著者

佐々木 陽子 SASAKI Yoko

出版者

現代民俗学会

雑誌

現代民俗学研究 = Journal of Living Folklore (ISSN:18839134)

巻号頁・発行日

no.4, pp.25-38, 2012-05

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The objective of this paper is to explore the meaning contained in the apparently irrational act of preparing food that will never be consumed by the persons for which it is intended, based on a survey of the views of 75 persons with regard to the acts of kagezen (a tray of food for temporarily absent people) and o-sonae (an offering to the dead—people who will never return). The study revealed that kagezen, which is thought to have been a custom related to war, is still practiced, and that o-sonae functions as a mechanism for sharing food with closely related deceased and conversing with them. O-sonae appears to be used by the living as a means of expressing the thought that they will not forget closely related deceased. The institutionalization of o-sonae also appears to help the living to avoid nihilistic thoughts by furnishing a peaceful image of the deceased and encouraging them to believe in the happiness of the deceased in the next world.