19th C. Japanese New Year Customs

Japanese designs were popular in American decor and women’s publications of the 1880’s — In Japan, the Emperor receives in his palace, and all the high officers of the government are expected to call and pay their respects, wearing their diplomatic dress and all their decorations. They advance to the end of a long, richly-furnished room, where sits the Emperor and the Empress, and bow low and say; “Ake Mashite Omedeto,” or “Happy New Year,” and retire backward until they reach the exit. It is not etiquette for the Emperor to respond. — 1884

“Ake Mashite Omedeto”

Which is Japanese for “Happy New Year”

The Japanese celebrate the incoming of the New Year by four days of visiting and jollification, and have a grand final celebration on the fifth day, by the way of a wind-up before they settle down to fan-decorating and the other occupations carried on by them. It is not without an effort, however, that the celebration is stopped on the fifth day, and there are many who continue their visits until the end of the month, so large is their circle of acquaintances. In this country there are scarcely enough Japanese to enable this custom to be religiously observed, but the few make an effort to emulate the customs nstilled in them by early practice. 

In Japan, the Emperor receives in his palace, and all the high officers of the government are expected to call and pay their respects, wearing their diplomatic dress and all their decorations. They advance to the end of a long, richly-furnished room, where sits the Emperor and the Empress, and bow low and say; “Ake Mashite Omedeto,” or “Happy New Year,” and retire backward until they reach the exit. It is not etiquette for the Emperor to respond. 

Sixteen years ago, before the people rebelled against Tokugawa Yoshihisa and abolished the feudal system, the Emperor sat upon a platform, behind a curtain, which was rolled up when he was ready to receive callers. Now that there is no curtain, he is upon a level with those who call. Among the people, the time is one of great festivity. Everybody calls, and nearly everybody drinks sake, a liquor distilled from rice. When an intimate friend calls upon a person, he is received with great cordiality. When he enters the reception room he drops upon his knees and then sits upon his haunches. A little table is placed before him, and he is served with wine, fruit and ten different kinds of food.

Those not well acquainted, simply hand in their cards. On the first day there is a military review and fireworks in the evening The second day is much like the first. On the third day there is a procession of the volunteer and paid fire companies, which arouses great enthusiasm among the people. On the fourth day there is a slight cessation in festivities, which are renewed and reach their height the following day, when the Emperor gives a reception to the nobles and high government officers, and the people regale each other at restaurants.— Placer Herald, 1884

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Japan's Imperial Etiquette History

To the American Ex-Attaché, a "gruesome pantomime" was enacted at the time of the death in Formosa of the Japanese Prince  — Japanese Imperial Prince Kitashirakawa 

Ex-Attaché on Mourning Customs

Comparing Royal Court Mourning customs between the Orient and Occident, an ex foreign attaché reports on a "gruesome pantomime" that was enacted at the time of the death in Formosa of the Japanese Imperial Prince and Field Marshal Kitashirakawa, so well known in this country. 

"Japanese court etiquette requires that no official information of the death of a member of the reigning family shall be made until after the celebration of certain mortuary ceremonies in his or her own palace. The dead Prince was therefore brought all the way back from Formosa to Tokio as a live man. 

The general order announcing his departure to the troops bore what purported to be his signature. The man-of-war that conveyed his corpse to Japan flew no emblems of mourning as its masthead. Meals were served in the cabin where the dead Prince lay, and military and naval reports were made to his deaf ear every morning and evening just as if he were alive. 

On reaching port he was disembarked with naval and military honors and arrayed in a uniform of field marshal, was seated in a saloon carriage on the railroad, his staff taking their places around him. Arriving at Tokio he was conveyed not to a hearse, but to a state coach, seated in which, and surrounded by a cavalry escort, he was driven to his palace. Only on the following day did the government issue the public and official announcement of his death." — 1897

🍽Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Etiquette Relaxed for Hero

 Admiral Count Togo of Japan— Everyday life of the Japanese Imperial Court was practically unknown to the public in spite of the increasing enterprise of Japanese journalism, which had made repeated efforts to break down the barrier of excluslveness and mystery that had hitherto guarded all approach to the inner apartments of the Chiyoda Palace.

Japanese Hero Honored with

 Relaxed Etiquette of the Imperial Court  

Admiral Count Togo, commander of the Japanese fleet which destroyed the Russian squadrons in the battle of the Sea of Japan in May, 1905. Now enfeebled by his eighty years, has special permission to carry a cane when visiting the Imperial Court.

The carrying of sticks of any sort in the presence of the nation's rulers is forbidden by court etiquette, but exception in the case of the aged sea hero was made by formal ruling of the Minister of the Imperial household . — Healdsburg Enterprise, 1926

 

 

🍽Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, of The RSVP Institute of Etiquette, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Japanese Imperial Court Etiquette

Prince Arisugawa Takehito, (1862 – 1913) was the 10th head of a cadet branch of the Japanese imperial family and a career officer in the Imperial Japanese Navy.  Prince Arisugawa was assigned to the escort of Russian Crown Prince Nikolai (who later became Tsar Nicholas II) during his tour of Japan in 1891. While he was in the Prince's charge, Nikolai was wounded in an assassination attempt, called the "Otsu Scandal," which led to a considerable worsening of diplomatic relations between Japan and Russia.

Everyday life of the Japanese court is practically unknown to the public in spite of the increasing enterprise of Japanese journalism, which has made repeated efforts to break down the barrier of excluslveness and mystery that has hitherto guarded all approach to the inner apartments of the Chiyoda palace. 

Invariably these attempts to violate the sanctity of the imperial precincts have ended in failure, and until a short time ago no consecutive and intelligent account of just what actually goes on at court had ever been published. The death of the Emperor Mutauhito, who has now joined the ranks of the Sacred Ancestors with the posthumous title of Meiji Tenno, and the retirement of the lord chamberlain, Prince Tokudaiji, have removed the two greatest obstacles In the way of a more intimate knowledge of palace happenings. 

The new emperor and his consort, the Empress Sadeko, are much more modern in their ideas and thoughts than the late ruler and it has not taken long for several expressions of their liberal tendencies to become evident. 

The three essentials of palace life would appear to be cleanliness, ceremony and tradition, or rather superstition. The maids who attend on the court ladles during their toilet perform their duties on their knees and on no account must they touch their own lower limbs. Should that accidentally happen, the offending maid must instantly withdraw and undergo a course of purification before she can again appear before her mistress. 

If the rules with regard to the maids of the ladies-in-waiting are so strict, it may be imagined that those with regard to the personal attendants of the sovereigns are even more so. It is, of course, well known that all service before their majesties has to be performed on the knees, and it is not etiquette to approach them except on the knees. Even the physicians who attended on the late emperor during his last illness were not exempted from this rule. 

It is also common knowledge that no one may touch the Imperial person with ungloved hands Last July Drs. Imura and Aoyama obtained permission for the first time to take the Imperial pulse without interposition of a piece of silk between their fingers and the patient's wrist, while for the first time on record medical instruments were applied to the Imperial body. This rule is equally strict for the ladies-in-waiting, and especially so when in attendance on their majesties when bathing or at their toilet. —The Mariposa Gazette, 1913

Etiquette Enthusiast Maura J Graber is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia