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(A Project Gutenberg eBook) + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + +body { +margin-left:10%; +margin-right:10%; +} + +h1,h2,h3 { +clear:both; +text-align:center; +} + +h2 { +font-size:125%; +padding-top:2.5em; +} + +p { +margin-bottom:.75em; +margin-top:.75em; +text-align:justify; +} + +hr { +clear:both; +margin:2em auto; +visibility:hidden; +} + +ul { +list-style-type:none; +} + +table { +margin-left:auto; +margin-right:auto; +} + +h1#chap1 { +font-size:125%; +padding-bottom:0; +padding-top:2.5em; +} + +h2#first { +padding-top:0; +} + +p.ralign { +margin-right:2em; +text-align:right; +} + +p.no-pad-t { +margin-top:-0.75em; +} + +p.no-pad-b { +margin-bottom:0; +} + +p.pad-tb { +padding:1.5em 0; +} + +p.tall { +line-height:2em; +} + +p.bold { +font-weight:700; +} + +p.hang { +margin-left:1em; +padding-left:1em; +text-indent:-1em; +} + +th.toc { +font-size:x-small; +} + +td.pad-r2 { +padding-right:2em; +} + +.pad-r3 { +padding-right:3em; +} + +td.pad-r5 { +padding-right:5em; +} + +img#cover { +border:1px solid #000; +} + +div#other-books { +border:solid 2px; +margin:auto; +padding:1.5em 1.5em 1.5em 1em; +width:22em; +} + +div#tp { +padding:4em 0 2em; +} + +div#copy { +padding:2em; +} + +div#fig-logo { +margin:auto; +padding:2em; +text-align:center; +} + +div#dedication { +line-height:1.5em; +margin:auto; +padding:2em; +width:28em; +} + +div#fig-cover { +margin:auto; +padding:3em 0; +text-align:center; +} + +div.decoline { +margin:auto; +padding:0.75em 0; +text-align:center; +} + +div.footnotes { +background-color:#F2F2F2; +border:solid #A4A4A4 1px; +margin-top:3em; +padding:1em; +} + +div.footnote { +font-size:85%; +margin-left:10%; +margin-right:10%; +} + +div.footnote a { +text-decoration:none; +} + +div.footnote .label { +padding:8px; +} + +.fnanchor,.apxanchor { +background-color:#F2F2F2; +font-size:.8em; +font-weight:400; +text-decoration:none; +vertical-align:super; +} + +div.tn { +background-color:#CFC; +border:solid #38610B 1px; +font-size:80%; +margin:4em; +padding:1em; +} + +span.pagenum { +color:gray; +font-size:small; +font-style:normal; +left:92%; +position:absolute; +text-align:right; +} + +span.sm { +font-size:80%; +} + +span.med { +font-size:120%; +} + +span.sans { +font-family:sans-serif; +} + +.center { +text-align:center; +} + +.smcap { +font-variant:small-caps; +} + +.ucsmcap { +font-size:85%; +} + +.poem { +font-size:85%; +margin-left:10%; +margin-right:10%; +text-align:left; +} + +.poem br { +display:none; +} + +.poem .stanza { +margin:1em 0; +} + +.poem span.i00 { +display:block; +margin-left:0; +padding-left:3em; +text-indent:-3em; +} + +.poem span.i0 { +display:block; +margin-left:0.5em; +padding-left:3em; +text-indent:-3em; +} + +h1,.lg { +font-size:150%; +} + +h3,th { +font-weight:400; +} + +</style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Japanese Girls and Women, by Alice Mabel Bacon + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Japanese Girls and Women + Revised and Enlarged Edition + +Author: Alice Mabel Bacon + +Release Date: May 20, 2010 [EBook #32449] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JAPANESE GIRLS AND WOMEN *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, S.D., and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div id="fig-cover" style="width: 359px;"> +<img id="cover" src="images/cover.jpg" width="359" height="600" alt="Book Cover" title="" /> +</div> + +<div id="other-books"> +<p class="center lg bold no-pad-b">By Alice M. Bacon</p> + +<div class="decoline" style="width: 90px;"> +<img src="images/longish-line.png" width="90" height="2" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="hang"><span class="sans">IN THE LAND OF THE GODS.</span> 12mo, $1.50.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="sans">JAPANESE GIRLS AND WOMEN.</span> 16mo, $1.25. +In Riverside Library for Young People. 16mo, +75 cents.</p> + +<p class="no-pad-t hang"><i>Holiday Edition.</i> With 12 full-page Illustrations +in color and 43 outline drawings by Japanese +artists. Crown 8vo, gilt top, $4.00.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="sans">A JAPANESE INTERIOR.</span> 16mo, $1.25. In Riverside +School Library. 16mo, 60 cents, <i>net</i>.</p> + +<p class="center">HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY<br /> +<span class="smcap">Boston and New York</span></p> +</div> + +<div id="tp"> +<h1>JAPANESE GIRLS AND<br /> +WOMEN</h1> + +<p class="center pad-tb tall"><span class="sm">BY</span><br /> +<span class="med">ALICE MABEL BACON</span><br /> +<i>REVISED AND ENLARGED EDITION</i></p> + +<div id="fig-logo" style="width: 132px;"> +<img src="images/logo.png" width="132" height="175" alt="Riverside Press Logo: Tout bien ou rien" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center">BOSTON AND NEW YORK<br /> +<span class="med">HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY</span><br /> +The Riverside Press Cambridge +</p> +</div> + +<div id="copy"> +<p class="center">Copyright, 1891, 1902,<br /> +<span class="smcap">By ALICE MABEL BACON</span>.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>All rights reserved.</i></p> +</div> + +<div id="dedication"> +<p class="center">To<br /> +STEMATZ, THE MARCHIONESS OYAMA,<br /> +<span class="sm">IN THE NAME OF OUR GIRLHOOD'S FRIENDSHIP, UNCHANGED AND +UNSHAKEN BY THE CHANGES AND SEPARATIONS OF OUR +MATURER YEARS,</span><br /> +This Volume<br /> +<i>IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED</i>.</p> +</div> + +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + +<div class="decoline" style="width: 81px;"> +<img src="images/line-1diamond-short.png" width="81" height="9" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" summary="Table of Contents"> +<tr><th class="toc" colspan="2" align="left">CHAPTER</th><th align="right" class="toc">PAGE</th></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>I.</td> <td class="smcap">Childhood</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>II.</td> <td class="smcap">Education</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_37">37</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>III.</td> <td class="smcap">Marriage and Divorce</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_57">57</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>IV.</td> <td class="smcap">Wife and Mother</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_84">84</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>V.</td> <td class="smcap">Old Age</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_119">119</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>VI.</td> <td class="smcap">Court Life</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_138">138</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>VII.</td> <td class="smcap pad-r5">Life in Castle and Yashiki</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_169">169</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>VIII.</td> <td class="smcap">Samurai Women</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_196">196</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>IX.</td> <td class="smcap">Peasant Women</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_228">228</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>X.</td> <td class="smcap">Life in the Cities</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_262">262</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XI.</td> <td class="smcap">Domestic Service</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_299">299</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XII.</td> <td class="smcap">Within the Home</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_327">327</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XIII.</td> <td class="smcap">Ten Years of Progress</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_371">371</a></td></tr> +<tr><td></td><td class="smcap">Appendix</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_423">423</a></td></tr> +<tr><td></td><td class="smcap">Index</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_473">473</a></td></tr> +</table> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[v]</a></span></p> + +<h2>PREFACE TO REVISED EDITION.</h2> + +<div class="decoline" style="width: 81px;"> +<img src="images/line-1diamond-short.png" width="81" height="9" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p><span class="smcap">In</span> offering a revised edition of a book +which has been before the public for more +than ten years, there is little to say that has +not been said in the original Preface. The +work as published before, however, was always, +to its author's mind, unfinished, for +the reason that a chapter on household customs, +which was necessary for the completion +of the plan, had to be omitted because it +could not be written in America.</p> + +<p>This defect has now been remedied, and +the chapter "Within the Home" contains +the supplementary matter necessary to complete +the picture of a Japanese woman's life. +In addition to this a thorough revision has +been made of the whole book, and the subjects +discussed in each chapter have been +brought up to date by means of notes in an +Appendix. The reader will find these notes +referred to by asterisks in the text.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[vi]</a></span></p> +<p>Finally, a second supplementary chapter +has been added, in which an effort has been +made to analyze present conditions. From +its nature, this chapter is only a rapid survey +of the progress of ten years. It is not +easy to write with judgment of conditions +actually present. A little perspective is +necessary to make sure that one sees things +in their proper proportions. It is therefore +with some hesitation that I offer to the public +the result of two years' experience of the +present state of affairs. If subsequent events +show that my observation has been incorrect, +I can only say that what I have written has +been the "Thing-as-I-see-It," and does not +lay claim to being the "Thing-as-It-is."</p> + +<p>In closing, I would thank once more the +friends whose names appear in the previous +Preface, and would add to their number the +names of Mr. H. Sakurai and Mr. and Mrs. +Seijiro Saito, who have rendered me valuable +aid in gathering material.</p> + +<p class="ralign">A. M. B.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">New Haven, Connecticut</span>,<br /> +<i>November</i>, 1902.