Coming of age ceremony

Genbuku is also called 'genbuku', 'kanrei', 'kakan', or in Japanese style 'uikoburi' and 'hatsumotoyui'. It is a ceremony for boys coming of age modelled on ancient Chinese ceremonies, and was performed by nobles and samurai. As 'gen' means 'neck' and 'fuku' means 'crown', the core of the ceremony is for boys who were called 'warawa' and had their heads uncovered before coming of age to wear a crown as a symbol of coming of age, change their hairstyle and clothing, and become treated as full members of society. The age varies from 15, 16 to 20 years old, but for the Emperor and Crown Prince, it is usually around 11 to 17 years old, and there is a tendency for the age to be lower because the investiture and appointment of officials are usually done at the time of coming of age. The Emperor's coming of age ceremony was scheduled to take place on an auspicious day between the 1st and 5th of the New Year, and ordinary people also follow this tradition and often have it held in the New Year. In the past, it was held at night, but by the Edo period, it was mostly held during the day. The coming-of-age ceremony itself as a rite of passage is ethnographically universal and is thought to have an extremely ancient origin, but the coming-of-age ceremony as a ritual should be distinguished from it. There is also a tradition of Prince Shotoku's coming-of-age ceremony going back as far as the present, but after the system of hair-dressing and crowning was established during the reign of Emperor Tenmu, the first record of the coming-of-age ceremony of the Crown Prince (later Emperor Shomu) in June 714 (7th year of Wadō) appeared in the national history (Shoku Nihongi), and it is said that the standard ceremony established by Oe no Otondo in the Jogan era (859-877) based on the Chinese customs was used as a model thereafter.

The ceremony and the rank of the person performing the various duties vary according to the person's rank, but the ceremony for the Emperor is the most grand, and the following duties are prescribed. The Kakan, also called Hikiire, is responsible for adding a crown to the head of the family, and is assigned to the highest ranking person among the various roles, such as the Grand Minister of State. The Barber is responsible for removing the kokusaku (silk robe wrapped around the forehead; not worn by princes or lower) before the Kakan ceremony, and for styling the hair after, and is assigned to a person of second rank. The Nokan is only worn by the Emperor, and is responsible for first adding the kokusaku, tying the hair, and cutting the ends. At the coming-of-age ceremony, nobles are assigned a set of soibushi (attached robes), and their clothing also changes from a ketteki robe with no stitching at the armpits to a houeki robe with sewn armpits. Also, when they came of age, they would change their childhood name to their real name, and sometimes they would be given a kakan or one character from the name of a noble person.

Among samurai, eboshi hats were used instead of crowns, and the person who performed the coming-of-age ceremony was called kanja, and the person who performed the ceremony was called eboshi-oya. The relationship between kanja and eboshi-oya was highly valued, like that of a parent and child, so the ceremony was often entrusted to a powerful person. After the Sengoku period, as the trend of shaving the topknot spread among lower-class samurai, the coming-of-age ceremony was reduced to simply shaving the topknot and shortening the sleeves, and by the mid-Edo period, this trend had spread to upper-class samurai, including the shogun. In this way, the content of the coming-of-age ceremony changed greatly over time. Similar ceremonies were also held among private citizens.

[Kazuki Sugimoto]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

「げんぶく」とも読み、冠礼、首服、加冠、あるいは和風に初冠(ういこうぶり)、初元結(はつもとゆい)ともよぶ。中国古代の儀礼に倣った男子成人の儀式で、公家(くげ)、武家を通じて行われた。「元」とは首(こうべ)、「服」とは冠の意とされるように、儀式の中核は、元服以前には童(わらわ)とよばれて頭頂をあらわにしていた男児に、成年の象徴としての冠を加え、髪形、服装を改めることにあり、これを期に社会的に一人前の扱いを受ける。年齢は15、16歳から20歳ぐらいまで幅があって一定しないが、天皇、皇太子の例では11～17歳ぐらいが通例で、一般に元服の際に叙位、任官が行われることから年齢が下がる傾向もあった。天皇の元服は正月1日より5日の間の吉日を選ぶ定めであったが、一般でもこれに倣って正月に行うことが多い。また古くは夜に行われたが、江戸時代にはおおむね日中に行われるようになっていた。本来、通過儀礼としての成年式自体は民族誌的にも普遍性をもち、起源もきわめて古いと考えられるが、儀式としての元服はいちおうそれと区別すべきである。さかのぼっては聖徳太子元服の所伝もあるが、天武(てんむ)朝に結髪加冠の制が定められてのち、714年（和銅7）6月の皇太子（後の聖武(しょうむ)天皇）元服の記事が国史では初見（『続日本紀(しょくにほんぎ)』）で、貞観(じょうがん)（859～877）のころ大江音人(おおえのおとんど)が唐礼によって制した定式(じょうしき)が以後範とされたと伝えられる。

　その儀式は、身分によって作法、諸役奉仕の者に軽重があるが、天皇の場合がもっとも盛大で、以下の諸役を定める。すなわち、加冠は引入(ひきいれ)ともよばれ、冠を頭首に加える役で、太政(だいじょう)大臣など諸役中最上首の者を任ずる。理髪は加冠の前に黒幘(こくさく)（絹製で額に巻く。親王以下は用いない）を脱し、加冠のあとに髪を整える役で、加冠に次ぐ身分の者を任ずる。能冠は天皇の場合にのみ置くが、初め黒幘を加え、髪を結い改めて、その末を切る役である。元服に際して貴人には添臥(そいぶし)が定まり、服装も、腋(わき)を縫い合わせない闕腋(けってき)の袍(ほう)から縫腋(ほうえき)の袍に改まる。また、元服を期に童名を改めて実名を名のるが、その際に加冠や貴人の名の一字を授かることもあった。

　武家ではもっぱら冠のかわりに烏帽子(えぼし)が用いられ、元服する者を冠者(かんじゃ)、加冠にあたる者を烏帽子親と称する。冠者と烏帽子親の間柄は、これを親子関係に擬して重んじたため、これを有力者に依頼することが多かった。戦国時代以降、下層武士の間から露頂の風が広まるにつれて、元服は月代(さかやき)を剃(そ)り、袖止(そでとめ)（衣服の袖を短くつめる）を行うのみとなり、江戸中期には、この風は将軍をはじめ上層武士にまで及んだ。このように、元服の内容も時代によって大きく変化をみせるのである。なお民間でも類似の儀式が行われることがあった。

［杉本一樹］

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例