House Building in Japan and Foods

[Hiroyuki]

地鎮祭 Jichinsai (lit. earth-appeasing ceremony, or groundbreaking ceremony)

The jichinsai is held to announce the construction of a new building to gods, not just one god but 'yaoyorozu no kami' (multitudinous gods), and to pray for the safe construction of the building.

We had our jichinsai on June 4th. As instructed by Ms. I of the construction company, we prepared:

1 shou (approx. 1,800 ml) of rice

1 gou (approx. 180 ml) of salt

1 bunch of bananas

Some oranges

(Any other seasonal fruits will do.)

1 bunch of spinach

1 daikon

(Any other seasonal green vegetables will do.)

1 salted trout

1 bottle (approx. 1,800 ml) of sake

The kannushi (Shinto priest) said a prayer that lasted ten minutes or so, then he told me to clap my hands and bow several times (I just don't recall how I did that) and others to follow suit. Then, he told me to sprinkle the salt at the four corners and the center of the place where the house was to be built and Ms. I to sprinkle the sake on those points.

Ms. I had told us that the jichinsai would take about an hour, but it actually took half an hour or even less.

In my next post, I'd like to talk about our tatemae (roof-raising ceremory) and mochi maki (rice cake scattering).

[Chris Amirault]

Great stuff. Do you have a sense of the meaning of each of these items offered? I was surprised to see spinach, for example.

[Hiroyuki]

Great stuff. Do you have a sense of the meaning of each of these items offered? I was surprised to see spinach, for example.

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In a word, rice, sake, and salt are considered sacred, and are essential items at any Shinto ritual.

As for other items, any 'yama no mono' (anything from field) and any 'umi no mono' (anything from sea) will be fine.

Funny you noticed spinach, though. My wife wanted to get some komatsuna (a type of green), but spinach was on sale and komatsuna was rather expensive when she went shopping two days before, and that's why she got a bunch of spinach. She later called Ms. I to ask if spinach was OK and if cabbage was more appropriate (we had a head of cabbage in the fridge). Ms. I assured her that spinach would be fine.

[Pan]

I can't find a reference now, but I recall that Jews are supposed to throw some salt whenever they move into a new house. Something about the salt of the earth or something? Maybe someone will clarify.

Great photo, great post!

[helenjp]

The sake is more of an offering, but the salt is to purify/repel any unwanted spirits or (what would you call them...earth deities???) attached to that particular piece of ground.

I'm interested to know...did the kannushi stamp with his feet, or walk around the perimeter of your land???

(The kyogen historian in me is trying to climb out of hiding...)

[Hiroyuki]

I'm interested to know...did the kannushi stamp with his feet, or walk around the perimeter of your land???

(The kyogen historian in me is trying to climb out of hiding...)

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Are you kidding? How can a kannushi be associated with kyogen? The kannushi walked before me to show me where to sprinkle the salt, though.

I forgot to say that after the ceremony, we all drank a little bit of the sake. I took the sake home, and the kannushi took all the other foods to his shrine.

One clarification: The rice offered was not gohan (cooked rice) but o-kome (uncooked rice).

[Hiroyuki]

The 建前 tatemae (lit. pre-building) ceremony, also called joutou shiki or muneage, is held to celebrate the construction of the structure of the building and to thank the carpenters for their work.

Our house on the day of tatemae:

For our tatemae ceremony, we prepared:

3 surume (dried squid)

1 shou of rice

1 gou of salt

1 bottle of sake

1 bunch of bananas

5 oranges

The touryou (master carpenter) put some water in a PET bottle(!).

You don't necessarily have to hold a tatemae ceremony. For one thing, it takes a considerable amount of money, and some people opt not to do this. Then again, many people do hold tatemae, but not mochi maki. Ms. I of the construction company says that eight out of ten customers opt not to hold mochi maki.

Mochi, scattered from the second floor of the house (and picked up by my daughter):

Each mochi is about 6 cm in diameter.

Some people seem to scatter mochi from the roof of the house, not from the second floor. The touryou said that they used to do it that way in the past.

Four 'sumi' mochi (corner mochi); and one 'ten' mochi (heaven mochi), top leftmost one

The sumi mochi are thrown at the four corners of the second floor. Legend has it that those who pick up a sumi mochi will be the next to build a house.

The ten mochi is thrown last. I don't know the legend about the ten mochi. (I googled to find an anwer, but in vain.)

Besides the mochi, we also prepared:

Various candies, sembei (rice crackers), and other sweets and

Two hundred and fifty 5-yen coins and fifty 50-yen coins, all with a piece of red-and-white ribbon in their holes

This way of using the ribbon was my wife's idea based on the advice of the stationery shop's lady.