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[vii]</a></span></p> + +<h2>PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION.</h2> + +<div class="decoline" style="width: 81px;"> +<img src="images/line-1diamond-short.png" width="81" height="9" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p><span class="smcap">It</span> seems necessary for a new author to +give some excuse for her boldness in offering +to the public another volume upon a +subject already so well written up as Japan. +In a field occupied by Griffis, Morse, Greey, +Lowell, and Rein, what unexplored corner +can a woman hope to enter? This is the +question that will be asked, and that accordingly +the author must answer.</p> + +<p>While Japan as a whole has been closely +studied, and while much and varied information +has been gathered about the country +and its people, one half of the population +has been left entirely unnoticed, +passed over with brief mention, or altogether +misunderstood. It is of this neglected +half that I have written, in the hope +that the whole fabric of Japanese social<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[viii]</a></span> +life will be better comprehended when the +women of the country, and so the homes +that they make, are better known and +understood.</p> + +<p>The reason why Japanese home-life is +so little understood by foreigners, even by +those who have lived long in Japan, is +that the Japanese, under an appearance of +frankness and candor, hides an impenetrable +reserve in regard to all those personal +concerns which he believes are not +in the remotest degree the concerns of his +foreign guest. Only life in the home itself +can show what a Japanese home may be; +and only by intimate association—such as +no foreign man can ever hope to gain—with +the Japanese ladies themselves can +much be learned of the thoughts and daily +lives of the best Japanese women.</p> + +<p>I have been peculiarly fortunate in having +enjoyed the privilege of long and intimate +friendship with a number of Japanese +ladies, who have spoken with me as freely, +and shown the details of their lives to me<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[ix]</a></span> +as openly, as if bound by closest ties of kindred. +Through them, and only through +them, I have been enabled to study life +from the point of view of the refined and +intelligent Japanese women, and have found +the study so interesting and instructive +that I have felt impelled to offer to others +some part of what I have received +through the aid of these friends. I have, +moreover, been encouraged in my work +by reading, when it was already more than +half completed, the following words from +Griffis's "Mikado's Empire:"—</p> + +<p>"The whole question of the position of +Japanese women—in history, social life, +education, employments, authorship, art, +marriage, concubinage, prostitution, benevolent +labor, the ideals of literature, popular +superstitions, etc.—discloses such a +wide and fascinating field of inquiry that +I wonder no one has as yet entered it."</p> + +<p>In closing, I should say that this work +is by no means entirely my own. It is, in +the first place, largely the result of the interchange +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[x]</a></span>of thought through many and +long conversations with Japanese ladies +upon the topics herein treated. It has +also been carefully revised and criticised; +and many valuable additions have been +made to it by Miss Umé Tsuda, teacher +of English in the Peeresses' School in +Tōkyō, and an old and intimate friend. +Miss Tsuda is at present in this country, +on a two years' leave, for purposes of +further study. She has, amid her many +duties as a student at Bryn Mawr College, +given much time and thought to +this work; and a large part of whatever +value it may possess is due to her.</p> + +<p>I would say, too, that in the verification +of dates, names, and historical incidents, I +have relied altogether upon Griffis's "Mikado's +Empire" and Rein's "Japan," +knowing that those two authors represent +the best that has been done by foreigners +in the field of Japanese history.</p> + +<p>This work also owes much, not only to +the suggestions and historical aids contained +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[xi]</a></span>in the "Mikado's Empire," but to +Mr. Griffis himself, for his careful reading +of my manuscript, and for his criticisms and +suggestions. No greater encouragement +can be given to an inexperienced author +than the helpful criticism of one who has +already distinguished himself in the same +field of labor; and for just such friendly +aid my warmest thanks are due to Mr. +Griffis.</p> + +<p class="ralign">A. M. B.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Hampton, Va.</span>, <i>February</i>, 1891.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> + +<h1 id="chap1">JAPANESE GIRLS AND WOMEN.</h1> + +<div class="decoline" style="width: 81px;"> +<img src="images/line-1diamond-short.png" width="81" height="9" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<h2 id="first">CHAPTER I.<br /><br /> +<span class="sm">CHILDHOOD.</span></h2> + +<p>To the Japanese baby the beginning of +life is not very different from its beginning +to babies in the Western world. Its birth, +whether it be girl or boy, is the cause of +much rejoicing. As boys alone can carry +on the family name and inherit titles and +estates, they are considered of more importance, +but many parents' hearts are made +glad by the addition of a daughter to the +family circle.</p> + +<p>As soon as the event takes place, a special +messenger is dispatched to notify relatives +and intimate friends, while formal +letters of announcement are sent to those +less closely related. All persons thus notified +must make an early visit to the newcomer, +in order to welcome it into the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span> +world, and must either take with them or +send before them some present. Toys, +pieces of cotton, silk, or crêpe for the baby's +dress are regarded as suitable; and everything +must be accompanied by fish or eggs, +for good luck. Where eggs are sent, they +are neatly arranged in a covered box, which +may contain thirty, forty, or even one hundred +eggs.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> The baby, especially if it be +the first one in a family, receives many +presents in the first few weeks of its life, +and at a certain time proper acknowledgment +must be made and return presents +sent. This is done when the baby is +about thirty days old.</p> + +<p>Both baby and mother have a hard time +of it for the first few weeks of its life. The +baby is passed from hand to hand, fussed +over, and talked to so much by the visitors +that come in, that it must think this world +a trying place. The mother, too, is denied +the rest and quiet she needs, and wears<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span> +herself out in the excitement of seeing her +friends, and the physical exercise of going +through, so far as possible, the ceremonious +bows and salutations that etiquette +prescribes.</p> + +<p>Before the seventh day the baby receives +its name.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> There is no especial ceremony +connected with this, but the child's birth +must be formally registered, together with +its name, at the district office of registration, +and the household keep holiday in +honor of the event. A certain kind of rice, +cooked with red beans, a festival dish denoting +good fortune, is usually partaken of +by the family on the seventh day.</p> + +<p>The next important event in the baby's +life is the <i>miya mairi</i>, a ceremony which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span> +corresponds roughly with our christening. +On the thirtieth day after birth,<a name="APXanchor_4" id="APXanchor_4" href="#APX_4" class="apxanchor">[*]</a> +the baby is taken for its first visit to the +temple. For this visit great preparations +are made, and the baby is dressed in finest +silk or crêpe, gayly figured,—garments +made especially for the occasion. Upon +the dress appears in various places the +crest of the family, as on all ceremonial +dresses, whether for young or old, for +every Japanese family has its crest. Thus +arrayed, and accompanied by members of +the family, the young baby is carried to one +of the Shinto temples, and there placed +under the protection of the patron deity of +the temple. This god, chosen from a great +number of Shinto deities, is supposed to +become the special guardian of the child +through life. Offerings are made to the +god and to the priest, and a blessing is +obtained; and the baby is thus formally +placed under the care of a special deity. +This ceremony over, there is usually an +entertainment of some kind at the home of +the parents, especially if the family be one +of high rank. Friends are invited, and if +there are any who have not as yet sent +in presents, they may give them at this +time.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span></p><p>It is usually on this day that the family +send to their friends some acknowledgment +of the presents received. This sometimes +consists of the red bean rice, such +as is prepared for the seventh day celebration, +and sometimes of cakes of <i>mochi</i>, +or rice paste. A letter of thanks usually +accompanies the return present. If rice +is sent, it is put in a handsome lacquered +box, the box placed on a lacquered tray, +and the whole covered with a square of +crêpe or silk, richly decorated. The box, +the tray, and the cover are of course returned, +and, curious to say, the box must +be returned unwashed, as it would be very +unlucky to send it back clean. A piece +of Japanese paper must be slipped into the +box after its contents have been removed, +and box and tray must be given back, just +as they are, to the messenger. Sometimes +a box of eggs, or a peculiar kind of dried +fish, called <i>katsuobushi</i>, is sent with this +present, when it is desired to make an especially +handsome return. When as many +as fifty or one hundred return presents +of this kind are to be sent, it is no slight +tax on the mistress of the house to see +that no one is forgotten, and that all is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span> +properly done. As special messengers are +sent, a number of men are sometimes kept +busy for two or three days.