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Odd Japanese Customs - Kotobuki Bako, the Umbilical Cord Box

By Muza-chan on Apr 12, 2010 | In Customs and traditions | 25 feedbacks »

I wrote before about the Suiten-gu Shrine, located in Nihombashi, near the Suitengumae Station, dedicated to the God of safe childbirth and blessing of pregnancy.

Suiten-gu Shrine Nihombashi

Right from the entrance, one of the two koma-inu caught my eye, because it was represented with a cub…

Suiten-gu Shrine Nihombashi Koma-inu

… then I was delighted by the “Dog Deity” statue, also with a cub, which is said to bring easy childbirth to the pregnant women who are rubbing it…

Dog Deity, Suiten-gu Shrine

Here, I learned about and odd Japanese custom, a tradition for mothers to keep the child’s umbilical cord as a memento of the childbirth, in a special, beautifully crafted box!

The box is called Kotobuki Bako, Kotobuki meaning celebration of marriage, new birth and longevity, while Bako is the box.

It is said that the custom was invented by a woman who desired a special object for preserving memories…

Suiten-gu Shrine Nihombashi Kotobuki Bako

The Kotobuki Bako is designed as a cradle inside which there is a small doll representing a sleeping baby, wearing a kimono. The kimono can be unfolded and the umbilical cord can be placed inside.

Suiten-gu Shrine Nihombashi Kotobuki Bako

However, it is not necessary to use the Kotobuki Bako for the umbilical cord, the box can be used for any object kept as souvenir and it can also be used as an excellent gift for the loved ones…

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 ohsweetBloG
On Twitter:
Odd Japanese Customs - Kotobuki Bako, the Umbilical Cord Box [link]
04/12/10 @ 22:20
 lovely_lemonade
On Twitter:
[Muza-chan] Odd Japanese Customs - Kotobuki Bako, the Umbilical Cord Box [link] /via @muzachan
04/12/10 @ 22:20
 AMCApril
On Twitter:
Odd Japanese Customs - Kotobuki Bako, the Umbilical Cord Box: I wrote before about the Suiten-gu Shrine, located ... [link]
04/12/10 @ 22:23
 808armada
On Twitter:
Very cool history. Thanks for sharing! ^_^ : RT @Muzachan: Odd Japanese Customs - Kotobuki Bako, the Umbilical Cord Box [link]
04/12/10 @ 22:30
 cloudia · http://comfortspiral.blogspot.com
lovely place


Aloha from Waikiki




04/12/10 @ 23:43
 agaijinlife
On Twitter:
RT @Muzachan: Odd Japanese Customs - Kotobuki Bako, the Umbilical Cord Box [link]
04/12/10 @ 23:47
 reesan
On Twitter:
Odd Japanese Customs - Kotobuki Bako, the Umbilical Cord Box: I wrote before about the Suiten-gu S... [link] (via @muzachan)
04/13/10 @ 00:28
 BlogLinkJapan
On Twitter:
Odd Japanese Customs - Kotobuki Bako, the Umbilical Cord Box: [link] #JBlogs
04/13/10 @ 00:31
 adventurocity
On Twitter:
RT @Muzachan: Odd Japanese Customs - Kotobuki Bako, the Umbilical Cord Box [link]
04/13/10 @ 00:31
 Tornadoes28 · http://toshogu.blogspot.com
It should be noted that it is not the entire umbilical cord from immediately after birth. It is the small dried umbilical cord stump end that falls off the baby 1 to 2 weeks after birth. My wife is Japanese and that is what we did. Once our baby's dried cord stump fell off, we placed it in this box.:)
04/13/10 @ 00:57
 nickelby
On Twitter:
Good read! RT @Muzachan Odd Japanese Customs - Kotobuki Bako, the Umbilical Cord Box [link]
04/13/10 @ 02:00
 AdelaideBen Email · http://www.japaneseties.blogspot.com
Haha... when we had our first son, my wife (T-chan) wanted to follow tradition and keep the umbilical cord... which fell off a couple of days after we came home... and do you think we could find it?!?!?!

It took about half a day of search to find the almost unrecognizable cord lying on th e floor. Yuck-o. Of course we still kept it in our own kotobuki bako (not as nice as the one shown though lol... very nice).
04/13/10 @ 02:28
 Carmen Henesy Email · http://www.rnsane.blogspot.com
That is a very interesting custom. I enjoyed learning of it.
04/13/10 @ 07:07
 Muza-chan [Member] Email · http://www.muza-chan.net
@Tornadoes28:
Thank you for clarifications, I really wondered about that... :)

@AdelaideBen:
That's a nice story... thank you for sharing it with us! :)

@Carmen Henesy:
Yes, I find it very interesting too... I admire very much tradition preservation.
04/13/10 @ 09:40
 LuciF
On Twitter:
Odd Japanese Customs - Kotobuki Bako http://bit.ly/a5kIUf (via @muzachan)
04/13/10 @ 09:43
 orientoccident
On Twitter:
RT @Muzachan: Odd Japanese Customs - Kotobuki Bako [link]
04/13/10 @ 10:33
 wazi_san
On Twitter:
Ths takes me back! RT @Muzachan Odd Japanese Customs - Kotobuki Bako http://bit.ly/a5kIUf
04/13/10 @ 11:02
 japanobserver
On Twitter:
Odd Japanese Customs - Kotobuki Bako, the Umbilical Cord Box #Muza-chan'sGatetoJapan [link]
04/13/10 @ 14:59
 IH39
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RT @Muzachan Odd Japanese Customs - Kotobuki Bako http://bit.ly/a5kIUf #Japan
04/13/10 @ 18:29
 jdcb42
On Twitter:
RT @Muzachan: Odd Japanese Customs - Kotobuki Bako [link]
04/14/10 @ 06:14
 purplehayz
On Twitter:
Odd #Japanese customs - Kotobuki Bako, the umbilical cord box [link]
04/15/10 @ 04:52
 L_Hawkins
On Twitter:
RT @purplehayz: Odd #Japanese customs - Kotobuki Bako, the umbilical cord box [link]
04/15/10 @ 05:28
 tMirrorOfLife
On Twitter:
Odd Japanese Customs - Kotobuki Bako, the Umbilical Cord Box http://bit.ly/a5kIUf -@Muzachan #travel #japan
05/17/10 @ 10:52
 makinena
On Twitter:
RT @tMirrorOfLife: Odd Japanese Customs - Kotobuki Bako, the Umbilical Cord Box http://bit.ly/a5kIUf -@Muzachan #travel #japan
05/17/10 @ 13:10
 Life_Unanswered
On Twitter:
Odd Japanese Customs - Kotobuki Bako, the Umbilical Cord Box [link]
05/22/10 @ 09:06

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