Kimezake - Kimezake

Japanese: キメザケ - きめざけ

... In deciding on a spouse, if the marriage was outside the village, an arranged marriage was often held, but this usually took place once the marriage had been finalized. Once the marriage was finalized, there was an engagement ceremony called Kimezake, in which the husband would go to the wife's house and drink sake that he had brought with him. In some cases, the husband would not attend, and the ceremony would be held only by the matchmaker and the husband's close relatives.

From "Sake Ceremony"

...Marriage is both a matter for the individuals involved and a matter between the groups to which they belong, and is an important opportunity to create new social relationships between individuals or groups. Therefore, a sake ceremony with various meanings is held at the time of the marriage. First, the groom goes to his wife's house to promise marriage and exchanges hard sake called tejimenosake or kimezake with her relatives. In areas where the custom is to visit the wife at the beginning of the marriage, this sake ceremony signifies the marriage, and from then on the actual marital relationship begins. ...

*Some of the terminology that refers to "Kimezaake" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

Japanese:

…　配偶者の決定には，村外婚であれば見合いがおこなわれることが多いが，見合いはだいたい話がきまった段階でおこなわれた。話がきまるとキメザケなどとよばれる婚約成立儀礼があるが，これは夫が妻方に行き持参した酒をくみかわしておこなう。夫が行かず仲人や夫の近親者のみがとりおこなう場合もある。…

【盃事】より

…婚姻は当事者個人の問題であると同時にその属する集団間の問題でもあり，新しく個人あるいは集団間に社会関係をつくる重要な契機となることから，婚姻成立に際しさまざまの意味をもつ盃事が行われるのである。まず婚姻の約束のため婿が嫁方に行き嫁方の親族とテジメノサケ，キメザケなどといわれる固めの酒をとりかわす。婚姻初期に妻訪いする方式をとる地域では，この盃事が婚姻成立を意味し，以後実質的婚姻関係が開始される。…

※「キメザケ」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について | 情報

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