</p> + +<p>After all these festivities, a quiet, undisturbed +life begins for the baby,—a life +which is neither unpleasant nor unhealthful. +It is not jolted, rocked, or trotted to +sleep; it is allowed to cry if it chooses, +without anybody's supposing that the +world will come to an end because of its +crying; and its dress is loose and easily put +on, so that very little time is spent in the +tiresome process of dressing and undressing. +Under these conditions the baby +thrives and grows strong and fat; learns to +take life with some philosophy, even at a +very early age; and is not subject to fits +of hysterical or passionate crying, brought +on by much jolting or trotting, or by the +wearisome process of pinning, buttoning, +tying of strings, and thrusting of arms +into tight sleeves.</p> + +<p>The Japanese baby's dress, though not +as pretty as that of our babies, is in many +ways much more sensible. It consists of +as many wide-sleeved, straight, silk, cotton, +or flannel garments as the season of the +year may require,—all cut after nearly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span> +the same pattern, and that pattern the +same in shape as the grown-up <i>kimono</i>. +These garments are fitted, one inside of +the other, before they are put on; then +they are laid down on the floor and the +baby is laid into them; a soft belt, attached +to the outer garment or dress, is tied +around the waist, and the baby is dressed +without a shriek or a wail, as simply and +easily as possible. The baby's dresses, like +those of our babies, are made long enough +to cover the little bare feet; and the +sleeves cover the hands as well, so preventing +the unmerciful scratching that +most babies give to their faces, as well as +keeping the hands warm and dry.</p> + +<p>Babies of the lower classes, within a few +weeks after birth, are carried about tied +upon the back of some member of the family, +frequently an older sister or brother, +who is sometimes not more than five or +six years old. The poorer the family, the +earlier is the young baby thus put on some +one's back, and one frequently sees babies +not more than a month old, with bobbing +heads and blinking eyes, tied by long bands +of cloth to the backs of older brothers or +sisters, and living in the streets in all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> +weathers. When it is cold, the sister's +<i>haori</i>, or coat, serves as an extra covering +for the baby as well; and when the sun is +hot, the sister's parasol keeps off its rays +from the bobbing bald head.<a name="APXanchor_8" id="APXanchor_8" href="#APX_8" class="apxanchor">[*]</a> Living in +public, as the Japanese babies do, they +soon acquire an intelligent, interested look, +and seem to enjoy the games of the elder +children, upon whose backs they are carried, +as much as the players themselves. +Babies of the middle classes do not live in +public in this way, but ride about upon the +backs of their nurses until they are old +enough to toddle by themselves, and they +are not so often seen in the streets; as +few but the poorest Japanese, even in the +large cities, are unable to have a pleasant +bit of garden in which the children can +play and take the air. The children of the +richest families, the nobility, and the imperial +family, are never carried about in +this way. The young child is borne in the +arms of an attendant, within doors and +without; but as this requires the care of +some one constantly, and prevents the +nurse from doing anything but care for the +child, only the richest can afford this +luxury. With the baby tied to her back, a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span> +woman is able to care for a child, and yet +go on with her household labors, and baby +watches over mother's or nurse's shoulder, +between naps taken at all hours, the processes +of drawing water, washing and +cooking rice, and all the varied work of the +house. Imperial babies are held in the +arms of some one night and day, from the +moment of birth until they have learned +to walk, a custom which seems to render +the lot of the high-born infant less comfortable +in some ways than that of the plebeian +child.</p> + +<p>The flexibility of the knees, which is required +for comfort in the Japanese method +of sitting, is gained in very early youth by +the habit of setting a baby down with its +knees bent under it, instead of with its +legs out straight before it, as seems to us +the natural way. To the Japanese, the +normal way for a baby to sit is with its +knees bent under it, and so, at a very early +age, the muscles and tendons of the knees +are accustomed to what seems to us a most +unnatural and uncomfortable posture.<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span></p><p>Among the lower classes, where there +are few bathing facilities in the houses, +babies of a few weeks old are often taken +to the public bath house and put into the +hot bath. These Japanese baths are usually +heated to a temperature of a hundred +to a hundred and twenty Fahrenheit,—a +temperature that most foreigners visiting +Japan find almost unbearable. To a baby's +delicate skin, the first bath or two is usually +a severe trial, but it soon becomes accustomed +to the high temperature, and +takes its bath, as it does everything else, +placidly and in public. Born into a country +where cow's milk is never used, the +Japanese baby is wholly dependent upon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span> +its mother for milk,<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> and is not weaned +entirely until it reaches the age of three or +four years, and is able to live upon the ordinary +food of the class to which it belongs. +There is no intermediate stage of bread +and milk, oatmeal and milk, gruel, or pap +of some kind; for the all-important factor—milk—is +absent from the bill of fare, in +a land where there is neither "milk for +babes" nor "strong meat for them that +are full of age."</p> + +<p>In consequence, partly, of the lack +of proper nourishment after the child is +too old to live wholly upon its mother's +milk, and partly, perhaps, because of +the poor food that the mothers, even of +the higher classes, live upon, many babies +in Japan are afflicted with disagreeable +skin troubles, especially of the scalp +and face,—troubles which usually disappear +as soon as the child becomes accustomed +to the regular food of the adult. +Another consequence, as I imagine, of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> +lack of proper food at the teething period, +is the early loss of the child's first teeth, +which usually turn black and decay some +time before the second teeth begin to show +themselves. With the exception of these +two troubles, Japanese babies seem healthy, +hearty, and happy to an extraordinary degree, +and show that most of the conditions +of their lives are wholesome. The +constant out-of-door life and the healthful +dress serve to make up in considerable +measure for the poor food, and the Japanese +baby, though small after the manner +of the race, is usually plump, and of firm, +hard flesh. One striking characteristic of +the Japanese baby is, that at a very early +age it learns to cling like a kitten to the +back of whoever carries it, so that it is +really difficult to drop it through carelessness, +for the baby looks out for its own +safety like a young monkey. The straps +that tie it to the back are sufficient for +safety; but the baby, from the age of one +month, is dependent upon its own exertions +to secure a comfortable position, and +it soon learns to ride its bearer with considerable +skill, instead of being merely a +bundle tied to the shoulders. Any one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> +who has ever handled a Japanese baby can +testify to the amount of intelligence shown +in this direction at a very early age; and +this clinging with arms and legs is, perhaps, +a valuable part of the training which +gives to the whole nation the peculiar +quickness of motion and hardness of +muscle that characterize them from childhood. +It is the agility and muscular +quality that belong to wild animals, that +we see something of in the Indian, but to +a more marked degree in the Japanese, +especially of the lower classes.</p> + +<p>The Japanese baby's first lessons in walking +are taken under favorable circumstances. +With feet comfortably shod in the +soft <i>tabi</i>, or mitten-like sock, babies can +tumble about as they like, with no bump +nor bruise, upon the soft matted floors of +the dwelling houses. There is no furniture +to fall against, and nothing about the +room to render falling a thing to be feared. +After learning the art of walking in the +house, the baby's first attempts out of +doors are hampered by the <i>zori</i> or <i>géta</i>,—a +light straw sandal or small wooden clog +attached to the foot by a strap passing between +the toes. At the very beginning the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> +sandal or clog is tied to the baby's foot by +bits of string fastened around the ankle, +but this provision for security is soon discarded, +and the baby patters along like the +grown people, holding on the <i>géta</i> by the +strap passing between the toes. This +somewhat cumbersome and inconvenient +foot gear must cause many falls at first, +but baby's experience in the art of balancing +upon people's backs now aids in this +new art of balancing upon the little wooden +clogs. Babies of two or three trot about +quite comfortably in <i>géta</i> that seem to give +most insecure footing, and older children +run, jump, hop on one foot, and play all +manner of active games upon heavy clogs +that would wrench our ankles and toes out +of all possibility of usefulness. This foot +gear, while producing an awkward, shuffling +gait, has certain advantages over our +own, especially for children whose feet are +growing rapidly. The <i>géta</i>, even if outgrown, +can never cramp the toes nor compress +the ankles. If the foot is too long +for the clog the heel laps over behind, but +the toes do not suffer, and the use of the +<i>géta</i> strengthens the ankles by affording +no artificial aid or support, and giving to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> +all the muscles of foot and leg free play, +with the foot in a natural position. The +toes of the Japanese retain their prehensile +qualities to a surprising degree, and are +used, not only for grasping the foot gear, +but among mechanics almost like two supplementary +hands, to aid in holding the +thing worked upon. Each toe knows its +work and does it, and they are not reduced +to the dull uniformity of motion that characterizes +the toes of a leather-shod nation.