Sawara, Chiba - part 3

The next stop was Yasaka Shrine, which is next to the Festival Float Museum.

Information from the website:

Following the example of Kyoto’s Yasaka Shrine (formerly called Gion Shrine), Katori’s Yasaka Shrine began as a facility to honor Gozu Tennō, the deity of pestilence believed to cause epidemics, who was both feared and propitiated for protection. However, in 1868, an edict to separate Shinto and Buddhism was issued. As such, facilities sacred to Gozu Tennō were renamed as Yasaka Shrine and Gozu Tennō was replaced by Susanoo-no-Mikoto, the Shinto equivalent of Gozu Tennō.

Every year on the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday immediately following July 10th, Yasaka Shrine holds the Sawara Grand Summer Festival, also known as Gion Festival, during which 10 splendid floats parade the streets. The Sawara Grand Summer Festival, along with its autumn counterpart, the Sawara Grand Autumn Festival, organized by Suwa Shrine, are designated as Important Intangible Folk Cultural Properties by the government. Yasaka Shrine is about a 10 minute walk from JR Sawara Station.

Suigo Sawara Festival Float Museum 

This three story museum shows two of the floats that are used in the festivals. As you climb to the other floors, you can see the floats from each level. 

There are pictures of all the festival floats as you go up stairs. (This is me.)

Dinner at a nearby restaurant.

I stayed overnight at the Hotel Route-Inn Katori Sawara Ekimae and it was very good - public bath, buffet breakfast, comfortable room, and near the train station.

This is the end of Day 1, but this is still a little more to come...

Work in Progress Wednesday

New Start - Necktie Remake

Kogin Four Seasons progress - This project is a Stitch A Long with Toki, who blogs at 私がめがねをかけるとき. (She blogs in Japanese, but there is a translation button on the top left under the title, if you don’t read Japanese.) Check out her blog to see her progress!

I worked on the Spring section this week. If you are curious, my fabric is about 23 inches by 16 inches. The space for each season is about 4.5 inches by 16 inches, with the remaining space at the top and bottom for the dowels needed to hang the piece after it is finished.

I will start the Summer section before next week’s post.

Summertime Mt. Fuji progress - This week I worked on Sengen Taisha Shrine and the pine tree (Miho no Matsubara).  I also made a Torii at the top of Mt. Fuji.  It looks very small because it is so far away, but it is really very large when you see it in person.

Posthumous Divorce Rising in Japan

Shigo Rikon, commonly known as posthumous divorce, is on the rise in Japan. It's not what it sounds like. It doesn't refer to divorcing the deceased spouse, which is impossible.  It is actually an official process for cutting ties with the deceased spouse's family. This was a new one for me! 

When there is so much in-law animosity in Japanese families that it is still a problem after the death of the spouse, there is a way to sever ties. The technical, but less popular name is "notification of marital relationship termination" (inzoku kankei shuryo todoke), which just means official severing of ties with the family of the deceased spouse. The only real purpose the government approved official statement serves for most people is that their in-laws are unbearable and they are done with the family. The posthumous divorce can be obtained unilaterally and the in-laws will not receive any notice of it. The deceased spouse's family cannot sever ties this way, only the spouse can file for it. The process is easy, just requiring one to fill out forms at the city office. 

Form from Osaka

Posthumous divorce has no effect on the person's legal relationship with the deceased spouse. The still living spouse is still eligible for all inheritances, pensions, and insurance polices and can still keep the spouse's family name. In addition, they don't have to have their own remains in the spouse's family grave and they don't have to take care of the grave. 

According to the Japanese government, there are currently about 4,000 posthumous divorces each year, while there were less than 2,000 a year in the 1990's. 

It seems like this process has little real meaning, so why is it increasing? What do you think? Have you heard of something like this in any other country?