Japanese Charm

Title: Japanese Charm

General Information about Item:

  • Sympathetic Magic, Customary Lore
  • Language: Japanese and English
  • Country of Origin: Japan
  • Informant: Akiko Kaput
  • Date of Event: August 29, 1958

Informant Data:

  • Akiko Kaput was born in Yahata, Fukuoka-ken, Kyushu, Japan on October 27, 1935. She was raised as a Buddhist and practiced Buddhism. She met her husband, Roland Kaput, while he was stationed at the Okinawa U.S. air force base from 1956-1957 after the Korean War.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: These charms are usually given to children in a Japanese family when they are very young, not only to represent the connection to your family but also to solidify Japanese beliefs and customs. Japan is a very insular country that places a lot of emphasis on respect, so it was considered dishonorable to Akiko’s family for her to marry an American and not have a Buddhist ceremony.
  • Social Context: I collected this folklore by interviewing Akiko over the phone. This folklore occurred while Akiko was marrying Roland, who was Catholic American citizen After they decided to get married, the paperwork process took about five months because Akiko was a Japanese citizen at the time. This included background checks on her family and several health inspections. Because Akiko was a Buddhist at the time and Roland was Catholic and because of the long paperwork process, they did not have a traditional wedding ceremony of any sort and got married at the U.S. consulate office in Tokyo. She was carrying a small Japanese charm with a bell inside that was handwoven by her mother and given to her when she was young. This type of charm represents family ties and means that you are connected to your family as long as you have it. The reason that Akiko had this charm with her on her wedding day was that her family refused to be there for her because they did not approve of her marrying an American.

Item:

  • Since Akiko’s family refused to be there for her on her wedding day, she carried a handwoven charm, which is symbolic of your family ties, that was given to her when she was young. Although Akiko’s family made it clear that they did not approve, the charm gave her comfort because of her love for her family. I interviewed Akiko over the phone and took notes on what she told me about the folklore. These data are not direct quotes from Akiko but are rewritten from my notes to create organized content.

Collector’s Comments:

  • Akiko is my grandmother. I found this folklore to be very bittersweet because I’ve known that my great-grandparents didn’t approve of Akiko’s wedding to my grandfather, but I did not know that she still decided to carry something from her mother with her.

Collector’s Name: Claire Burner

Tags/Keywords:

  • Japanese charm
  • Sympathetic magic
  • Customary lore

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