</p> + +<p>The distinction between the dress of the +boy and the girl, that one notices from +childhood, begins in babyhood. A very +young baby wears red and yellow, but soon +the boy is dressed in sober colors,—blues, +grays, greens, and browns; while the little +girl still wears the most gorgeous of +colors and the largest of patterns in her +garments, red being the predominant hue. +The sex, even of a young baby, may be distinguished +by the color of its clothing. +White, the garb of mourning in Japan, is +never used for children, but the minutest +babies are dressed in bright-colored garments, +and of the same materials—wadded +cotton, silk, or crêpe—as those worn by +adults of their social grade. As these<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span> +dresses are not as easily washed as our own +cambric and flannel baby clothes, there is +a loss among the poorer classes in the matter +of cleanliness; and the gorgeous soiled +gowns are not as attractive as the more +washable white garments in which our +babies are dressed. For model clothing +for a baby, I would suggest a combination +of the Japanese style with the foreign, +easily washed materials,—a combination +that I have seen used in their own families +by Japanese ladies educated abroad, +and one in which the objections to the Japanese +style of dress are entirely obviated.</p> + +<p>The Japanese baby begins to practice the +accomplishment of talking at a very early +age, for its native language is singularly +happy in easy expressions for children; +and little babies will be heard chattering +away in soft, easily spoken words long before +they are able to venture alone from +their perches on their mothers' or nurses' +backs. A few simple words express much, +and cover all wants. <i>Iya</i> expresses discontent +or dislike of any kind, and is also used +for "no"; <i>mam ma</i> means food; <i>bé bé</i> is the +dress; <i>ta ta</i> is the sock, or house shoe, etc. +We find many of the same sounds as in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> +baby language of English, with meanings +totally different. The baby is not troubled +with difficult grammatical changes, for the +Japanese language has few inflections; and +it is too young to be puzzled with the intricacies +of the various expressions denoting +different degrees of politeness, which are +the snare and the despair of the foreigner +studying Japanese.</p> + +<p>As our little girl emerges from babyhood +she finds the life opening before her +a bright and happy one, but one hedged +about closely by the proprieties, and one +in which, from babyhood to old age, she +must expect to be always under the control +of one of the stronger sex. Her position +will be an honorable and respected one +only as she learns in her youth the lesson +of cheerful obedience, of pleasing manners, +and of personal cleanliness and neatness. +Her duties must be always either within +the house, or, if she belongs to the peasant +class, on the farm. There is no career or +vocation open to her: she must be dependent +always upon either father, husband, +or son, and her greatest happiness is to be +gained, not by cultivation of the intellect, +but by the early acquisition of the self-control +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span>which is expected of all Japanese women +to an even greater degree than of the +men. This self-control must consist, not +simply in the concealment of all the outward +signs of any disagreeable emotion,—whether +of grief, anger, or pain,—but in +the assumption of a cheerful smile and +agreeable manner under even the most +distressing of circumstances. The duty of +self-restraint is taught to the little girls of +the family from the tenderest years; it is +their great moral lesson, and is expatiated +upon at all times by their elders. The little +girl must sink herself entirely, must give up +always to others, must never show emotions +except such as will be pleasing to those +about her: this is the secret of true politeness, +and must be mastered if the woman +wishes to be well thought of and to lead a +happy life. The effect of this teaching is +seen in the attractive but dignified manners +of the Japanese women, and even of the +very little girls. They are not forward nor +pushing, neither are they awkwardly bashful; +there is no self-consciousness, neither +is there any lack of <i>savoir faire</i>; a childlike +simplicity is united with a womanly consideration +for the comfort of those around<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> +them. A Japanese child seems to be the +product of a more perfect civilization than +our own, for it comes into the world with +little of the savagery and barbarian bad +manners that distinguish children in this +country, and the first ten or fifteen years of +its life do not seem to be passed in one long +struggle to acquire a coating of good manners +that will help to render it less obnoxious +in polite society. How much of the +politeness of the Japanese is the result of +training, and how much is inherited from +generations of civilized ancestors, it is difficult +to tell; but my impression is, that +babies are born into the world with a good +start in the matter of manners, and that the +uniformly gentle and courteous treatment +that they receive from those about them, +together with the continual verbal teaching +of the principle of self-restraint and +thoughtfulness of others, produce with very +little difficulty the universally attractive +manners of the people. One curious thing +in a Japanese household is to see the formalities +that pass between brothers and +sisters, and the respect paid to age by +every member of the family. The grandfather +and grandmother come first of all in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> +everything,—no one at table must be +helped before them in any case; after them +come the father and mother; and lastly, +the children according to their ages. A +younger sister must always wait for the +elder and pay her due respect, even in the +matter of walking into the room before +her. The wishes and convenience of the +elder, rather than of the younger, are to +be consulted in everything, and this lesson +must be learned early by children. +The difference in years may be slight, but +the elder-born has the first right in all +cases.</p> + +<p>Our little girl's place in the family is a +pleasant one: she is the pet and plaything +of father and elder brothers, and she is +never saluted by any one in the family, except +her parents, without the title of respect +due to her position. If she is the +eldest daughter, to the servants she is <i>O +Jō Sama</i>, literally, young lady; to her own +brothers and sisters, <i>Né San</i>, elder sister. +Should she be one of the younger ones, +her given name, preceded by the honorific +<i>O</i> and followed by <i>San</i>, meaning Miss, +will be the name by which she will be +called by younger brothers and sisters, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> +by the servants. As she passes from babyhood +to girlhood, and from girlhood to +womanhood, she is the object of much love +and care and solicitude; but she does not +grow up irresponsible or untrained to meet +the duties which womanhood will surely +bring to her. She must learn all the duties +that fall upon the wife and mother of +a Japanese household, as well as obtain +the instruction in books and mathematics +that is coming to be more and more a +necessity for the women of Japan. She +must take a certain responsibility in the +household; must see that tea is made for +the guests who may be received by her +parents,—in all but the families of highest +rank, must serve it herself. Indeed, it is +quite the custom in families of the higher +classes, should a guest, whom it is desired +to receive with especial honor, dine at the +house, to serve the meal, not with the +family, but separately for the father and +his visitor; and it is the duty of the wife +or daughter, oftener the latter, to wait on +them. This is in honor of the guest, not +on account of the lack of servants, for there +may be any number of them within call, or +even in the back part of the room, ready<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span> +to receive from the hands of the young girl +what she has removed. She must, therefore, +know the proper etiquette of the +table, how to serve carefully and neatly, +and, above all, have the skill to ply the <i>saké</i> +bottle, so that the house may keep up its +reputation for hospitality. Should guests +arrive in the absence of her parents, she +must receive and entertain them until the +master or mistress of the house returns. +She also feels a certain care about the behavior +of the younger members of the +family, especially in the absence of the +parents. In these various ways she is +trained for taking upon herself the cares +of a household when the time comes. In +all but the very wealthiest and most aristocratic +families, the daughters of the house +do a large part of the simple housework. +In a house with no furniture, no carpets, +no bric-à-brac, no mirrors, picture frames +or glasses to be cared for, no stoves or +furnaces, no windows to wash, a large part +of the cooking to be done outside, and no +latest styles to be imitated in clothing, the +amount of work to be done by women is +considerably diminished, but still there remains +enough to take a good deal of time.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> +Every morning there are the beds to be +rolled up and stored away in the closet, the +mosquito nets to be taken down, the rooms +to be swept, dusted, and aired before breakfast. +Besides this, there is the washing +and polishing of the <i>engawa</i>, or piazza, +which runs around the outside of a Japanese +house between the <i>shoji</i>, or paper +screens that serve as windows, and the +<i>amado</i>, or sliding shutters, that are closed +only at night, or during heavy, driving +rains. Breakfast is to be cooked and +served, dishes to be washed (in cold water); +and then perhaps there is marketing to be +done, either at shops outside or from the +vendors of fish and vegetables who bring +their huge baskets of provisions to the +door; but after these duties are performed, +it is possible to sit down quietly to the +day's work of sewing, studying, or whatever +else may suit the taste or necessities +of the housewife. Of sewing there is always +a good deal to be done, for many +Japanese dresses must be taken to pieces +whenever they are washed, and are turned, +dyed, and made over again and again, so +long as there is a shred of the original +material left to work upon. There is washing, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span>too, to be done, although neither with +hot water nor soap; and in the place of +ironing, the cotton garments, which are +usually washed without ripping, must be +hung up on a bamboo pole passed through +the armholes, and pulled smooth and +straight before they dry; and the silk, +always ripped into breadths before washing, +must be smoothed while wet upon a +board which is set in the sun until the silk +is dry.