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| Quiz #17 Answer - July 10, 2005 A new kind of quiz. Submit your own question with its answer. The most creative and interesting responses will be posted on this site. |
| Click on photo to see larger version. Higher res version will be posted if it becomes available. Compliments of www.deadfred.com. |
| Answer: What is the occasion for this picture? A Japanese wedding from the 1940's(?) |
We received some wonderful responses from our readers to this quiz. We heard from
people who had lived in Japan who had first hand knowledge of the culture, as well as
from a military buff who researched the possibility that the groom was Admiral
Yamamoto, who was responsible for the attack on Pearl Harbor.
The Wedding
Japanese weddings are associated with many traditions, from the initial meeting of the
bride and groom, through the bethrothal, the ceremony, and the reception. The usual
procedures in traditional Japanese wedding receptions have a go-between introduce the
bridegroom, bride and their family backgrounds. A Japanese wedding reception is a
colorful affair, particularly with young friends of the bride attending in beautiful
"Kimono".
(See http://www.japaneselifestyle.com.au/culture/japanese_wedding_receiption.html.)
The Kimono
According to the web site http://www.japanesekimono.com/wedding_kimono.htm, the
bride is wearing the type of traditional Japanese kimono that is typically worn at a
wedding reception.
"The traditional white japanese wedding kimono is called shiro-maku. Shiro meaning
white and maku meaning pure. The wedding kimono actually consists of two different
kimono. The white wedding kimono is worn for the wedding ceremony and an elaborate
rich patterned silk brocade kimono called uchikake is worn over the white kimono at
the wedding reception.
"In a traditional Japanese wedding, the brides hair is also styled in the traditional hair
style called bunkin-takashimada and adorned with beautiful gold combs and
accessories called kanzashi. A white wedding hood called tsuno kakushi is meant to
hide two front golden "tsuno" or horns during the wedding ceremony to symbolize
obedience."
The site also indicates that the married women can be distinguished from the single
women in the picture by the type of kimono they are wearing:
"There are many types of kimono, each worn according to the persons age, season or
the event. However, the formal kimono can be basically broken down into two main
categories based on the persons age and marital status. Young unmarried women wear
kimono with long sleeves called furisode. The sleeve length can vary from slightly long
to very long reaching the ankle. Young women's kimono are very vibrant, colorful and
rich with patterns.
"Older women or those who have married, wear a kimono with short sleeves called
tomesode. The kimono designs are smaller or solid and the colors are more subdued.
There are also special kimono made for ceremonies and paying respect called the
tsukesage, komon and the homongi."
So the three women to the left of the photo, and a couple of the women in the
background are unmarried members of the wedding party, perhaps family members of
the bride or the groom.
Patricia Bunning adds:
"The geta [wooden shoes] are everyday shoes, not the brocaded type worn for formal
occasions after the war. I assume wartime prevented getting anything else. Prewar
kimono are more colorful and have more fabric than those made during the war [fabric
shortage]. But there is a large rental service for kimono [any department store can
supply everything for the wedding] so actual age is hard to determine. The traditional
bridal headdress is to hide the bride's horns -- to insure she'll be obedient. [I wonder if
that tradition persists!] The white bridal kimono is worn under the one worn at the
reception."
The Monks:
The monks are wearing what I believe are traditional Buddhist monk robes. See
http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/buddhistworld/robes_japan.htm
Patricia Bunning had another comment:
"The wooden structure in the background is a Shinto gate -- torii. But most Japanese
nonChristians follow both Shintoism and Buddhism -- one does not exclude the other. I
lived in Tokyo for a year; I remember seeing the various kinds of Buddhist monks --
one kind has his head covered by an inverted basket and plays an instrument similar to
a clarinet on the streets."