People, mostly children and their mothers, trying to catch and pick up mochi

[helenjp]

How can a kannushi be associated with kyogen

Haha! Sorry, I guess most people think that kyogen springs from Noh, but one of its roots are in rites or celebrations from folk religion, and the appeasement or pacification of earth spirits is one of those...it's no more than a dance move in kyogen these days, and as you say, nobody would call a kyogen actor instead of a kannushi these days if they wanted a religious rite performed...

[Hiroyuki]

How can a kannushi be associated with kyogen

Haha! Sorry, I guess most people think that kyogen springs from Noh, but one of its roots are in rites or celebrations from folk religion, and the appeasement or pacification of earth spirits is one of those...it's no more than a dance move in kyogen these days, and as you say, nobody would call a kyogen actor instead of a kannushi these days if they wanted a religious rite performed...

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Is that so? I have to admit I know almost nothing about noh or kyogen.

In another thread, you wrote:

I was just thinking about all the different proverbs and sayings about mochi in Japanese!

Probably the most famous proverbs about mochi is "Mochi wa mochiya."

●餅は餅屋

[英訳] For rice cakes, go to a rice-cake maker.

from http://www8.plala.or.jp/y-naka/kotowaza-mo.html

My father-in-law said that he could pound mochi, but we placed an order with a mochiya.

[highchef]

that's very cool, I love ceremony. Here we tie a small sapling to the peak of the roof where I guess it stays until the building or house is finished. You don't see it done much anymore but used to all the time, especially when people used small contractors or built the house themselves. I did see it about a year ago on a small hotel...

[Sencha]

This is pretty interesting, Hiroyuki! Thanks for sharing this with us.

I must admit, I knew few of the details involved in this before, so this has been educational for me.

Aside from the cost, it must feel wonderful to have a new home built! When I get a chance to stop living a seemingly nomadic life (I have no idea how many times I've moved! ), I'd like to own a home!

[Pan]

that's very cool, I love ceremony. Here we tie a small sapling to the peak of the roof where I guess it stays until the building or house is finished. You don't see it done much anymore but used to all the time, especially when people used small contractors or built the house themselves. I did see it about a year ago on a small hotel...

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They did that a lot when all those 16-story apartment houses were being built on West End Av. on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in the first couple of decades of the 20th century. They're trees now.

[Hiroyuki]

In Japan, every major event is held on a lucky day, that is, on a Taian day.

Visit the site for more information about Taian and the days of Rokuyo:

http://www.seiyaku.com/customs/rokuyo.html#days

Thus, we held our jichinsai on June 4th, signed the contract for the construction of our new house on June 19th, and held our tatemae ceremony on July 11th, all of these days being Taian days.

On June 20th, one day after we signed the contract, Ms. I of the construction company invited four of us (my wife, my two children, and me) to dinner at a local Japanese restaurant serving seasonal dishes. Miss S, the young, beautiful first-class architect who designed our house, who is also an employee of that construction company, came along.

An assortment of sashimi:

Edamame, yakitori, tsukemono (pickles), and otoushi

The otoushi on that day was a kind of corn potage jelee. The otoushi is a small dish you are served first when you order something at a Japanese restaurant like this; you don't order it but you will be charged for it.

Grilled kamasu

Grilled ibo dai

Other than the dishes shown in the photos above, we also had atsuyaki tamago (type of thick omelet), a piece of which is shown in the plate on the left side of the photo below.

(Sorry, not a good photo.)

Finally, we all had una juu (broiled eel served over rice in a box), except the kids, who each had an onigiri (rice ball).

It was the best meal I had in years. Many thanks to Ms. I.

[Hiroyuki]

Today, another tatemae ceremony was held, and so was mochi maki. Look at what my kids and I got.

[Hiroyuki]

This is the ochugen (summer gift) we received from the construction company. It's soumen (thin noodles).

Miss S of the construction company directly handed me this gift. In Japan, it's not customary to tear the wrapper before the very eyes of the presenter. We usually open the package after we return home, carefully removing each piece of cellophane tape, and store the wrapper for later use.

[Hiroyuki]

Ms. I of the construction company invited us and Miss S to dinner again last night, at her house this time. When we arrived around 6 o'clock in the evening, all the marvelous dishes were ready to be served, all made by Ms. I. We drank beer and also daiginjo of Shirataki Shujo http://www.jozen.co.jp/top/Default.asp (Japanes only). What a treat!

Karaage with negi (Japanese leek) sauce:

Ratatouille, saury (sanma), and edamame:

Potatos with anchovy paste sauce, etc.

After the dinner, we all drank herb tea.

Ms. I kindly put the leftovers in two juubako and gave them to us.