</p> + +<p>Then there are the every day dishes +which our Japanese maiden must learn to +prepare. The proper boiling of rice is in +itself a study. The construction of the various +soups which form the staple in the +Japanese bill of fare; the preparation of +<i>mochi</i>, a kind of rice dough, which is +prepared at the New Year, or to send to +friends on various festival occasions: these +and many other branches of the culinary +art must be mastered before the young girl +is prepared to assume the cares of married +life.</p> + +<p>But though the little girl's life is not +without its duties and responsibilities, it is +also not at all lacking in simple and innocent +pleasures.<a name="APXanchor_24" id="APXanchor_24" href="#APX_24" class="apxanchor">[*]</a> First among the annual<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> +festivals, and bringing with it much mirth +and frolic, comes the Feast of the New +Year. At this time father, mother, and +all older members of the family lay aside +their work and their dignity, and join in +the fun and sports that are characteristic +of this season. Worries and anxieties are +set aside with the close of the year, and the +first beams of the New Year's sun bring in +a season of unlimited joy for the children. +For about one week the festival +lasts, and the festal spirit remains through +the whole month, prompting to fun and +amusements of all kinds. From early +morning until bedtime the children wear +their prettiest clothes, in which they play +without rebuke. Guests come and go, +bringing congratulations to the family, +and often gifts for all. The children's +stock of toys is thus greatly increased, and +the house overflows with the good things +of the season, of which <i>mochi</i>, or cake made +from rice dough, prepared always especially +for this time, is one of the most important +articles.</p> + +<p>The children are taken with their parents +to make New Year's visits to their +friends and to offer them congratulations,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> +and much they enjoy this, as, dressed in +their best, they ride from house to house +in <i>jinrikishas</i>.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></p> + +<p>And then, during the long, happy evenings, +the whole family, including even the +old grandfather and grandmother, join in +merry games; the servants, too, are invited +to join the family party, and, without seeming +forward or out of place, enter into +the games with zest. One of the favorite +games is "<i>Hyaku nin isshu</i>," literally "The +poems of a hundred poets." It consists of +two hundred cards, on each of which is +printed either the first or last half of one +of the hundred famous Japanese poems +which give the name to the game. The +poems are well known to all Japanese, of +whatever sort or condition. All Japanese +poems are short, containing only thirty-one +syllables, and have a natural division +into two parts. The one hundred cards +containing the latter halves of the poems +are dealt and laid out in rows, face upward, +before the players. One person is appointed +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span>reader. To him are given the remaining +hundred cards, and he reads the +beginnings of the poems in whatever order +they come from the shuffled pack. Skill +in the game consists in remembering +quickly the line following the one read, +and rapidly finding the card on which it is +written. Especially does the player watch +his own cards, and if he finds there the +end of the poem, the beginning of which +has just been read, he must pick it up before +any one sees it and lay it aside. If +some one else spies the card first, he seizes +it and gives to the careless player several +cards from his own hand. Whoever first +disposes of all his cards is the winner. +The players usually arrange themselves in +two lines down the middle of the room, and +the two sides play against each other, the +game not being ended until either one side +or the other has disposed of all its cards. +The game requires great quickness of +thought and of motion, and is invaluable +in giving to all young people an education +in the classical poetry of their own nation, +as well as being a source of great merriment +and jollity among young and old.</p> + +<p>Scattered throughout the year are various +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span>flower festivals, when, often with her +whole family, our little girl visits the +famous gardens where the plum, the +cherry, the chrysanthemum, the iris, or +the azalea attain their greatest loveliness, +and spends the day out of doors in æsthetic +enjoyment of the beauties of nature +supplemented by art. And then there is +the feast most loved in the whole year, the +Feast of Dolls, when on the third day of the +third month the great fire-proof storehouse +gives forth its treasures of dolls,—in an +old family, many of them hundreds of years +old,—and for three days, with all their +belongings of tiny furnishings in silver, +lacquer, and porcelain, they reign supreme, +arranged on red-covered shelves in the +finest room of the house. Most prominent +among the dolls are the effigies of the Emperor +and Empress in antique court costume, +seated in dignified calm, each on a +lacquered dais. Near them are the figures +of the five court musicians in their robes +of office, each with his instrument. Beside +these dolls, which are always present +and form the central figures at the feast, +numerous others, more plebeian, but more +lovable, find places on the lower shelves,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> +and the array of dolls' furnishings which +is brought out on these occasions is something +marvelous. It was my privilege to +be present at the Feast of Dolls in the +house of one of the <i>Tokugawa daimiōs</i>, a +house in which the old forms and ceremonies +were strictly observed, and over +which the wave of foreign innovation had +passed so slightly that even the calendar +still remained unchanged, and the feast +took place upon the third day of the third +month of the old Japanese year, instead of +on the third day of March, which is the +usual time for it now. At this house, +where the dolls had been accumulating for +hundreds of years, five or six broad, red-covered +shelves, perhaps twenty feet long +or more, were completely filled with them +and with their belongings. The Emperor +and Empress appeared again and again, as +well as the five court musicians, and the +tiny furnishings and utensils were wonderfully +costly and beautiful. Before each +Emperor and Empress was set an elegant +lacquered table service,—tray, bowls, cups, +<i>saké</i> pots, rice buckets, etc., all complete; +and in each utensil was placed the appropriate +variety of food. The <i>saké</i> used on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> +this occasion is a sweet, white liquor, +brewed especially for this feast, as different +from the ordinary <i>saké</i> as sweet cider is +from the hard cider upon which a man +may drink himself into a state of intoxication.<a name="APXanchor_30" id="APXanchor_30" href="#APX_30" class="apxanchor">[*]</a> +Besides the table service, everything +that an imperial doll can be expected to +need or desire is placed upon the shelves. +Lacquered <i>norimono</i>, or palanquins; lacquered +bullock carts, drawn by bow-legged +black bulls,—these were the conveyances +of the great in Old Japan, and these, in +minute reproductions, are placed upon the +red-covered shelves. Tiny silver and brass +<i>hibachi</i>, or fire boxes, are there, with their +accompanying tongs and charcoal baskets,—whole +kitchens, with everything required +for cooking the finest of Japanese +feasts, as finely made as if for actual +use; all the necessary toilet apparatus,—combs, +mirrors, utensils for blackening the +teeth, for shaving the eyebrows, for reddening +the lips and whitening the face,—all +these things are there to delight the souls +of all the little girls who may have the opportunity +to behold them. For three days +the imperial effigies are served sumptuously +at each meal, and the little girls of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> +the family take pleasure in serving their +imperial majesties; but when the feast +ends, the dolls and their belongings are +packed away in their boxes, and lodged in +the fire-proof warehouse for another year.</p> + +<p>The Tokugawa collection, of which I +have spoken, is remarkably full and costly, +for it has been making for hundreds of +years in one of the younger branches of a +family which for two and a half centuries +was possessed of almost imperial power, +and lived in more than imperial luxury; +but there are few households so poor that +they do not from year to year accumulate +a little store of toys wherewith to celebrate +the feast, and, whether the toys are +many or few, the feast is the event of +the year in the lives of the little girls of +Japan.<a name="APXanchor_31" id="APXanchor_31" href="#APX_31" class="apxanchor">[*]</a></p> + +<p>Beside the regular feasts at stated seasons, +our little girl has a great variety of +toys and games, some belonging to particular +seasons, some played at any time +during the year. At the New Year the +popular out-of-door games are battledoor +and shuttlecock, and ball. There is no +prettier sight, to my mind, than a group +of little girls in their many-colored wide-sleeved +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span>dresses playing with battledoor or +ball. The graceful, rhythmic motion of +their bodies, the bright upturned eyes, the +laughing faces, are set off to perfection by +the coloring of their flowing drapery; and +their agility on their high, lacquered clogs +is a constant source of wonder and admiration +to any one who has ever made +an effort to walk upon the clumsy things. +There are dolls, too, that are not relegated +to the storehouse when the Feast of Dolls +is ended, but who are the joy and comfort +of their little mothers during the whole +year; and at every <i>kwan-ko-ba</i>, or bazaar, +an endless variety of games, puzzles, pictures +to be cut out and glued together, and +amusements of all kinds, may be purchased +at extremely low rates. There is no dearth +of games for our little girl, and many +pleasant hours are spent in the household +sitting room with games, or conundrums, +or stories, or the simple girlish chatter +that elicits constant laughter from sheer +youthful merriment.