both speaking and writing Japanese today, although bungo grammar and vocabulary are occasionally used in modern Japanese for effect. The 1982 state constitution of Angaur , Palau , names Japanese along with Palauan and English as an official language of

15860-472: The two terms (''hyōjungo'' and ''kyōtsūgo'') are almost the same. Hyōjungo or kyōtsūgo is a conception that forms the counterpart of dialect. This normative language was born after the Meiji Restoration ( 明治維新 , meiji ishin , 1868) from the language spoken in the higher-class areas of Tokyo (see Yamanote ). Hyōjungo is taught in schools and used on television and in official communications. It

15990-423: The use of small wooden clappers, or "kachi-kachi" , during the dance. The music that is played during the Bon dance is not limited to Obon music and min'yō ; some modern enka hits and kids' tunes written to the beat of the ondo are also used to dance to during Obon season. The Bon dance tradition is said to have started in the later years of the Muromachi period as a public entertainment. In

16120-418: The use of the term. One theory suggests the term derived from "eta no ko", or "child of the eta ", referring to the Japanese burakumin social class who were once associated with death. Other possible derivations include the use of wood pieces, ita , for the ceremonial writing of the name of the deceased. The itako (then ita ) are first referenced in poem #1773 of the ancient Nara period poem collection,

16250-407: The verb (e.g. yonde for earlier yomite ), the -k- in the final mora of adjectives drops out ( shiroi for earlier shiroki ); and some forms exist where modern standard Japanese has retained the earlier form (e.g. hayaku > hayau > hayɔɔ , where modern Japanese just has hayaku , though the alternative form is preserved in the standard greeting o-hayō gozaimasu "good morning"; this ending

16380-548: The world. Since Japanese first gained the consideration of linguists in the late 19th century, attempts have been made to show its genealogical relation to languages or language families such as Ainu , Korean , Chinese , Tibeto-Burman , Uralic , Altaic (or Ural-Altaic ), Austroasiatic , Austronesian and Dravidian . At the fringe, some linguists have even suggested a link to Indo-European languages , including Greek , or to Sumerian . Main modern theories try to link Japanese either to northern Asian languages, like Korean or

16510-535: Was based on 12- to 20-second-long recordings of 135 to 244 phonemes , which 42 students listened to and translated word-for-word. The listeners were all Keio University students who grew up in the Kanto region . There are some language islands in mountain villages or isolated islands such as Hachijō-jima island , whose dialects are descended from Eastern Old Japanese . Dialects of the Kansai region are spoken or known by many Japanese, and Osaka dialect in particular

16640-668: Was imported to Japan from Baekje around the start of the fifth century, alongside Buddhism. The earliest texts were written in Classical Chinese , although some of these were likely intended to be read as Japanese using the kanbun method, and show influences of Japanese grammar such as Japanese word order. The earliest text, the Kojiki , dates to the early eighth century, and was written entirely in Chinese characters, which are used to represent, at different times, Chinese, kanbun , and Old Japanese. As in other texts from this period,

16770-465: Was lost immediately following its composition.) This set of morae shrank to 67 in Early Middle Japanese , though some were added through Chinese influence. Man'yōgana also has a symbol for /je/ , which merges with /e/ before the end of the period. Several fossilizations of Old Japanese grammatical elements remain in the modern language – the genitive particle tsu (superseded by modern no )

16900-571: Was often paid for with contributions from villagers, rather than the family. Common aspects of initiation practices for these women were seen among those training in Yamagata, Aomori, and Miyagi prefectures in the 1920s and 1930s. They are trained in various practices, including memorization of Shinto and Buddhist prayers and sutras . Training typically involved cold-water purifying baths ( 水垢離 , mizugori ) , which in its most extreme form can involve complete, sustained drenching by ice-cold water for

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