Homecoming - Satogaeri

In a marriage where the bride enters her family, it is customary for the bride to return to her parents' home temporarily, especially on the third or fifth day after the wedding. In some places, it is called the first walk, first visit, or first viewing. In the case of the bride returning to her parents' home immediately after the wedding, it is customary for the newlyweds to return together, and it is for the bride to report that she has safely completed her marriage, and for the groom to visit his wife's home for the first time and to greet her as a groom. There were many cases of brides returning to their homes frequently after the wedding, such as on seasonal festivals, Bon festivals, New Year's Day, festivals, or after rice planting and harvesting. In various places from Yamagata Prefecture to Fukui Prefecture, there were cases of brides returning to their homes very frequently, such as every night, every other day, or for three months or six months at a time, or staying at their parents' home for long periods of time. Of course, they would work for the family home while they were there, and the family in the village expected them to continue to provide labor even after they had given the bride away to their parents.

On the other hand, when a bride returned home, it was common for her to bring back laundry and sewing items and stay at her parents' home until those items were completed. Also, in some places, when a bride got married, she would leave her formal attire at her parents' home and carry one or two pieces with her each time she returned home. These are customs that show that the relationship between the bride and her parents' home was extremely close even after she got married, and are thought to be a relic of the past practice of marriages in which the bride moved into her family. At the same time, in marriages in which the bride moved into her family, she could not remain the wife of her husband and was always in a tense relationship with her mother-in-law, so returning home certainly played a role in easing that tension.

[Takeda Dan]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

嫁入り婚において、嫁が一時的に親里に帰ること、とくに結婚式の直後、3日目、5日目などに帰る習俗。初歩き、初通い、里見などという所もある。結婚式直後の場合、新婚夫婦がそろって行くのが通例で、嫁が嫁入りを無事終えたことを報告するとともに、婿が嫁方を初めて訪れ、婿としての挨拶(あいさつ)をするという意味があった。その後も節供、盆、正月、祭り、あるいは田植や稲刈りのあとなどにたびたび里帰りを行う例が少なくなかった。山形県から福井県にわたる各地で、毎晩のようにとか、1日置きにとか、もしくはまとめて3か月ずつ、半年ずつなど、きわめて頻繁に里帰りを繰り返し、または長期間実家にとどまる風がみられた。里帰りしている間はもちろん里の家の仕事を行うわけで、里の側でも嫁に出したあとまでその労働力に期待しようとするありさまであった。

　一方、嫁が里帰りにあたって洗濯や裁縫の品を持ち帰り、それらを済ますまで実家にとどまる場合も多かった。また嫁入りのとき、晴れ着などを実家に残しておき、里帰りのたびに1枚2枚と持ち運ぶという所もあった。これらは嫁入り後も嫁と実家との関係がきわめて緊密であったことを示す習俗であり、それはかつて行われた婿入り婚の遺習だと考えられている。同時に、嫁入り婚では、嫁はそのまま婿方の主婦となることはできず、つねに姑(しゅうとめ)との緊張関係に置かれているので、里帰りはそれを緩和する役割を果たしたことも確かである。

［竹田　旦］

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