Changes

==Edo Period==

==Edo Period==

In the Edo period, among both commoners and elites, marriages were typically arranged by parents and go-betweens, based on social or business interests. Love was "condemned ... as an irrelevant and possibly disruptive element."<ref>Gary Leupp, ''Interracial Intimacy in Japan: Western Men and Japanese Women, 1543-1900'', A&C Black (2003), 44.</ref> Couples often did not even meet one another until the wedding, and afterwards were obliged to simply negotiate between them a way to get along and forge a life together. "The relationship which developed between man and wife was usually one of loyalty rather than of romantic attachment."<ref>Donald Shively, ''The Love Suicide at Amijima'', Center for Japanese Studies, University of Michigan (1991), 23.</ref>

In the early Edo period, marriages were typically arranged by parents and go-betweens, based on social or business interests, among both commoners and elites. Love was "condemned ... as an irrelevant and possibly disruptive element."<ref>Gary Leupp, ''Interracial Intimacy in Japan: Western Men and Japanese Women, 1543-1900'', A&C Black (2003), 44.</ref> Couples often did not even meet one another until the wedding, and afterwards were obliged to simply negotiate between them a way to get along and forge a life together. "The relationship which developed between man and wife was usually one of loyalty rather than of romantic attachment."<ref>Donald Shively, ''The Love Suicide at Amijima'', Center for Japanese Studies, University of Michigan (1991), 23.</ref> Over the course of the period, however, marriage by mutual agreement of the couple themselves gradually became more widespread, even as they adopted some samurai practices, such as formal meetings with suitors (''omiai''), and the exchange of engagement gifts (''yuinô'').<ref>Leupp, 101.</ref> Among the peasantry, meanwhile, it seems that individuals had considerable agency in choosing their spouses, based on their own feelings.<ref>Leupp, 101, 241n2.</ref>

 

Among the peasantry, however, it seems that individuals had some greater degree of agency in choosing their spouses.<ref>Leupp, 241n2.</ref>

Wedding ceremonies were small, private, affairs, which involved some minimal ritual, such as the sharing of a wedding meal, and the exchanging of cups of [[sake|saké]]. The ceremony bore little or no deep religious meaning, in contrast to the Catholic Christian notion of marriage as a sacrament, and did not involve any extensive religious element to the ritual; the [[Shinto]] wedding ceremony is one of those many traditions which was invented in the Meiji period. The meal was typically attended by the couple, a few close relatives, and a formal go-between (''nakôdo''). Among the elites, wedding gifts (''yuinô'') were often exchanged.<ref name=leupp45>Leupp, 45.</ref>

Wedding ceremonies were small, private, affairs, which involved some minimal ritual, such as the sharing of a wedding meal, and the exchanging of cups of [[sake|saké]]. The ceremony bore little or no deep religious meaning, in contrast to the Catholic Christian notion of marriage as a sacrament, and did not involve any extensive religious element to the ritual; the [[Shinto]] wedding ceremony is one of those many traditions which was invented in the Meiji period. The meal was typically attended by the couple, a few close relatives, and a formal go-between (''nakôdo''). Among the elites, wedding gifts (''yuinô'') were often exchanged.<ref name=leupp45>Leupp, 45.</ref>