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結納
Yuinō is a Japanese engagement practice in which gifts, money and a meeting acknowledge a marriage agreement. The objects, return gifts, intermediary and setting vary among regions and families.
Gifts can include cloth or money in its place, food and drink, and symbolic objects. A mokuroku lists the gifts; an ukesho acknowledges receipt, while a yuinō-gaeshi may return gifts. An intermediary could carry them between households, but families may also meet together in one place. There is no single sequence for every household.
Kobayashi’s public mokuroku example lists the gifts and closes by asking the other side to accept them. Its ukesho confirms that the listed gifts have been received. Their directions are opposite: an inventory tells the recipient what is being given, while a receipt tells the giver what has been accepted. The shop notes that the giver sometimes prepares a receipt in advance for the other side; preparation varies with the arrangement.
The two illustrations are separately published templates with different sample family names, rather than records of one engagement. Start with the title on the right, then compare the item columns and the acceptance wording toward the left. A money envelope may be listed as one packet, 壱封, with the amount written on its inner wrapping.
Kyoto’s craft cooperative describes ornaments made by bending, twisting and joining dyed washi cords. Pine, bamboo, plum, cranes and turtles are assembled with wrapping and trays. Longevity, prosperity and harmony are symbolic meanings attached to these forms within the practice.
In the Kyoto example, obijiryō contains engagement money, yanagidaruryō refers to sake and matsuuoryō to accompanying food. The spreading fan of suehiro expresses flourishing, and white hemp in tomoshiraga evokes growing old together. Actual goods, monetary substitutes and ornaments may coexist; a five- or seven-piece set is not a national checklist.
In the Kyoto cooperative’s example, obijiryō contains engagement money beneath a pine ornament; yanagidaruryō refers to sake and carries bamboo; matsuuoryō refers to accompanying food and carries plum. Separate the actual gift or monetary substitute, the gift recalled by its name, and the mizuhiki ornament. The pine’s customary meaning is distinct from the money handed over.
The same example pairs noshi with a crane and the suehiro fan with a turtle. When adding a ring to the basic five makes an even number, adding tomoshiraga or Takasago brings this particular set to seven. Regional and family choices still shape the arrangement.
Takeshita’s regional study contrasts eastern arrangements grouped on one plain-wood tray with western examples using separate stands and more three-dimensional ornaments. These are broad tendencies; suppliers, shops and families introduce further differences. Ise-area examples may add an umbrella or footwear, while some Kyūshū forms include tea.
Origin accounts link yuinō to an imperial gift narrative associated with Emperor Nintoku. They do not establish continuous use of today’s sets since antiquity. Marriage etiquette developed among medieval warrior and court elites, while participation widened among wealthier commoners from late Edo into Meiji. Adoption varied by social position.
The Tōkai study records local agreements called taruire or tokkuri, involving sake with dried squid or local fish. They should not simply be renamed miniature yuinō ceremonies. After gift-set exchange spread more widely in the postwar period, some areas held both stages; from the 1970s, the earlier ceremony was increasingly absorbed into yuinō. Local histories differed.
The same study places the wider use of elaborate sets among ordinary households in the postwar and high-growth years. Engagement rings became part of the gifts from the 1960s, bringing jewellery and watch shops into the trade. Elaborate contemporary sets thus also reflect modern commerce and craft development.
The national trade association emphasizes differences of style and local custom, with arrangements reflecting the couple and families. Sellers have also developed online service: Kobayashi opened a website in 1997 and adopted the Yuinou.com name in 2000. Gift ceremonies, smaller sets and family meals provide different contemporary ways of marking an engagement.
No. It marks an engagement and has its own arrangements.
The gifts being presented.
Twisted and dyed washi paper cord.
Eastern examples group gifts on one tray; western ones often use separate stands.
It had its own local history and was later combined with yuinō in some areas.
The money is the actual gift; the pine is an ornament with a customary symbolic meaning.
The inventory lists gifts for the recipient; the receipt confirms acceptance to the giver.
