“Drinking and Gender in Japan” Summary
In drinking and Gender in Japan, Joy Hendry (1994) focuses on the history and customs of drinking, the attitudes towards drinking, religious associations, and how drinking relates to gender, in Japan.
According to Hendry (1994), Japanese have been making alcohol, in the form of sake, a tradition drink made from rice, for 2600 years prior to the influence of western drinks. The first indication of alcohol consumption in Japan was written in Chinese records and Japanese poems. In cities, women employed in the entertainment business only consumed alcohol, whereas, in rural areas drinking was common among most women (Hendry,1994).
In Japan, the consumption of alcohol is ritualised and followed a fixed order of proceedings (Hendry,1994). For example, a person will pour a drink to the people around them rather than pour a drink for themselves as it is considered rude. It is also rude to be temperate when the people around them are drunk. Sake is used in both religious and secular rituals (Hendry, 1994). Sake can be presented as offering or way of worshiping gods, for example, the more a person drank the more devoted they are. …show more content…
There is a distinction in the spirituality of consuming sake at weddings. For example, cold sake is consumed to represent the binding of a couple to their families, whereas warm sake is consumed to facilitate socialisation and enjoyment during the ceremony (Hendry,1994). Sake is also “used as a form of currency to forge and express social relations” (Hendry, 2014 p. 178). For example, a bottle of sake is shared between neighbours when the roof of a newly built house is complete, to represent the social links within the community. With an increase in the influence of western alcoholic beverages such as whisky, sake is now replaced with whisky on some occasions, such as new year
In drinking and Gender in Japan, Joy Hendry (1994) focuses on the history and customs of drinking, the attitudes towards drinking, religious associations, and how drinking relates to gender, in Japan.
According to Hendry (1994), Japanese have been making alcohol, in the form of sake, a tradition drink made from rice, for 2600 years prior to the influence of western drinks. The first indication of alcohol consumption in Japan was written in Chinese records and Japanese poems. In cities, women employed in the entertainment business only consumed alcohol, whereas, in rural areas drinking was common among most women (Hendry,1994).
In Japan, the consumption of alcohol is ritualised and followed a fixed order of proceedings (Hendry,1994). For example, a person will pour a drink to the people around them rather than pour a drink for themselves as it is considered rude. It is also rude to be temperate when the people around them are drunk. Sake is used in both religious and secular rituals (Hendry, 1994). Sake can be presented as offering or way of worshiping gods, for example, the more a person drank the more devoted they are. …show more content…
There is a distinction in the spirituality of consuming sake at weddings. For example, cold sake is consumed to represent the binding of a couple to their families, whereas warm sake is consumed to facilitate socialisation and enjoyment during the ceremony (Hendry,1994). Sake is also “used as a form of currency to forge and express social relations” (Hendry, 2014 p. 178). For example, a bottle of sake is shared between neighbours when the roof of a newly built house is complete, to represent the social links within the community. With an increase in the influence of western alcoholic beverages such as whisky, sake is now replaced with whisky on some occasions, such as new year