Urbanities,
Vol. 3
·
No 1
·
May 2013
© 2013
Urbanities
78
ritual experience by the actor-observer can take place. While diversification of options to
celebrate a ritual appears principally in the form of products and services made available
and/or invented by the marketplace, consumption patterns act as a vehicle through which to
express individual choices and personal preferences. Single families are thus enabled to
interpret a personalized method to celebrate, thus rendering Shichigosan congruent with the
needs of the modern individual as well as giving space to reconsider or reaffirm ideas about
family, values, and aesthetic standards.
Finally, the study of a ritual can be useful and constructive is a number of ways. It can
be regarded as a platform where the dynamics of social life in a particular cultural context can
be observed. In the course of my work, Shichigosan unfolded as a shared platform on which
basic social values, views on children and family life, as well as personal preferences
emerged through expression. Whereas the commercial activities of the involved institutions
profit from the event, it is in the families’ hand that the ritual’s meaning is created and
shaped. Shichigosan today represents a valid and efficient instrument to which the Japanese
family can turn to for a symbolic expression as well as an affirmation of its identity and
image as a family. The celebration can be effectively used to express values and associated
imagery in a manner that harmonizes with the priorities of contemporary Japanese society.