The Groom
The groom was the most fun to research of all. Many thanks to Dale Niesen for his
suggestions and observations. The date on the photo could be anywhere between the
1920s and the 1940s. We tried to identify the medals the groom is wearing as a way of
dating the picture. But the resolution of the photo is not high enough to see many of
the details. The closest we could come to identifying the type of medal on the left of his
decorations was a medal/badge in the shape of a cross awarded for being wounded in
the war. You can see a picture of it at
http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-medals/jap_medals-ww2.htm.
The groom is wearing the uniform of an officer of the Imperial Japanese Navy. See
http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-uniforms/japanese.htm. We researched the
possibility that the groom was Admiral Yamamoto, who was responsible for the attack
on Pearl Harbor. Admiral Yamamoto was born Isoroku Tankano in 1884. He changed
his name to Yamamoto because the name Yamamoto was an honorable and ancient one
in the history of Japan. (It was not uncommon for someone to change his last name in
Japan.) He married his wife Reiko in 1918, not out of love, but out of a desire to keep
the Yamamoto family name alive. They had two daughters and two sons. You can
read more about the life of Adm. Yamamoto at:
http://www.free-essays-free-essays.com/dbase/1e/bqg344.shtml
There were two main reasons why we ruled the Admiral out as being the groom in the
picture. One reason, according to Dale:
"Yamamoto lost two fingers on his left hand during the Battle of Tsushima Straits in
May 1905 during the Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905. It is difficult to see for sure, but
our guy appears to have all the fingers on his left hand in which he is holding the
sword. So I may have just ruled out Yamamoto."
Another reason that we ruled him out was that the groom really does not look like
Admiral Yamamoto:
people who had lived in Japan who had first hand knowledge of the culture, as well as
from a military buff who researched the possibility that the groom was Admiral
Yamamoto, who was responsible for the attack on Pearl Harbor.
The Wedding
Japanese weddings are associated with many traditions, from the initial meeting of the
bride and groom, through the bethrothal, the ceremony, and the reception. The usual
procedures in traditional Japanese wedding receptions have a go-between introduce the
bridegroom, bride and their family backgrounds. A Japanese wedding reception is a
colorful affair, particularly with young friends of the bride attending in beautiful
"Kimono".
(See http://www.japaneselifestyle.com.au/culture/japanese_wedding_receiption.html.)
The Kimono
According to the web site http://www.japanesekimono.com/wedding_kimono.htm, the
bride is wearing the type of traditional Japanese kimono that is typically worn at a
wedding reception.
"The traditional white japanese wedding kimono is called shiro-maku. Shiro meaning
white and maku meaning pure. The wedding kimono actually consists of two different
kimono. The white wedding kimono is worn for the wedding ceremony and an elaborate
rich patterned silk brocade kimono called uchikake is worn over the white kimono at
the wedding reception.
"In a traditional Japanese wedding, the brides hair is also styled in the traditional hair
style called bunkin-takashimada and adorned with beautiful gold combs and
accessories called kanzashi. A white wedding hood called tsuno kakushi is meant to
hide two front golden "tsuno" or horns during the wedding ceremony to symbolize
obedience."
The site also indicates that the married women can be distinguished from the single
women in the picture by the type of kimono they are wearing:
"There are many types of kimono, each worn according to the persons age, season or
the event. However, the formal kimono can be basically broken down into two main
categories based on the persons age and marital status. Young unmarried women wear
kimono with long sleeves called furisode. The sleeve length can vary from slightly long
to very long reaching the ankle. Young women's kimono are very vibrant, colorful and
rich with patterns.
"Older women or those who have married, wear a kimono with short sleeves called
tomesode. The kimono designs are smaller or solid and the colors are more subdued.
There are also special kimono made for ceremonies and paying respect called the
tsukesage, komon and the homongi."
So the three women to the left of the photo, and a couple of the women in the
background are unmarried members of the wedding party, perhaps family members of
the bride or the groom.
