DOI: https://doi.org/10.14710/izumi.15.2.109-122

Ritual Selapan dan Okuizome: Sebuah Perbandingan

1S2 Pendidikan Bahasa dan Sastra, Fakultas Bahasa dan Seni, Universitas Negeri Surabaya, Jl. Rektorat Unesa, Lidah Wetan, Kec. Lakarsantri, 60213, Indonesia

2Universitas Negeri Surabaya, Indonesia

Received: 11 Dec 2025; Revised: 24 May 2026; Accepted: 5 Jun 2026; Published: 20 Oct 2026.
Open Access Copyright (c) 2026 Diah Maratus Sholihah, Darni Darni, Resdianto Permata Raharjo
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Abstract

This study explores and compares the cultural meanings embedded in infant rituals, specifically the Selapan tradition in Java, Indonesia, and the Okuizome ceremony in Japan. The research addresses two main questions: (1) how the symbolic meanings of food, ritual objects, and ceremonial sequences reflect religious, social, and cultural values, and (2) what similarities and differences exist between these two practices. Using qualitative methods and cultural ethnography, secondary sources including journals, books, and visual documentation were analyzed through thematic and interpretative approaches. The findings reveal that both rituals employ food and ritual objects as symbolic media to convey moral, spiritual, and social values. Selapan emphasizes spiritual guidance, ethical behavior, communal harmony, and the integration of Islamic and Javanese cosmology, while Okuizome highlights intergenerational bonds, health, wellbeing, social integration, and gendered symbolism. Both rituals function as mechanisms for marking early life transitions, reinforcing family and community identity, and expressing hopes for the child’s future. The comparative analysis underscores the central role of food and ritual objects as vehicles of cultural expression, moral instruction, and continuity across societies.

 

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Keywords: infant rituals, food symbolism, selapan, okuizome, comparative culture

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