Thank you again, Ms. I.

[helenjp]

I'm amazed...not only at the spread, but at the fact that you all had the energy to cook and eat it in the heat that's hit over the past few days !

The chicken with negi sauce looks good though...

[Terrasanct]

Fascinating, and another reminder of the importance of learning about a culture before traveling. I'd be lost.

What is the garnish lying on top of the fish, that looks like a red onion?

[Hiroyuki]

I'm amazed...not only at the spread, but at the fact that you all had the energy to cook and eat it in the heat that's hit over the past few days  !

The chicken with negi sauce looks good though...

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I think the heat in the summer is more bearable here than in Tokyo and your area. Obviously, my town does not suffer from the heat island effect.

Ms. I is a cheerful woman, and she says that she can relieve her stress by cooking and hosting guests. It's nice to have someone like her around, isn't it?

Other dishes I didn't mentioned in my previous post:

1. Sweetened miso paste wrapped in shiso leaves

2. Pickled eggplants

3. Cooked rice

4. Cold tofu

5. Wiener sausage fritters

6. Assortment of vegetables

7. Seasoned bracken shoots

8. Mentaiko (spicy cod roe)

[Hiroyuki]

Fascinating, and another reminder of the importance of learning about a culture before traveling.  I'd be lost. 

What is the garnish lying on top of the fish, that looks like a red onion?

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It's just browned flour, I think.

This dish is a sort of sanma meuniere. The sanma were first degutted and rosemary leaves were inserted, then the sanma were dusted with flour and sauteed in olive oil until brown.

Ms. I seems to like to add some Italian accent to her dishes.

[SuzySushi]

What is the garnish lying on top of the fish, that looks like a red onion?

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The long pink thing that looks sort of like a scallion? It's probably a young ginger shoot.

[Hiroyuki]

What is the garnish lying on top of the fish, that looks like a red onion?

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The long pink thing that looks sort of like a scallion? It's probably a young ginger shoot.

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OK, thanks SuzySushi.

Now I know what Terrasanct meant by the garnish. Yes, you are right. A young ginger shoot (me-shouga in Japanese).

[Hiroyuki]

This evening, mochi maki was held at the building site of a doctor's office.

Building site just before the mochi maki. More than one hundred people turned up, I think.

Do you know who got the one and only ten mochi? I did!! Can you read the letters 天もち? I am almos too lucky!

[Kiem Hwa]

On June 20th, one day after we signed the contract, Ms. I of the construction company invited four of us (my wife, my two children, and me) to dinner at a local Japanese restaurant serving seasonal dishes.  Miss S, the young, beautiful first-class architect who designed our house, who is also an employee of that construction company, came along.

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This is the ochugen (summer gift) we received from the construction company.  It's soumen (thin noodles).

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Ms. I of the construction company invited us and Miss S to dinner again last night, at her house this time.  When we arrived around 6 o'clock in the evening, all the marvelous dishes were ready to be served, all made by Ms. I.  We drank beer and also daiginjo of Shirataki Shujo

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Wow, I am so impressed by the treatment youve gotten from your construction company! Is this typical for these types of "buisness transactions" in Japan?

Here in the US, I only hear horror stories from friends who are remodeling homes and have to keep a heads up just to make sure the contractors are not ripping them off, much less are doing thier job in a timely fashion! Im sure if the contractors were to give gifts or dinners, it would be absolutely astonishing!

[Hiroyuki]

Wow, I am so impressed by the treatment youve gotten from your construction company!  Is this typical for these types of "buisness transactions" in Japan? 

Here in the US, I only hear horror stories from friends who are remodeling homes and have to keep a heads up just to make sure the contractors are not ripping them off, much less are doing thier job in a timely fashion!  Im sure if the contractors were to give gifts or dinners, it would be absolutely astonishing!

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As for the first dinner that Ms. I gave us, this type of entertainment (settai (接待) in Japanese) is quite common for any type of business transaction. Besides, it's a 20 million+ yen project! Don't you think we deserve a small treat like that?

As for the ochugen, it is quite natural for the construction company to feel obliged to give us an ochugen gift. It's that time of year again! As Miss S told me when she gave it to me, the tenobe (lit. hand-drawn) soumen is quite good. It is very thin, yet very firm.

I forgot to mention that on the day of tatemae, the construction company gave us a box of canned beer to celebrate the occasion.

As for the second dinner at Ms. I's house, well, it's not like the first dinner, surely reflecting the personality of Ms. I. She is friendly, talkative, and easy to get along with, and she likes to host guests.

You can hear horror stories in Japan too. Remodeling is called 'reform' in Japan, and there are many, especially among the elderly, who are preyed on by dishonest 'reform companies'.