Patricia Bunning adds:
"The geta [wooden shoes] are everyday shoes, not the brocaded type worn for formal
occasions after the war. I assume wartime prevented getting anything else. Prewar
kimono are more colorful and have more fabric than those made during the war [fabric
shortage]. But there is a large rental service for kimono [any department store can
supply everything for the wedding] so actual age is hard to determine. The traditional
bridal headdress is to hide the bride's horns -- to insure she'll be obedient. [I wonder if
that tradition persists!] The white bridal kimono is worn under the one worn at the
reception."
The Monks:
The monks are wearing what I believe are traditional Buddhist monk robes. See
http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/buddhistworld/robes_japan.htm
Patricia Bunning had another comment:
"The wooden structure in the background is a Shinto gate -- torii. But most Japanese
nonChristians follow both Shintoism and Buddhism -- one does not exclude the other. I
lived in Tokyo for a year; I remember seeing the various kinds of Buddhist monks --
one kind has his head covered by an inverted basket and plays an instrument similar to
a clarinet on the streets."
The Groom
The groom was the most fun to research of all. Many thanks to Dale Niesen for his
suggestions and observations. The date on the photo could be anywhere between the
1920s and the 1940s. We tried to identify the medals the groom is wearing as a way of
dating the picture. But the resolution of the photo is not high enough to see many of
the details. The closest we could come to identifying the type of medal on the left of his
decorations was a medal/badge in the shape of a cross awarded for being wounded in
the war. You can see a picture of it at
http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-medals/jap_medals-ww2.htm.
The groom is wearing the uniform of an officer of the Imperial Japanese Navy. See
http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-uniforms/japanese.htm. We researched the
possibility that the groom was Admiral Yamamoto, who was responsible for the attack
on Pearl Harbor. Admiral Yamamoto was born Isoroku Tankano in 1884. He changed
his name to Yamamoto because the name Yamamoto was an honorable and ancient one
in the history of Japan. (It was not uncommon for someone to change his last name in
Japan.) He married his wife Reiko in 1918, not out of love, but out of a desire to keep
the Yamamoto family name alive. They had two daughters and two sons. You can
read more about the life of Adm. Yamamoto at:
http://www.free-essays-free-essays.com/dbase/1e/bqg344.shtml
There were two main reasons why we ruled the Admiral out as being the groom in the
picture. One reason, according to Dale:
"Yamamoto lost two fingers on his left hand during the Battle of Tsushima Straits in
May 1905 during the Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905. It is difficult to see for sure, but
our guy appears to have all the fingers on his left hand in which he is holding the
sword. So I may have just ruled out Yamamoto."
Another reason that we ruled him out was that the groom really does not look like
Admiral Yamamoto:
| The Groom |
| Admiral Yamamoto |
Well, that's about as far as we got with this quiz. Thanks to everyone who wrote in
We will be doing more reverse quizzes in the future. If Dead Fred supplies us with a
higher resolution version of the photo, we will alert our readers if we are able to find
out anything more about the groom's military decorations.
We will be doing more reverse quizzes in the future. If Dead Fred supplies us with a
higher resolution version of the photo, we will alert our readers if we are able to find
out anything more about the groom's military decorations.
| Congratulations to our winners: Janette Vrana Penny Delery Dale Niesen Patricia Bunning Dale Niesen is the owner of the site www.civilwarmysteries.com. (Very interesting. Check it out!) If your name has been omitted from this list, please let me know. It was unintentional. |
| Click here to return to the present contest. |
If you have a picture you'd like us to feature a picture in a future quiz, please
email it to us at CFitzp@aol.com. If we use it, you will receive a free analysis of
your picture. You will also receive a free Forensic Genealogy CD or a 10%
discount towards the purchase of the Forensic Genealogy book.
email it to us at CFitzp@aol.com. If we use it, you will receive a free analysis of
your picture. You will also receive a free Forensic Genealogy CD or a 10%
discount towards the purchase of the Forensic Genealogy book.
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| Quiz #17 Answer |
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