Wedding Furniture

During the Edo era, wedding ceremonies were considered an important political tool that influenced the economic situation of samurai families.

Different types of daily necessities, or in other words ‘wedding furniture’, are brought to the wedding ceremony to display the social and financial status, political power, and cultural standards of the involved families. The ‘furniture’ includes kaioke (shell game box), kanebako (money box), mimidarai (water basin), and wadai (stand). A lot of money is invested in this once in a lifetime event.

Wedding preparation, such as ordering furniture, is started as soon as a new baby girl is born. Over the years, splendid designs, such as lacquer work, are created, and furniture with family crests is also manufactured.

In particular, specific furniture items brought to the Owari Tokugawa family are regarded as national treasures. This furniture was intended as an endowment to Tokugawa Iemitsu's daughter, Princess Chiyo (Chiyohime), and is currently held by the Tokugawa Art Museum. Forty-five out of the seventy-five sets of furniture are called Hatsune no Chodo (Hatsune Wedding Furniture) because the design was inspired by the scenes and poems of Hatsune (The First Song), the twenty-third chapter of the famous Tale of Genji.

In order to demonstrate the power of the family, a grand procession would be held. As the kaioke represented the virtue of the bride, and was considered to be a good luck omen, it was at the head of the wedding parade.