</p> + +<p>As for fairy tales, so dear to the hearts +of children in every country, the Japanese +child has her full share. Often she listens, +half asleep, while cuddling under the warm<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> +quilted cover of the <i>kotatsu</i>,<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> in the cold +winter evenings, to the drowsy voice of the +old grandmother or nurse, who carries her +away on the wings of imagination to the +wonderful palace of the sea gods, or to the +haunts of the terrible <i>oni</i>, monsters with +red, distorted faces and fearful horns. +Momotaro, the Peach Boy, with his wonderful +feats in the conquest of the <i>oni</i>, is +her hero, until he is supplanted by the +more real ones of Japanese history.</p> + +<p>There are occasional all-day visits to the +theatre, too, where, seated on the floor in +a box, railed off from those adjoining, our +little girl, in company with her mother and +sisters, enjoys, though with paroxysms of +horror and fear, the heroic historical plays +which are now almost all that is left of the +heroic old Japan. Here she catches the +spirit of passionate loyalty that belonged +to those days, forms her ideals of what a +noble Japanese woman should be willing +to do for parents or husband, and comes +away taught, as she could be by no other<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> +teaching, what the spirit was that animated +her ancestors,—what spirit must +animate her, should she wish to be a +worthy descendant of the women of old.</p> + +<p>Among these surroundings, with these +duties and amusements, our little girl +grows to womanhood. The unconscious +and beautiful spirit of her childhood is not +driven away at the dawn of womanhood by +thoughts of beaux, of coming out in society, +of a brief career of flirtation and conquest, +and at the end as fine a marriage, +either for love or money, as her imagination +can picture. She takes no thought +for these things herself, and her intercourse +with young men, though free and +unconstrained, has about it no grain of +flirtation or romantic interest. When the +time comes for her to marry, her father +will have her meet some eligible young +man, and both she and the young man will +know, when they are brought together, +what is the end in view, and will make up +their minds about the matter. But until +that time comes, the modest Japanese +maiden carries on no flirtations, thinks +little of men except as higher beings to +be deferred to and waited on, and preserves<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> +the childlike innocence of manner, combined +with a serene dignity under all circumstances, +that is so noticeable a trait +in the Japanese woman from childhood to +old age.</p> + +<p>The Japanese woman is, under this discipline, +a finished product at the age of +sixteen or eighteen. She is pure, sweet, +and amiable, with great power of self-control, +and a knowledge of what to do upon +all occasions. The higher part of her nature +is little developed; no great religious +truths have lifted her soul above the world +into a clearer and higher atmosphere; but +as far as she goes, in regard to all the little +things of daily life, she is bright, industrious, +sweet-tempered, and attractive, and +prepared to do well her duty, when that +duty comes to her, as wife and mother and +mistress of a household. The highest +principle upon which she is taught to act +is obedience, even to the point of violating +all her finest feminine instincts, at the +command of father or husband; and acting +under that principle, she is capable of an +entire self-abnegation such as few women +of any race can achieve.</p> + +<p>With the close of her childhood, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> +happiest period in the life of a Japanese +woman closes. The discipline that she +has received so far, repressive and constant +as it has often been, has been from kind +and loving parents. She has freedom, to +a certain degree, such as is unknown to +any other country in Asia. In the home +she is truly loved, often the pet and plaything +of the household, though not receiving +the caresses and words of endearment +that children in America expect as a right, +for love in Japan is undemonstrative.<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> But +just at the time when her mind broadens, +and the desire for knowledge and self-improvement +develops, the restraints and +checks upon her become more severe. Her +sphere seems to grow narrower, difficulties +one by one increase, and the young girl, +who sees life before her as something +broad and expansive, who looks to the future +with expectant joy, may become, in a +few years, the weary, disheartened woman.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3><span class="smcap">Footnotes:</span></h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> All presents in Japan must be wrapped in white +paper, although, except for funerals, this paper must +have some writing on it, and must be tied with a peculiar +red and white paper string, in which is inserted the +<i>noshi</i>, or bit of dried fish, daintily folded in a piece of colored +paper, which is an indispensable accompaniment of +every present.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> A child is rarely given the name of a living member +of the family, or of any friend. The father's name, +slightly modified, is frequently given to a son, and those +of ancestors long ago dead are sometimes used. One +reason for this is probably the inconvenience of similar +names in the same family, and middle names, as a way +of avoiding this difficulty, are unknown. The father +usually names the child, but some friend or patron of +the family may be asked to do it. Names of beautiful +objects in nature, such as Plum, Snow, Sunshine, Lotos, +Gold, are commonly used for girls, while boys of the +lower classes often rejoice in such appellations as Stone, +Bear, Tiger, etc. To call a child after a person would +not be considered any especial compliment.<a name="APXanchor_3" id="APXanchor_3" href="#APX_3" class="apxanchor">[*]</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> That the position of the Japanese in sitting is really +unnatural and unhygienic, is shown by recent measurements +taken by the surgeons of the Japanese army. +These measurements prove that the small stature of the +Japanese is due largely to the shortness of the lower +limbs, which are out of proportion to the rest of the +body. The sitting from early childhood upon the legs +bent at the knee, arrests the development of that part of +the body, and produces an actual deformity in the whole +nation. This deformity is less noticeable among the +peasants, who stand and walk so much as to secure +proper development of the legs; but among merchants, +literary men, and others of sedentary habits, it is most +plainly to be seen. The introduction of chairs and tables, +as a necessary adjunct of Japanese home life, would +doubtless in time alter the physique of the Japanese as +a people.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Sometimes, in the old days, rice water was given to +babies instead of milk, but it was nearly impossible to +bring up a baby on this alone. Now both fresh and +condensed milk are used, where the mother's milk is insufficient, +but only in those parts of Japan where the +foreign influence is felt.<a name="APXanchor_11" id="APXanchor_11" href="#APX_11" class="apxanchor">[*]</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> <i>Jinrikisha</i>, or <i>kuruma</i>, a small, light carriage, usually +with a broad top, which is drawn by a man. The <i>jinrikisha</i> +is the commonest of all vehicles now in use in Japan. +<i>Jinrikisha</i>-man and <i>kurumaya</i> are terms commonly used +for the runner who draws the carriage.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> <i>Kotatsu</i>, a charcoal fire in a brazier or a small fireplace +in the floor, over which a wooden frame is set and +the whole covered by a quilt. The family sit about it in +cold weather with the quilt drawn up over the feet and +knees.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> Kisses are unknown, and regarded by conservative +Japanese as an animal and disgusting way of expressing +affection.</p></div> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER II.<br /><br /> +<span class="sm">EDUCATION.</span></h2> + +<p><span class="smcap">So</span> far we have spoken only of the domestic +training of a Japanese girl. That part +of her education that she gains through +teachers and schools must be the subject +of a separate chapter. Japan differs from +most Oriental countries in the fact that +her women are considered worthy of a certain +amount of the culture that comes from +the study of books; and although, until +recently, schools for girls were unknown in +the empire, nevertheless every woman, except +those of the lower classes, received instruction +in the ordinary written language, +while some were well versed in the Chinese +classics and the poetic art. These, with +some musical accomplishment, an acquaintance +with etiquette and the arts of arranging +flowers, of making the ceremonial tea, +and in many cases not only of writing a +beautiful hand, but of flower-painting as +well, in the old days made up the whole of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> +an ordinary woman's education. Among +the lower classes, especially the merchant +class, instruction was sometimes given in +the various pantomimic dances which one +sees most frequently presented by professional +dancing girls. The art of dancing +is not usually practiced by women of the +higher classes, but among the daughters of +the merchants special dances were learned +for exhibition at home, or even at the +<i>matsuri</i> or religious festival, and their performance +was for the amusement of spectators, +and not especially for the pleasure +of the dancers themselves. These dances +are modest and graceful, but from the fact +that they are always learned for entertaining +an audience, however small and select, +and are most frequently performed by professional +dancers of questionable character, +the more refined and higher class Japanese +do not care especially to have their +daughters learn them.