Ceremonies in the Imperial Court (皇室の儀式)
Various ceremonies associated with the emperor and Miyake (families allowed to be in status of the Imperial Family) are described below.
Child birth and naming
Shiken no gi
A ceremony in which the emperor gives a sword for protection to a child born to the Imperial Family or Miyake to protect the child in prayer for healthy growth. A short sword in a plain wood sheath is wrapped in a red cloth and put in a paulownia box, which is passed to an imperial envoy who received an order from the emperor in the Imperial Court. The imperial envoy then visits the child as a representative, and places the short sword next to the child's pillow. A list of hakama (pleated and divided skirt made in fine stripes) to be used in "Hakamagi no gi" is presented at the same time.
Meimei no gi (naming ceremony)
A ceremony whereby Japanese paper with the name of the child written in calligraphy on it and Japanese paper with an 'oshirushi' (symbol) printed on items the child will use are put in a paulownia box and placed next to the child's pillow on the seventh day from the birth of the child. On the day after the ceremony, the child's name is recorded in Kotofu (the genealogy of the Imperial Family) as an official member of the Imperial Family. The ceremony corresponds to 'Oshichiya' (the celebration of the seventh day after birth) amongst the general public.
Kashikodokoro Koreiden Shinden ni essuru no gi
A ceremony in which the child visits the Three Shrines in the Imperial Court including Kashikodokoro, Koreiden, and Shinden for the first time on the fiftieth day from the child's birthday. It corresponds to "Omiyamairi" (shrine visit) amongst the general public.
Ohashizome
A ceremony of preparing rice porridge with adzuki beans on a tray with new bowls and chopsticks (hashi) and feeding the child with the porridge on the hundredth to the hundred-twentieth day from the birthday in prayer for healthy growth. However, the child only pretends to eat. It corresponds to "Okuizome" (a weaning ceremony) amongst the general public.
Chakko no gi
A ceremony whereby the child wears the hakama presented in the "Shiken no gi" at the age of five counted by the traditional Japanese system. The color of the hakama is deep red purple. In the ceremony, it is customary for the child in the hakama to step on a go board and then jump down from it.