Rites of Passage





Rites of Passage

Introduction

A rite of the passage is custom that actually depicts the growth of a person from situation to another. As a matter of fact, the concept of rites of passage was initially coined by Arnold van Gannep in his book 'The Rites of Passage', which discusses the phases of one's life from early childhood to the penetration into a social group. Along with that growth, this concept is often used to define different landmarks of an individual's life. However, at each stage social role of person changes (Crapo, 2003). These milestones include the evolution from puberty towards age of high schools, marriage, death, etc. All in all, the different milestones of the culture as well as religion includes in this concept. The rites of passage are one of the essential elements of any religion. This approach helps students of anthropology to ascertain the prevailing hierarchies, beliefs and values of a particular culture (Bennis, 2011).

Many religions of the world have many rites of passage. Some of them are peculiar while others give great food for thought. As a matter of fact, anthropologist is highly interested in ascertaining the different rites of passage different cultures. In this paper, three cultures will be discussed in the light of their rites of passage (Crapo, 2003). These cultures are Japanese, Greek and Hinduism. Brief overview of these cultures would be the central theme of this paper; however, there will also be a comparison among these in terms of their rites of passage. Hence the rite of the passage is available in all of this culture with certain variations.

Japanese Culture

In many of the cultures of world, entry into a particular age is marked as a first step into the rite, this in Japanese culture is known as “Seijin no hi” which means Coming of Age day. In Japan, there happens a vacation on second Monday of January each year. The purpose of this holiday is to congratulate as well as persuade youngsters who, as a matter of fact, have reached the age of maturity. Ceremonies in the Japanese culture are being celebrated since 714 AD. It was a time when the new prince used to wear robes and hairstyle to mark his transition into adulthood. By and large, this holiday was first utilized in the year 1948 (Tsuji, 2011).

The state holds formal procedure at a local level which is known as “seijin-shiki” to give tribute to new entrants into the adulthood, which usually is held in the morning. On this time, the official form government delivers encouraging speeches at the same time presents are given to new adults. Most of the adults on this event wear business suits; however, there are still people who wear traditional dresses whose history can be traced back to 714 AD.

The above discussion is just one part of the whole process and shows how the culture of Japan gives ample importance to the rites of passage primarily to ...