</p> + +<p>In the old days, little girls were not sent +to school, but, going to the house of a +private teacher, received the necessary instruction +in reading, and writing. The +writing and reading at the beginning, are +taught simultaneously, the teacher writing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> +a letter upon a sheet of paper and telling +the scholar its name, and the scholar writing +it over and over until, by the time she +has acquired the necessary skill in writing +it, both name and form are indelibly imprinted +upon her memory. To write, with +a brush dipped in India ink, upon soft +paper, the hand entirely without support, is +an art that seldom can be acquired by a +grown person, but when learned in childhood +it gives great deftness in whatever +other art may be subsequently studied. +This is perhaps the reason why the Japanese +value a good handwriting more +highly than any other accomplishment, for +it denotes a manual dexterity that is the +secret of success in all the arts, and one +who writes the Chinese characters well and +rapidly can quickly learn to do anything +else with the fingers.</p> + +<p>The fault that one finds with the Japanese +system—a fault that lies deeper than +the mere methods of teaching, and has its +root in the ideographic character of the +written language—is that, while it cultivates +the memory and powers of observation +to a remarkable extent, and while it +gives great skill in the use of the fingers,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> +it affords little opportunity for the development +of the reasoning powers.<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> +years of study that are required for mastering +the written language, so as to be able +to grasp the thoughts already given to the +world, leave comparatively little time for +the conducting of any continuous thought +on one's own account, and so we find in +Japanese scholars—whether boys or girls—quickness +of apprehension, retentive +memories, industry and method in their +study of their lessons, but not much originality +of thought. This result comes, I +believe, from the nature of the written +language and the difficulties that attend +the mastery of it; as a consequence of +which, an educated man or woman becomes +simply a student of other men's +thoughts and sayings about things instead +of being a student of the things themselves.</p> + +<p>Music in Japan is an accomplishment +reserved almost entirely for women, for +priests, and for blind men. It seems to +me quite fortunate that the musical art +is not more generally practiced, as Japanese +music, as a rule, is far from agreeable +to the untrained ear of the outside +barbarian.<a name="APXanchor_41" id="APXanchor_41" href="#APX_41" class="apxanchor">[*]</a> The <i>koto</i> is the pleasantest of +the Japanese instruments, but probably on +account of its large size, which makes it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> +inconvenient to keep in a small Japanese +house, it is used most among the higher +classes, from the <i>samurai</i><a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> upwards. The +<i>koto</i> is an embryo piano, a horizontal +sounding-board, some six feet long, upon +which are stretched strings supported by +ivory bridges. It is played by means of +ivory finger-tips fitted to the thumb, forefinger, +and middle finger of the right hand, +and gives forth agreeable sounds, not unlike +those of the harp. The player sits +before the <i>koto</i> on knees and heels, in the +ordinary Japanese attitude, and her motions +are very graceful and pretty as she +touches the strings, often supplementing +the strains of the instrument with her +voice. The teaching of this instrument +and of the <i>samisen</i>, or Japanese guitar, is +almost entirely in the hands of blind men, +who in Japan support themselves by the +two professions of music and massage,—all +the blind, who cannot learn the former, +becoming adepts in the latter profession.</p> + +<p>The arrangement of flowers is taught as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span> +a fine art, and much time may be spent in +learning how, by clipping, bending, and +fixing in its place in the vase, each spray +and twig may be made to look as if actually +growing, for flower arranging is not +merely to show the flower itself, but includes +the proper arrangement of the +branches, twigs, and leaves of plants. The +flower plays only a small part, and is not +used in decoration, except on the branch +and stem as it is in nature, and the art +consists in the preservation of the natural +bend and growth when fixed in the vase. +In every case, each branch has certain +curves, which must be in harmony with the +whole. Branches of pine, bamboo, and the +flowering plum are much used.</p> + +<p>Teachers spend much time in showing +proper and improper combinations of different +flowers, as well as the arrangement +of them. Many different styles have come +up, originated by the famous teachers who +have founded various schools of the art,—an +art which is unique and exceedingly +popular, requiring artistic talent and a +cultivated eye. One often sees, on going +into the guest room of a Japanese house, a +vase containing gracefully arranged flowers +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span>set in the <i>tokonoma</i>, or raised alcove of +the room, under the solitary <i>kakémono</i><a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> +that forms the chief ornament of the +apartment. As these two things, the vase +of flowers and the hanging scroll, are the +only adornments, it is more necessary that +the flowers should be carefully arranged, +than in our crowded rooms, where a vase +of flowers may easily escape the eye, perplexed +by the multitude of objects which +surround it.</p> + +<p>The ceremonial tea must not be confounded +with the ordinary serving of tea +for refreshment. The proper making, and +serving, and drinking of the ceremonial +tea is the most formal of social observances, +each step in which is prescribed by a rigid +code of etiquette. The tea, instead of +being the whole leaf, such as is used for +ordinary occasions, is a fine, green powder. +The infusion is made, not in a small pot, +from which it is poured out into cups, +but in a bowl, into which the hot water is +poured from a dipper on to the powdered +tea. The mixture is stirred with a bamboo +whisk until it foams, then handed with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span> +much ceremony to the guest, who takes it +with equal ceremony and drinks it from +the bowl, emptying the receptacle at three +gulps. Should there be a number of guests, +tea is made for each in turn, in the order +of their rank, in the same bowl. For this +ceremonial tea, a special set of utensils is +used, all of antique and severely simple +style. The charcoal used for heating the +water is of a peculiar variety; and the +room in which the tea is made and served +is built for that special purpose, and kept +sacred for that use. This art, which is +often part of the education of women of +the higher classes, is taught by regular +teachers, often by gentlewomen who have +fallen into distressed circumstances.<a name="APXanchor_45" id="APXanchor_45" href="#APX_45" class="apxanchor">[*]</a> I remember +with great vividness a visit paid +to an old lady living near a provincial +city of Japan, who had for years supported +herself by giving lessons in this politest +of arts. Her little house, of the daintiest +and neatest type, seemed filled to overflowing +by three foreigners, whom she received +with the courtliest of welcomes. At +the request of my friend, an American lady +engaged in missionary work in that part of +the country, she gave us a lesson in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> +etiquette of the tea ceremony. Every motion, +from the bringing in and arranging +of the utensils to the final rinsing and +wiping of the tea bowl, was according to +rules strictly laid down, and the whole +ceremony had more the solemnity of a religious +ritual than the lightness and gayety +of a social occasion.</p> + +<p>Etiquette of all kinds is not left in +Japan to chance, to be learned by observation +and imitation of any model that may +present itself, but is taught regularly by +teachers who make a specialty of it. Everything +in the daily life has its rules, and the +etiquette teacher has them all at her fingers' +ends. There have been several famous +teachers of etiquette, and they have formed +systems which differ in minor points, while +agreeing in the principal rules. The etiquette +of bowing, the position of the body, +the arms, and the head while saluting, the +methods of shutting and opening the door, +rising and sitting down on the floor, the +manner of serving a meal, or tea, are all, +with the minutest details, taught to the +young girls, who, I imagine, find it rather +irksome. I know two young girls of new +Japan who find nothing so wearisome as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> +their etiquette lesson, and would gladly be +excused from it. I have heard them, after +their teacher had left, slyly make fun of +her stiff and formal manners. Such people +as she will, I fear, soon belong only to the +past, though it still remains to be seen +how much of European manners will be +engrafted on the old formalities of Japanese +life. It is, perhaps, because of this +regular teaching in the ways of polite society, +that the Japanese girl seems never at +a loss, even under unusual circumstances, +but bears herself with self-possession in +places where young girls in America would +be embarrassed and awkward.</p> + +<p>But the Japanese are rapidly finding out +that this busy nineteenth century gives +little time for learning how to shut and +open doors in the politest manner, and indeed +such things under the newly established +school system are now relegated entirely +to the girls' schools, the boys having +no lessons in etiquette.