1. The Mo: The Waist Garment Heian Noble Girls First Wore as Adults
Noble girls in the Heian period wore a "mo" for the first time when they became adults. The mo is a garment tied at the waist and trailing behind. This ceremony is called mo-gi. [1] In earlier times, the first hair-tying ceremony, called uikogai, marked adulthood. However, because adult women began wearing their hair down, the mo-gi became the central ceremony from the mid-Heian period. This shift occurred around the 10th century. [1]
The age for this ceremony was not fixed. The National Diet Library notes that in the 10th century, it was performed between the ages of 11 and 18. Dictionaries describe it as typically happening around 12 to 14 years old. [1][2] The timing varied due to political circumstances. So, who was the person responsible for tying the waist sash? [1]
The logic was that since hair styles no longer clearly showed adulthood, another symbol needed to become the main symbol. [1]
2. Koshiyui: The Sash-Tying Role Usually Performed by Clan Heads
The role of tying the waist sash is called koshiyui. Dictionaries state that this was the most important role in the mo-gi ceremony, equivalent to the role of placing the crown (kakan) in a boy's ceremony. [2] The people who performed this task were clan heads, senior relatives, or high-ranking individuals with good reputations. In the case of imperial princesses, the Emperor himself sometimes tied the sash. [2]
If a clan head or a noble person tied the sash, it may have communicated the status of the child's family to those around them. However, this is an inference based on historical materials. [2] What did this ceremony communicate to the audience? [2]
3. How the Mo-gi Ceremony Announced a Girl Was Ready for Marriage
At that time, a girl becoming an adult meant she had gained recognition as being old enough to marry. A thesis explains that the mo-gi ceremony held the meaning of announcing this status to society. [3] A real example is Fujiwara no Michinaga's eldest daughter, Shoshi. In 999, at the age of 12 by traditional counting, she underwent the mo-gi ceremony. In the same year, she went to the palace to become an imperial consort (nyunai). By the following year, 1000, she had become a middle consort (chugu). [4] How is the princess in the story depicted? [3]
4. Empress Akikonomu Tying Princess Akashi's Sash in The Tale of Genji
In The Tale of Genji, when the Akashi Princess undergoes the mo-gi ceremony, the koshiyui role is performed by a woman, Empress Akikonomu. Usually, men perform the koshiyui role. The author of the thesis notes that a woman performing this task is an example to pay attention to. [3] This mo-gi ceremony meant that the princess was ready to enter the residence of the Crown Prince (who would later become Emperor). [3]
This is an event within a story. It does not mean that real ceremonies always followed this pattern. However, it can be read that the story's author deliberately placed the person who ties the waist sash at the center of the scene. How did the princess's appearance change on the day of the ceremony? [3]
5. Changes in Hair, Eyebrows, Teeth, and Time of Day at the Mo-gi Ceremony
The mo-gi ceremony was held during the day or from evening to night. Roles for tying hair and grooming hair were also established. [2] Some materials explain that before and after the mo-gi, eyebrows were shaved and reredrawn high on the forehead (hikimayu), and teeth began to be dyed black with ohaguro. This is called the kanehajime ceremony. [5] In The Tale of Genji, regarding Wakamurasaki, it is written that her teeth and eyebrows were not yet dyed, showing she had not yet dyed her teeth black in that scene. [5]
However, it is said that there were differences in the actual timing and social status for performing these steps. It cannot be said that these ceremonies were always held during the mo-gi. [5] So far, we have discussed girls. How Boys' Genpuku and Young Children's Hakama-gi Compared with Mo-gi [5]
6. Genpuku for Boys and Hakama-gi for Young Children Compared with the Mo-gi
The coming-of-age ceremony for boys is called genpuku. They tied their hair, wore a crown (kakan), drew high eyebrows, and changed their clothes. They switched from garments with open sides to garments with sewn sides, and changed their names from childhood names to real names. [1] The genpuku for an Emperor was typically between 11 and 15 years old, and for a Crown Prince, between 11 and 17 years old. The Shoku Nihongi records that in 714, the future Emperor Shomu underwent genpuku at age 14, which is considered the oldest record of genpuku. [6]
A milestone for younger children is hakama-gi. This is a ceremony where a child wears hakama (traditional divided skirt) for the first time, performed around ages 3 to 7. The child stood on a go board, and an important person tied the waist sash for them. [7] In every milestone, the person who adjusted the waist or head was an important person for that child. [7]
7. How to Find and Check the Akashi Princess Mo-gi Scene Yourself
Try looking for the scene in a library. Look for the scene of "Akashi Princess's mo-gi" in a modern Japanese translation of The Tale of Genji. You can verify how Empress Akikonomu's performance of the koshiyui role is written. However, it is faster to ask a librarian for the volume names. [1]
If you want to read materials, the National Diet Library's explanations of mo-gi and genpuku in "Coming-of-Age Ceremonies in Japan" are available in Japanese. [1][6]