Since early in Japanese history folded papers have been strongly associated
with Shinto rituals and the imperial courts. One of the earliest detailed
accounts of wrapping is found in the Heian period (see Murasaki 1996: 42-65). Wu
(1997) argues that in The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon, dated about 1000 A.D,
references are made to the twisting and knotting of letters: ‘this does
appear to be a somewhat formalised type of folding which may be a distant cousin
of
Noshi’ (Wu 1997: 8
[10]).
Historians argue that the following Minamoto period gave birth to the essential
elements of ritual wrapping or
Noshi, which are still used today
(Kodansha 1993).
The
Noshi is a narrow strip of dried sea abalone, wrapped up in
red and white papers, folded in the shape illustrated here in figure 1 and later
printed on wrapping paper.
Noshi is the decorative part of
noshigami (paper with
noshi) that is applied to most gifts and
commodities. A piece of
mizuhiki, is used to tie the paper and
noshi together
, and the gift and
noshigami together.
Mizuhiki,
[11] created in early Edo
period (1603-1867), consists of red and white cords, sometimes gold and silver,
in eight different combinations of colours (Hendry 1993b, Ekiguchi 1985). They
are made of rice paper, folded over many times and dried to create strong pieces
for ribbon making to express the sender’s appreciation to the receiver.
Ribbons are constructed as symbolising the unity between the giver and
recipient. Weddings and funerals, for instance, have special knots that cannot
be untied because the event is expected to happen only once in life, nor should
the bride or the deceased return to their families after they depart to their
new lives (Ogasawara 1999
[12]). Ohnuki-Tierney
(1993) outlines that the act of knotting (musubi) a string was a ritual act to
encapsulate a soul on a knot, but also has other meanings like production and
reproduction of the polity and nature (Ohnuki-Tierney 1993: 49). The gift of
abalone, called
Noshi, with
mizuhiki moved from being a gift to
become the symbol of a gift. According to Hendry,
abalone or shellfish indicates to the recipient that the donor of the gift
is free from pollution associated with death, (...) and it has recently simply
become a customary symbol of a gift (Hendry 1987).
Fig 1. Noshi
Fig 2.
Noshi with mizuhiki ribbons in girl’s hair.
Nowadays, white and red layers form the basis of all ritual wrapping in
Japan, and auspiciously wrapped abalone (Noshi) is attached or printed
into ritual wrapping papers in indication of the character of auspiciousness of
the gift. Noshi (or any combination of folded materials in red and white)
can be applied to people to symbolise auspiciousness in them (see Fig. 2). Black
and white form the basic layers for inauspicious occasions with Buddhist symbols
and there is a total absence of Noshi. During fieldwork, the most common
way of wrapping gifts was with pre-printed noshigami papers.
