Concept of Satogaeri Shussan in Japanese Childbirth Rituals: From the Perspective of Contemporary Japanese Women

Abstract

This paper will study the current trend of Satogaeri-Shussan, a traditional Japanese childbirth custom, when the pregnant woman customarily returns back to her paternal home for seeking physical and mental support as well as childcare assistance from her parents during prenatal or postpartum period. However, the custom of Satogaeri-Shussan has been continued with many changes over the time. The purpose of this paper is to explore what does Satogaeri-Shussan mean, how does this ritual play an important role in the life of Japanese women, how do the Japanese women view this age old ritual, why do the Japanese women perform this ritual, what are the changes observed in this ritual from the perspective of contemporary Japanese women, who performed this ritual during their prenatal or postpartum period. This paper will rely on the data gathered from the Japanese women, residing in Nagoya city through questionnaire (N=747) and Interview surveys (N=61)conducted by the author. Finally, this paper will conclude that Satogaeri-Shussan ritual not only helps the Japanese women to gain their confidence of overcoming an anxiety for Childbirth or childcare assistance but it also helps them to make a strong bond with their parents. Even if today, most of the women still prefer to perform Satogaeri-Shussan by returning back to their parental home, but interestingly there is also a common trend to request their mother or mother-in-law to come and stay with them at their own residence so that they can get help and support from them without performing Satogaeri-Shussan.



Author Information
Hiya Mukherjee, Nagoya University, Japan

Paper Information
Conference: KAMC2021
Stream: Cultural Studies

This paper is part of the KAMC2021 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Mukherjee H. (2022) Concept of Satogaeri Shussan in Japanese Childbirth Rituals: From the Perspective of Contemporary Japanese Women ISSN: 2436-0503 – The Kyoto Conference on Arts, Media & Culture 2021: Official Conference Proceedings https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2436-0503.2022-1.6
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2436-0503.2022-1.6


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