散文網(wǎng) » 科技 »人文歷史 » 【簡譯】中世紀日本的日常生活

【簡譯】中世紀日本的日常生活

2023-11-28 11:44 作者:神尾智代 0人讀過 | 我要投稿

Daily life in medieval Japan (1185-1606 CE) was, for most people, the age-old struggle to put food on the table, build a family, stay healthy, and try to enjoy the finer things in life whenever possible. The upper classes had better and more colourful clothes, used expensive foreign porcelain, were entertained by Noh theatre and could afford to travel to other parts of Japan while the lower classes had to make do with plain cotton, ate rice and fish, and were mostly preoccupied with surviving the occasional famine, outbreaks of disease, and the civil wars that blighted the country. Still, many of the cultural pursuits of medieval Japan continue to thrive today, from drinking green tea to playing the go board game, from owning a fine pair of chopsticks to remembering ancestors every July/August in the Obon festival.

? ? ? ? ? 對于多數(shù)中世紀（1185-1606）的日本人來說，其日常生活就是為了養(yǎng)家糊口、保持健康，并盡可能地享受生活中的美好事物。上層階級的衣服更好更鮮艷，用的是昂貴的進口瓷器，看能劇自娛自樂，有能力去日本其他地方旅行；而下層階級則只能穿樸素的棉衣（日本從 15 世紀開始從中國進口原棉和棉制品，稍后又從印度進口。這種情況一直持續(xù)到16世紀，日本人采用了中國的棉花種植方法，開始在國內(nèi)生產(chǎn)棉花，詳情參看：https://www.kimonoboy.com/short_history.html），吃米飯和魚，最重要的是，他們擔心如何在周期性的饑荒、疾病爆發(fā)和蹂躪國家的內(nèi)戰(zhàn)中生存下來。盡管如此，中世紀日本的許多文化活動至今仍蓬勃發(fā)展，從品茶（綠茶）到棋盤游戲，從擁有一雙精美的筷子到每年七、八月的盂蘭盆節(jié)追思祭祖。

社會方面

Japanese medieval society was divided into classes based on their economic function. At the top was the warrior class of samurai or bushi (which had its own internal distinctions based on the feudal relationship between lord and vassal), the land-owning aristocrats, priests, farmers and peasants (who paid a land tax to the landowners or the state), artisans and merchants. Curiously, the merchants were considered socially inferior to farmers in the medieval period. There were, too, a number of social outcasts which included those who worked in messy or 'undesirable' professions like butchers and tanners, actors, undertakers, and criminals. There was some movement between the classes such as peasants becoming warriors, especially during the frequent civil wars of the period, but there were also legal barriers to a member of one class marrying a member of another.

? ? ? ? ? 中世紀日本的社會根據(jù)其經(jīng)濟功能分為不同階級。最上層的是侍或武士（根據(jù)領(lǐng)主和附庸之間的封建關(guān)系，它有自己的內(nèi)部區(qū)別），擁有土地的貴族、祭司、地主和農(nóng)民（他們向地主或國家繳納土地稅），工匠和商人。有趣的是，在中世紀日本，商人的社會地位低于農(nóng)民。此外，還有一些被社會所排斥者，包括從事“不良”職業(yè)的人，如屠夫和制革工、演員、殯儀員和罪犯。階級之間會產(chǎn)生一些流動，如農(nóng)民成為戰(zhàn)士，特別是在那個頻繁發(fā)生內(nèi)戰(zhàn)的時代，但也存在法律障礙，阻止某個階級的成員與另一個階級的成員結(jié)婚。

Although women were not given the advantages awarded to men, their status and rights changed through the medieval period and often depended on both the status of their husbands and the region in which they lived. Rights related to inheritance, property ownership, divorce, and freedom of movement all fluctuated over time and place. A common strategy of families everywhere and of all classes was to use daughters as a tool to marry into a higher-status family and so improve the position of her own relations. Another strategy was for powerful samurai to use their daughters as a means to solidify alliances with rival warlords by arranging marriages of convenience for them.

