Woman's House - Onnanoie

Japanese: 女の家 - おんなのいえ

It is also called "Woman's Roof," "Woman's Night," "Woman's World," and "Fukigomori." In the Edo period, May 5th was called "Woman's House" in Kyoto and Osaka, and similar traditions remain in various parts of the country today. Most of them are on the evening of May 4th, and it is said that this is the day when women can show off to their husbands without hesitation, or when women treat men to alcohol, or when half a tatami mat becomes the woman's property. In Kagawa Prefecture, May 4th is called "Woman's Night" or "Woman's House," and it is a day when women can stretch out their arms and legs and sleep. In Kitakyushu, there are areas where the 13th night of September is called "Woman's Harvest Moon," and it is also said to be a day when women can be free and easy. In folklore, these phenomena are explained by relating them to agricultural matters. The sekku festival, which precedes rice planting in May, is an important festival day for each household, and since women played a particularly important role as servants and priests of the festival for the rice field god, it is said to be a remnant of the custom of women staying in certain houses and observing abstinence on this day. In contrast, anthropology interprets these as a kind of role reversal, and believes that women, whose daily lives are dominated by men all year round and whose desires and lusts are suppressed, temporarily take control from men on a certain day of the year, become the rulers of the household, and release and liberate their desires and emotions. This type of custom is seen in various societies, but the more fixed the social relations and social structure, the greater the significance of this. Furthermore, rituals in which men and women's roles are reversed are often accompanied by a reversal of clothing.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

女の屋根，女の夜，女の天下，ふきごもりなどともいう。江戸時代に5月5日を「女の家」と称したことが京都，大坂にみられ，現在でも国内の各地に同様の伝承が残っている。多くは5月4日の晩で，この日だけは女が夫に気がねなくいばれる日であるとか，女が男に酒をふるまう日であるとか，畳半畳が女の所有になる日などとする。香川県では，5月4日を「女の夜」または「女の家」といって，女の人が手足を伸ばして寝ることができる日としている。北九州では9月の十三夜を「女の名月」という地方があり，やはり女が自由気ままに幅をきかせてよい日であるとしている。民俗学では，これらの現象を農事に関連づけて説明している。5月の田植えに先立つ節供は，家々の大切な祭りの日であり，女性は田の神の祭りの奉仕者，祭祀者として特に重要な役目を負っていたことから，この日に女性が特定の家にこもって物忌を行なった慣習の残存とする。これに対して，人類学では，これらを一種の役割転倒と解釈し，一年中，男性たちに日常生活を支配され，欲望，欲求を抑圧されている女性が，一年のうちの特定の日だけ男性から支配権を一時的に奪い取り，家の支配者となって欲望，感情を発散，解放させるものと考える。こうした種類の慣習は，さまざまな社会でみられるが，特に社会関係，社会構造が固定的であればあるほど，その意義は大きい。また男女の役割転倒の儀礼には，服装の転倒が伴う場合が多い。

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