Preliminary Considerations for a Comparative Study of Women’s Impurity in Nepal and Japan

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the differences in the semantic worlds of Japanese and Nepalese people and their backgrounds, examining (1) the types of concepts of impurity and their historical background, (2) the types of taboos related to menstruation and childbirth, (3) the functions of taboos related to menstruation and childbirth, and (4) the geographical and occupational distribution of taboos related to impurity, hypothesizing that these differences may influence the persistence of impurity. The concept of purity/impurity was introduced between the 9th and 10th centuries as the framework for the medieval class system in Japan. Around the 15th century, norms regarding menstruating, pre- and post-partum women as impure and restricting their behavior became established throughout the country. However, under the Meiji government in the late 19th century, taboos and superstitions based on the concept of purity were banned. The “Lifestyle Improvement Movement,” a national movement aimed at modernizing and streamlining lifestyles both materially and spiritually, emerged during the Taisho era (around 1920), and these norms disappeared from Japan between the 1930s and 1945. Today, most Japanese people are unaware that these norms even existed. In Nepal, on the other hand, the norms are observed in daily life and rituals. Previous anthropological and folkloric research on impurity in Japan and Nepal was used as the analytical framework. Qualitative research involving h c f a l d A ; s n s o o t k n f a i secondary analysis, such as ethnography, was adopted as the research methodology. The analysis revealed that differences in the process by which the concept of impurity is formed in the two countries result in differences in (1) whether impurities such as menstruation, childbirth, and death are conceptualized in relation to color, (2) what is considered to mediate impurity (water or fire), and (3) the scope of people affected by impurity (whether only women or families and communities are also affected) and the activities that are restricted (whether not only housework but also work outside the home is restricted).