? ? ? ? ? 盡管女性不享有與男子相同的優(yōu)勢，但她們的地位與權(quán)利在中世紀時期不斷演變，并且往往取決于她們丈夫的地位以及所居住的地區(qū)。與繼承、世襲財產(chǎn)、離婚和遷徙自由有關(guān)的權(quán)利都隨著空間和時間的變化而波動。各地、各階層共同的家庭策略就是利用女兒嫁入地位較高的家庭，以提高自己的關(guān)系地位。另一種策略是，強大的武士利用他們的女兒，通過為她們安排權(quán)宜婚姻來鞏固與敵對軍閥的聯(lián)盟。

婚姻方面

Marriage was a more formal affair amongst the upper classes, while in rural communities things were more relaxed, even pre-marital sex was permitted thanks to the established tradition of yohai or 'night visit' between lovers. In ancient Japan, a married man often went to live in the family home of his wife, but in the medieval period, this was reversed. In the case of the wives of samurai, they were expected to defend the home in their husband's absence on campaign, and they were given the gift of a knife at their wedding as a symbol of this duty. Many such women did learn martial skills.

? ? ? ? ? 在上層階級中，婚姻是一件比較正式的事情，而在農(nóng)村社區(qū)，情況則相對寬松，由于戀人之間既定的“夜訪”（yohai）傳統(tǒng)，甚至允許婚前性行為。在古代日本（鐮倉時代之前），已婚男子經(jīng)常去妻子的家中居住，但在中世紀時期，這種情況被顛覆。就武士的妻子而言，她們被期望在丈夫不在時保衛(wèi)家園，她們在婚禮上會收到一把刀作為禮物，作為這一職責的象征。這些婦女中有許多人學習了武術(shù)。

Divorce was always in favour of the male who could decide to terminate his marriage simply by writing a letter to his wife. If the couple remained on amicable terms, then a mutual settlement could be made, but the male ultimately had the power to decide such matters. If there were evidence of adultery, then the wife could even be executed. As a wife had no recourse to any legal protection, the only option for many women to escape adulterous or violent husbands was to join a convent.

? ? ? ? ? 離婚總是有利于那些只需給妻子寫一封信就可以決定結(jié)束婚姻的男人。如果夫妻雙方仍然保持友好關(guān)系，那么可以相互妥協(xié)，但男性最終有權(quán)決定此類事項。如果有通奸的證據(jù)，那么妻子甚至可以被處決。由于妻子無法獲得任何法律保護，許多婦女為逃避通奸或暴力的丈夫，唯一的選擇就是加入尼姑庵。

能劇中的舞者。約公元1910年。月岡光耀的紙上木版畫。(紐約大都會藝術(shù)博物館)

家庭方面

The essential family unit in Japan was the ie (house) which included parents and their children, grandparents, other blood relations, and the household servants and their children. Eldest sons usually inherited the property of the ie, but the absence of male offspring could entail bringing in an outsider to act as head of the family (koshu) - male children were often adopted for this very purpose - although a female member might also take on the role, too. The wife of the koshu was the senior female in the family and was responsible for managing the household duties. The good of the ie was meant to take precedence over any individual's and the three principles to be followed by all were: obligation, obedience, and loyalty. For this reason, all the property within a family was regarded not as belonging to any individual but to the ie as a whole. Filial duty (oya koko) to one's parents and grandparents was especially cultivated as a positive sentiment.

? ? ? ? ? 日本的基本家庭單位是ie（家庭），包括父母及其子女、祖父母、其他血緣關(guān)系、家仆及其子女（ie的物理定義包括一個莊園，其中包括房屋、稻田和菜園，以及當?shù)啬沟氐莫毩⒉糠郑?。長子通常繼承家產(chǎn)，但如果沒有男性后代，就需要找一個外人來擔任一家之主（Koshu）——男孩往往就是為此而被收養(yǎng)的，盡管女性成員也可能承擔這一角色。家主的妻子是家里最重要的女人，負責打理家務。家庭的利益要高于任何個人的利益，所有人要遵循的三個原則是：義務、服從和忠誠。出于這個原因，家庭中的所有財產(chǎn)不被視為屬于任何個人，而是屬于整個家庭。對父母和祖父母的孝道責任（oya koko）尤其被作為一種積極的情感來培養(yǎng)。 ??

教育方面

The children of farmers and artisans were taught by their fathers and mothers the practical skills they had acquired through a lifetime of work. Regarding more formal education, this had previously been the exclusive privilege of aristocratic families or those who joined Buddhist monasteries, but in the medieval period, the rising samurai class began to educate their children, too, largely at the schools offered by Buddhist temples. Nevertheless, the number of people who were literate, even in the upper classes, was only a tiny proportion of the population as a whole, and monks were much called on to assist with paperwork in the secular world.

