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Paper short abstract:

The aim of this paper is to examine how certain Japanese traditional rituals and customs related to childbirth are changing and surviving in modern times by the influence of Internet websites and social media. It is to be remembered that even if the lifestyle of Japanese people has been westernized by the influence of America and Europe, still Japanese people are well known all over the world in preserving their rich cultural heritage, age-old traditional values, etiquette and customs that have been handed down from one generation to another. However, rapid modernization, urbanization, advancement of scientific knowledge and technology and most importantly the heavy influence of social media as well as various Internet websites have brought so many changes in the practice of age-old traditional childbirth rituals in Japan.

Paper long abstract:

In particular, this paper will try to address some key questions like what kind of changes are observed in the childbirth rites like Anzankigan and Haraobi in Japan, how these rituals are showcased on the internet websites, how much Japanese women are influenced by social media, mobile application and internet websites in regard to collect information on traditional childbirth rites, what kind of food taboos, food suggestion for the would-be mother are often mentioned on the internet websites, how differently the information related to traditional childbirth rituals is described on the internet websites. For the in-depth analysis, this paper will mainly rely on the primary data gathered directly from Japanese pregnant women and young mothers between 2018 and 2021. Finally, this paper will conclude that most women in Japan nowadays during their pregnancy very much depend on the internet source for gathering information related to pregnancy and even for the traditional childbirth rites instead of gathering from their own parents and grandparents.