odin wrote:

> I need some detailed information on procedures in birth, wedding, and death
> ceremonies, as well as information onb tea ceremonies and seppuku - ritual
> suicide, etc. as performed in the early 1940s.
 
I think you have to look into Japanese-language sources for accuracy.  Perhaps
you'll find ceremonies in Japanese literature of that age, translated to
English.

Tea ceremony procedures do not change much, I think.

Books and internet sources:

Tea Ceremony
Kaisen Iguchi
Hoikusha Color Books


Everyday Life in Traditional Japan
Charles J. Dunn, Charles E. Tuttle Co. 
http://www.tuttlepublishing.com/
(Tuttle Publishing is likely to have other relevant titles.)


There may be something in the writings of Lafcadio Hearn:
http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/h#a368