? ? ? ? ? 農(nóng)民和工匠的孩子從他們父母那里學習其在工作生活中獲得的實用技能。關(guān)于更正式的教育，以前是貴族家庭或加入佛教寺院的人專有的特權(quán)，但在中世紀時期，崛起的武士階層也開始給他們的孩子安排教育，主要是在佛教寺廟成立的學校。然而，識字的人數(shù)，即使在上層階級，也只占總?cè)丝诘臉O小部分，世俗界對僧人處理文書的需求量很大。

When they did learn, children in the early medieval period did so from private tutors or the classes arranged by temples, but there was at least one famous school in the modern sense, the Ashikaga School, founded by the samurai Uesugi Norizane in 1439 CE and boasting 3000 students by the mid-16th century CE. Here, boys learnt the two subjects close to every warrior's heart: military strategy and Confucian philosophy. Many prosperous samurai also established libraries of classic Chinese and Japanese literature, which were made accessible to priests and scholars, and these often became noted centres of learning in the Edo period (1603-1868 CE). One famous example was the Kanazawa Library, established by Hojo Sanetoki in 1275 CE. Another source of education was the schools established by Christian missionaries from the 16th century CE.

? ? ? ? ? 中世紀日本早期的孩子們接受教育時，是在私人教師的指導下或在寺廟的班級里接受教育，有一所現(xiàn)代意義上的著名學校，即足利學校，由武士上杉憲實于公元1439年創(chuàng)立，到公元16世紀中期擁有3000名學生。在這里，孩子們會學習每個戰(zhàn)士都關(guān)心的兩個科目：軍事戰(zhàn)略和儒家哲學。許多富裕的武士還建立了中國和日本古典文學的文庫，供祭司和學者使用，這些文庫在江戶時代（公元1603-1868年）往往成為著名的學習中心。著名的例子是金澤文庫，由北條實時于公元1275年建立。16世紀以來基督教傳教士建立的學校提供了另一種受教育渠道。

貿(mào)易方面

Markets developed in Japan from the 14th century CE so that most towns had a weekly or thrice-monthly one when merchants travelled around their particular regions and farmers sold their surplus goods. Foodstuffs were more available than ever before, increasing thanks to developments in agricultural techniques and tools. Goods were bartered for other goods, and coins were being used more and more (although they were actually imported from China). Markets were also promoted by local authorities who saw their value as a tax revenue source by standardising currencies, weights, and measures. Non-food items available at local markets included pottery, tools, cooking utensils, and household furniture. Markets at the capital and other larger cities might have more exotic goods on sale, such as Ming porcelain, Chinese silk, Korean cotton and ginseng, spices from Thailand and Indonesia, or Japanese-made jewellery and weapons.

? ? ? ? ? 日本從14世紀就開始發(fā)展市場，大多數(shù)城鎮(zhèn)每周都會有一次或每月至少三次的集市，商人在各地區(qū)進行交易，農(nóng)民則出售剩余產(chǎn)品。由于農(nóng)業(yè)技術(shù)和工具的發(fā)展，食物的供應量比以前更多。盡管貨幣的使用越來越多（它們實際上是從中國進口的），但商品通常用來交換其他商品。地方當局也通過標準化貨幣、重量和計量將其視為稅收來源，從而鼓舞了市場。當?shù)厥袌錾铣鍪鄣姆鞘澄镂锲钒ㄌ掌鳌⒐ぞ?、廚房用具和家用家具。首都和其他較大城市的市場可能會有更多的異國商品出售，如明代瓷器、中國絲綢、朝鮮（李氏朝鮮，1392年—1897年）棉花和人參、泰國和印度尼西亞的香料，或珠寶與本地制造的武器。

??膳食方面

In the medieval period, most upper-class Japanese and monks would have eaten two meals a day - one around noon and another in the early evening. Lower classes might have eaten four meals a day. Men generally ate separately from women, and there were certain rules of etiquette such as a wife should serve a husband and the eldest daughter-in-law should serve the female head of the household. Food was served on a tray placed in front of the diner who was seated on the floor. The food was then eaten with chopsticks made of lacquered wood, precious metal or ivory.

