The Study Of The Japanese Belief In The Rite Of Growing Up

The rite of growing up is a ritual event which is celebrated during the growth process, part of Rites of passage. The concept of rites of passage was first formally articulated by Arnold van Gennep to denote rituals marking the transitional phase between childhood and full inclusion into a tribe or social group. It is also called life etiquette, describes various milestones in an individual’s life, for any marked transitional stage. Nowadays the rite of growing up in Japan has been a cultural phenomenon with Japanese characteristics, for example the shichi-go-san and the coming-of-age celebration. Since rituals are usually prescribed by the religious community, the rite of growing up is representative of the god and the soul, which are the two basic thought in religion. With the development of science and technology and social progress, the traditional meaning and function that was reflected by the culture of ritual has become weak in a certain extent. Thus, the content and form of the rite of growing up has also been changed correspondingly. This thesis is mainly based on the religious thoughts of god and soul what the rite of growing up is embodied, from the three aspects of "the religious orientation of secularist","the collective performance form of the rite of growing up","the ritual religious psychology" to explore the Japanese religious views and consciousness that is manifested in the rite of growing up.