Urbanities,
Vol. 3
·
No 1
·
May 2013
© 2013
Urbanities
70
The rising popularity of photo studios changed the entire celebration. The studio
session, during which highly stylized photos are produced by professionals, has since been
detached from the rest of the celebration, becoming an event in its own right. The production
and preparation of the photo requires a significant time investment. The clothing is selected,
the child is dressed, then adorned with make-up and other accessories, with his/her hair
arranged by a professional hair dresser. It is a lengthy procedure and therefore it is advisable,
if not necessary, to arrange this session well in advance — usually taking place on a different
day from the one of the shrine visit and the festive family meal.
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The power photographs can have on the way memories are preserved has been noted
in previous literature (Sontag 1979; Bordieau 1990). Photographs emerge as a tangible link
that connects the family’s present and past. In Shichigosan, the highly stylized photos add to
the value of the celebration. The family album is often the place where distant relatives,
grandparents, cousins make their appearance in the life of the family. Sontag also points to
the fact that family albums are often the only place where the family still appears as an
extended family (Sontag 1979:8-9). In contemporary Japan the diminishing number of
extended families increase the symbolic importance of photo albums for the family members.
The Shichigosan photo of the child is often sent by mail (or email) to relatives that could not
partake in the celebration. Accordingly, the photo adopts the function to reestablish or/and
reinforce kin relations. In brief, today the photo occupies a central place in the symbolic
construction of the ritual’s meaning. It is the object through which the family can create its
own imagery and reaffirm its identity as a unit. Its significance is highlighted by the stylized
and elaborate professional photographs, which on the other hand, also reflect specific
aesthetic values characteristic to Japanese culture.
As for tendencies regarding expenditure levels related to the celebration, according to
a survey targeting families observing Shichigosan undertaken by a professional female
school, in 1977 the majority of families spent sums not exceeding 100 000 Yen.
17
Although,
it is important to note that the percentage of those who spent more than this figure reached
16
Today, more than 80% of families turn to professional studios for their Shichigosan photographs
(source: surveys of the Mikihouse website,2010 and of the magazine COMO, 2010, September).
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250 mothers were asked questions related mostly to their children’s festive dress, its style, price and
way of acquisition (purchase, rental, inheriting) (Sh
ū
kan Yomiuri 1977, December 3).