? ? ? ? ? 中世紀時期，大多數(shù)日本上層階級人士和僧侶每天吃兩頓飯，一頓在中午，另一頓在傍晚。下層階級可能一天吃四頓飯。男人一般與女人分開吃飯，而且有一些禮儀規(guī)則，如妻子應該服侍丈夫，大兒媳服侍女主人等。食物會被放在一個托盤上，端到坐在地板上用餐者的面前。就餐者會用漆木、貴金屬或象牙制成的筷子吃飯。 ?

The influence of Buddhism on the aristocracy was strong and meant that meat was (at least publicly) frowned upon by many. The samurai and lower classes had no such qualms and consumed meat whenever they could afford to. The staple foods for everyone were rice (and lots of it - three portions per person per meal was not uncommon), vegetables, seaweed, seafood, and fruit. Soya bean sauce and paste were popular to give extra taste, as were wasabi (a type of horseradish), sansho (ground seedpods of the prickly ash tree), and ginger. Green tea was drunk, usually served after the food, but this was brewed from rough leaves and so different from the fine powder used in the Japanese Tea Ceremony. Sake or rice wine was drunk by everyone but was reserved for special occasions in the medieval period.

? ? ? ? ? 佛教對貴族的影響很大，這意味著許多人（至少在公開場合）都不贊成吃肉。武士和下層階級則沒有這種顧慮，只要他們有能力，都會吃肉。每個人的主食是米飯（而且是大量的米飯，每人每餐三份并不罕見）、蔬菜、海藻、海鮮和水果。醬油和味增很受歡迎，可以豐富味覺，還有山葵（一種辣根）、山椒（花椒樹的豆莢）和生姜。人們喜飲綠茶，通常在飯后飲用，但它是用粗糙的葉子沖泡的，因此與日本茶道中使用的細茶粉不同。清酒或米酒人人都喝，但在中世紀，只有在特殊場合才飲用。

服飾方面

Upper-class women wore perhaps the most famous wardrobe item from Japanese culture, the kimono. Meaning literally 'thing to wear', the kimono is a woven silk robe tied at the waist by a broad band or obi. Other clothes for both men and women of means tended to be silk, long and loose-fitting, and both sexes might wear baggy trousers, and women skirt-trousers, too. Women might wear a long robe with a train, the uchiki, while men wore short jackets called haori or the long jacket (uchikake or kaidori) fashionable from the Muromachi period (1333-1573 CE). From the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1568/73-1600 CE), men, especially samurai, often wore a matching sleeveless robe and trousers outfit called the kamishomo. Finer clothes were often beautifully embroidered with designs of plants, flowers, birds, and landscapes, which would become even more elaborate in the Edo period.

? ? ? ? ? 上流社會的女性穿著的也許是日本文化中最著名的服飾——和服。和服的字面意思是“著物”，是一種用寬帶或腰帶系在腰間的編織絲綢長袍。有經(jīng)濟能力的男女服裝一般都是絲質(zhì)的，長而寬松，男女都可以穿寬褲，女性甚至可以穿裙子。女性可以穿著帶拖裾的長裙，即“Uchiki”，而男性則穿著稱為“haori”的羽織或從室町時代（公元1333-1573年）開始流行的長外套（注意！文中“Uchikake”指的是日本女性穿著的一種和服，本來是春、秋、冬的和服，但在婚禮租賃服裝中，很少會看到用紗制成的夏季打掛；它也被稱為“kaidori”。在紅燈區(qū)，它有時也被稱為“kake”或“shikake”。有些新娘可能會在婚禮上佩戴打掛（Uchikake）。打掛（Uchikake）比里面穿的和服長一個尺碼，下擺有一個被稱為“fuki”的厚重部分，里面填充了大量棉絮，詳情參考：https://www.japanesewiki.com/culture/Uchikake.html）。從安土桃山時期（1568/73-1600年）開始，男子，特別是武士，經(jīng)常穿著配套的無袖長袍和褲子，稱為“裃”(Kamishimo)。華麗的衣服上通常繡有精美的植物、花卉、鳥類和風景圖案，到了江戶時代，這些圖案變得更加精致。 ??

Lower classes typically wore similar clothes but of more sober colouring and made of woven flax or hemp and, if working in the fields in summer, both men and women often only wore a loincloth-type garment and nothing else. From the late 14th century CE cotton clothing became much more common for all classes. The preferred footwear for everyone was sandals (zori), made from either wood, rope, or leather. Country folk might wear straw boots (zunbe) in colder weather. The most common headgear was the kasa, a straw hat which took many forms, some of which indicated the wearer's social status.

? ? ? ? ? 下層階級通常穿著類似的衣服，但顏色較之更為樸素，這些衣物由亞麻或大麻編織而成，如果夏天在田間勞作，男人和女人往往只穿纏腰布式的衣服，其他什么都不穿。從 14 世紀末開始，棉質(zhì)服裝在各個階層都變得更加普遍。每個人最喜歡的鞋子是涼鞋（zori），由木頭、繩索或皮革制成。寒冷的天氣里，鄉(xiāng)下人會穿稻草鞋（zunbe）。最常見的頭飾是笠（kasa），一種草帽，有多種形式，有一些形式的笠會表明佩戴者的社會地位。 ??

A popular accessory for men and women was a hand fan (uchiwa) and specifically the folding fan (ogi) which became a status symbol. Women might wear an ornate comb or pin in their hair made from bamboo, wood, ivory or tortoiseshell and perhaps decorated with a few embellishments in gold or pearl. A pale complexion was admired on both men and women and so white powder (oshiroi) was worn. Fashionable women wore a red dot on their lower lip made using a flower-based paste or a red lipstick (beni). Women also shaved and redrew their eyebrows. Women and samurai were inclined to blacken their teeth in the medieval period in the process known as ohaguro. Although tattoos became fashionable in the 18th century CE, in medieval times they were used as a form of punishment for criminals - the actual crime being written on the face and arms for all to see.

? ? ? ? ? ?手扇（uchiwa）是一種深受男性和女性歡迎的配飾，尤其是折扇（ogi），它成為了一種身份象征。女性可能會在頭發(fā)上佩戴一把由竹子、木頭、象牙或玳瑁甲制成的華麗的梳子或釵，也許還裝飾著一些金飾或珍珠飾物。男人和女人都喜歡蒼白的膚色，因此會往臉上涂白色粉末（oshiroi）。時髦的女性會在下唇上點綴一個紅點，這個紅點是用以花為基礎(chǔ)的漿糊或紅色唇膏（beni）制成的。女性有時還會剃光眉毛，重新畫眉。在中世紀時期，婦女和武士傾向于在牙齒上涂黑，這個過程被稱為“ohaguro”。雖然紋身在公元18世紀開始流行，但在中世紀，紋身被用作對罪犯的一種懲罰形式，實際罪行被刻在臉上和胳膊上，讓所有人看到。

??娛樂方面

Medieval entertainments included sumo wrestling bouts, held at Shinto shrines before it gained a wider appeal in its own venues from the Edo period. Falconry, fishing, cock-fighting, a type of football game (kemari) where players had to keep the ball in the air as it went around a circle playing area, handball (temari), badminton (hanetsuki) which used wooden paddles, and martial arts (especially those involving horse riding, fencing, and archery) were popular pastimes. Indoor games included the two most popular board games: go and shogi. The game of go involves two players aiming to move white or black stones across a grid board in order to control territory while shogi is a form of chess. Cards were also played, although they were quite different to those in the west, with two popular sets having poems on them (karuta) or flowers and animals (hanafuda). Gambling was frequently associated with card-playing. From the 14th century CE, Noh theatre was another popular form of entertainment where masked actors performed in stylised movements set to music, telling the stories of celebrated gods, heroes, and heroines. Children played with the traditional toys popular elsewhere such as spinning tops, dolls, and kites.

? ? ? ? ? 中世紀的娛樂活動包括相撲，相撲在神社舉行，從江戶時代開始在自己的表演場所流行起來。獵鷹、捕魚、斗雞、蹴鞠（kemari），手球（temari，玩家必須讓球在空中繞行一圈）、使用木板的羽根突 (Hanetsuki)和武術(shù)（尤其是涉及騎馬、擊劍和射箭的武術(shù)）是流行的消遣活動。室內(nèi)游戲包括兩種最流行的棋盤游戲：圍棋和將棋。圍棋游戲由兩個人玩，涉及在網(wǎng)格棋盤上移動白棋或黑棋以控制領(lǐng)土，而將棋是國際象棋的一種形式。人們也玩紙牌，盡管它們與西方的紙牌有很大的不同，有兩套流行的紙牌：上面有詩（歌留多，Karuta）或花與動物（花札，hanafuda）。賭博經(jīng)常與玩牌有關(guān)。從公元14世紀開始，能劇是另一種流行的娛樂形式，戴著面具的演員在音樂的伴奏下，以風格化的動作表演，講述著名的神、英雄或女英雄的故事。孩子們玩著流通各地的傳統(tǒng)玩具，如陀螺、玩偶和風箏。 ?

旅行方面

Travel was restricted in the medieval period because of Japan's mountainous terrain and the lack of a well-kept road network. One group that did move around was pilgrims, although these were limited to those with either the means to pay for expensive travel arrangements or the time to do so. There were specific pilgrimage routes such as the 88-temple tour established by the monk Kukai (774-835 CE) and the 33-temple tour which worshippers of the Bodhisattva Kannon were encouraged to endure. Up to the Edo period, getting around was mostly done on foot, with goods carried by teams of horses or oxen pulling carts, while faster horses were ridden by messengers. Waterways were an important means to transport both people and goods, especially timber, cotton cloth, rice, and fish. The wealthy were carried about on a palanquin (kago) - a bamboo or wooden chair between long poles for the two carriers, one at either end. For the more adventurous there was maritime trade with both China and Korea, and monks, especially, travelled back and forth to study and bring ideas back to their monasteries. Both land and sea travel remained dangerous in medieval Japan, the former thanks to bandits and the latter due to the wako pirates that plagued the high seas.

? ? ? ? ? 由于山區(qū)地形和缺乏維護良好的道路網(wǎng)絡，日本中世紀時期的旅行會受到不小的限制。有一個群體確實在四處活動，盡管他們僅限于那些有能力支付昂貴的旅行安排或有時間這樣做的人。有特定的朝圣路線，如由空海和尚（公元774-835年）提出的八十八寺巡回路線和鼓勵觀世音菩薩崇拜者完成的三十三寺巡回路線。直到江戶時代，人們的出行主要靠步行，貨物由馬隊或牛拉車運送，而信使則騎著更快的馬。水路是運輸人員和貨物的重要手段，特別是木材、棉布、大米和漁獲。富人乘坐轎子（kago），這是一種竹椅或木椅，長桿之間有兩個轎夫，兩端各一個。對于更有冒險精神的人來說，他們會與中國和朝鮮進行海上貿(mào)易，特別是僧侶，來回旅行學習，并把思想帶回他們的寺院。在中世紀的日本，陸路或海路旅行都很危險，前者是因為強盜，后者則是由于困擾公海的倭寇 (Wokou)。

死亡與葬禮

Just as Japanese people today enjoy one of the longest life expectancy rates in the world, so, too in the medieval period the Japanese were ahead of almost everyone else. The average life expectancy was around 50 years of age (in the best locations and periods) compared to a high of 40 in Western Europe, for example. There remained challenges to overcome or avoid such as famine, vitamin deficiency from a rice-heavy diet, diseases such as smallpox and leprosy, illness caused by parasites which thrived in conditions where waste disposal was poor, and the risk of death or injury from wars. In the medieval period, the most common treatment of the dead was cremation (kaso).

? ? ? ? ? 正如今天的日本人是世界上預期壽命最長的國家之一一樣，在中世紀時期，日本人也幾乎領(lǐng)先于其他人。平均預期壽命約為50歲（在最好的地區(qū)和時期），而在西歐，平均預期壽命最高為40歲。仍然存在需要克服或避免的挑戰(zhàn)，例如饑荒、因富含大米的飲食而導致的維生素匱乏、天花和麻風病等疾病、在廢物處理不善的條件下繁殖的寄生蟲引起的疾病，以及戰(zhàn)爭帶來的疾病或死亡風險。這一時期的日本，對死者最常見的處理方式是火葬（kaso）。

When a person died, most Japanese thought that the spirit of the deceased then went to the 'Land of Darkness' or shigo no sekai. The spirts then might occasionally revisit the world of the living. Those who followed Buddhism believed that people either went to a form of hell or were reincarnated or went to the Buddhist paradise, the Pure Land. Ancestors were not forgotten and were honoured each year in the Obon festival held in July/August when it was thought they returned to their families for a three-day visit.

? ? ? ? ? 當一個人死后，大多數(shù)日本人認為死者的靈魂會去“黑暗之地”（shigo no sekai）。然而，靈魂偶爾會回到生者的世界。那些信奉佛教的人認為，人要么下地獄、轉(zhuǎn)世，要么去極樂凈土。每年七月、八月舉行的盂蘭盆節(jié)期間，人們會祭祖。當時的人們認為祖先會回到家人身邊，進行為期三天的探望。