</p> + +<p>The method of teaching flower-painting +is so interesting that I must speak of it +before I leave the subject of accomplishments. +I have said that the acquisition of +skill in writing the Chinese characters was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> +the best possible preparation for skill in all +other arts. This is especially true of the +art of painting, which is simply the next +step, after writing has been learned. The +painting master, when he comes to the +house, brings no design as a model, but +sits down on the floor before the little +desk, and on a sheet of paper paints with +great rapidity the design that he wishes +the pupil to copy. It may be simply two +or three blades of grass upon which the +pupil makes a beginning, but she is expected +to make her picture with exactly +the same number of bold strokes that the +master puts into his. Again and again +she blunders her strokes on to a sheet of +paper, until at last, when sheet after sheet +has been spoiled, she begins to see some +semblance of the master's copy in her own +daub. She perseveres, making copy after +copy, until she is able from memory to put +upon the paper at a moment's notice the +three blades of grass to her master's satisfaction. +Only then can she go on to a +new copy, and only after many such designs +have been committed to memory, +and the free, dashing stroke necessary for +Japanese painting has been acquired, is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> +she allowed to undertake any copying from +nature, or original designing.<a name="APXanchor_49" id="APXanchor_49" href="#APX_49" class="apxanchor">[*]</a></p> + +<p>I have dwelt thus far only upon the entirely +Japanese education that was permitted +to women under the old régime. +That it was an effective and refining system, +all can testify who have made the acquaintance +of any of the charming Japanese +ladies whose schooling was finished +before Commodore Perry disturbed the repose +of old Japan. As I write, the image +comes before me of a sweet-faced, bright-eyed +little gentlewoman with whom it was +my good fortune to become intimately acquainted +during my stay in Tōkyō. A +widow, left penniless, with one child to +support, she earned the merest pittance +by teaching sewing at one of the government +schools in Tōkyō; but in all the circumstances +of her life, narrow and busy +as it needs must be, she proved herself a +lady through and through. Polite, cheerful, +an intelligent and cultivated reader, +a thrifty housekeeper, a loving and careful +mother, a true and helpful friend, her +memory is associated with many of my +pleasantest hours in Japan, and she is but +one of the many who bear witness to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span> +culture that might be acquired by women +in the old days.</p> + +<p>But the Japan of old is not the Japan +of to-day, and in the school system now +prevalent throughout the empire girls and +boys are equally provided for. First the +schools established by the various missionary +societies, and then the government +schools, offered to girls a broader education +than the old instruction in Chinese, in +etiquette, and in accomplishments. Now, +every morning, the streets of the cities and +villages are alive with boys and girls clattering +along, with their books and lunch +boxes in their hands, to the kindergarten, +primary, grammar, high, or normal school. +Every rank in life, every grade in learning, +may find its proper place in the new school +system, and the girls eagerly grasp their +opportunities, and show themselves apt +and willing students of the new learning +offered to them.</p> + +<p>By the new system, at its present stage +of development, too much is expected of +the Japanese boy or girl. The work required +would be a burden to the quickest +mind. The whole of the old education in +Japanese and Chinese literature and composition—an +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span>education requiring the best +years of a boy's life—is given, and grafted +upon this, our common-school and high-school +studies of mathematics, geography, +history, and natural science. In addition +to these, at all higher schools, one foreign +language is required, and often two, English +ranking first in the popular estimation. +Many a headache do the poor, hard-working +students have over the puzzling +English language, in which they have to +begin at the wrong end of the book and +read across the page from left to right, instead +of from top to bottom, and from right +to left, as is natural to them. But in spite +of its hard work, the new school life is +cheerful and healthful, and the children +enjoy it. It helps them to be really children, +and, while they are young, to be +merry and playful, not dignified and formal +little ladies at all times. Upon the young +girls, the influence of the schools is to +make them more independent, self-reliant, +and stronger women. In the houses of +the higher classes, even now, much of the +old-time system of repression is still in +force. Children are indeed "seen but not +heard," and from the time when they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span> +learn to walk they must learn to be polite +and dignified. At school, the more progressive +feeling of the times predominates +among the authorities, and the children +are encouraged to unbend and enjoy themselves +in games and frolics, as true children +should do. Much is done for the pleasure +of the little ones, who often enjoy school +better than home, and declare that they do +not like holidays.<a name="APXanchor_52" id="APXanchor_52" href="#APX_52" class="apxanchor">[*]</a></p> + +<p>But the young girl, who has finished +this pleasant school life, with all its advantages, +is not as well fitted as under +the old system for the duties and trials +of married life, unless under exceptional +circumstances, where the husband chosen +has advanced ideas. To those teaching the +young girls of Japan to-day, the problem of +how to educate them aright is a deep one, +and with each newly trained girl sent out +go many hopes, mingled with anxieties, in +regard to the training she has had as a +preparation for the new life she is about to +enter. The few, the pioneers, will have to +suffer for the happiness and good of the +many, for the problem of grafting the new +on to the old is indeed a difficult one, to be +solved only after many experiments.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span></p><p>There are many difficulties which lie in +the way of the new schools that must be +met, studied, and overcome. One of them +is the one already referred to, the problem +of how best to combine the new and the +old in the school curriculum. That the old +learning and literature, the old politeness +and sweetness of manner, must not be +given up or made little of, is evident to +every right-minded student of the matter. +That the newer and broader culture, with +its higher morality, its greater development +of the best powers of the mind, must +play a large part in the Japan of the future, +there is not a shadow of doubt, and +the women must not be left behind in the +onward movement of the nation. But how +to give to the young minds the best products +of the thought of two such distinct +civilizations is a question that is as yet unanswered, +and cannot be satisfactorily settled +until the effect of the new education +has begun to show itself in a generation or +so of graduates from the new schools. Another +difficulty is in the matter of health. +Most of the new school-houses are fitted +with seats and desks, such as are found +in American schools. Many of them are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> +heated by stoves or furnaces. The scholars +in most cases wear the Japanese dress, +which in winter is made warm enough to +be worn in rooms having no artificial heat. +Put this warm costume into an artificially +heated room and the result is an over-heating +of the body, and a subsequent chill +when the pupil goes, with no extra covering, +into the keen out-of-door air. From +this cause alone, arise many colds and +lung troubles, which can be prevented +when more experience has shown how the +costumes of the East and West can be combined +to suit the new conditions. Another +part of the health problem lies in the fact +that in many cases the parents do not +understand the proper care of a growing +girl, ambitious to excel in her studies. Instead +of the regular hours, healthful food, +and gentle restraint that a girl needs under +those circumstances, our little Japanese +maiden is allowed to sit up to any hour of +the night, or arise at any hour in the +morning, to prepare her lessons, is given +food of most indigestible quality at all +hours of the day between her regular meals, +and is frequently urged to greater mental +exertion than her delicate body can endure.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span></p><p>Another difficulty, in fitting the new +school system into the customs of the people, +lies in the early age at which marriages +are contracted. Before the girl has +finished her school course, her parents begin +to wonder whether there is not danger +of her being left on their hands altogether, +if they do not hand her over to the first +eligible young man who presents himself. +Sometimes the girl makes a brave fight, +and remains in school until her course is +finished; more often she succumbs and is +married off, bids a weeping farewell to her +teachers and schoolmates, and leaves the +school, to become a wife at sixteen, a +mother at eighteen, and an old woman at +thirty. In some cases, the breaking down +of a girl's health may be traced to threats +on the part of her parents that, if she does +not take a certain rank in her studies, she +will be taken from school and married off.<a name="APXanchor_55" id="APXanchor_55" href="#APX_55" class="apxanchor">[*]</a></p> + +<p>These are difficulties that may be overcome +when a generation has been educated +who can, as parents, avoid the mistakes +that now endanger the health of a Japanese +school-girl. In the mean time, boarding +schools, that can attend to matters of +health and hygiene among the girls, would,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span> +if they could be conducted with the proper +admixture of Eastern and Western learning +and manners, do a great deal toward +educating that generation. The missionary +schools do much in this direction, but +the criticism of the Japanese upon the +manners of the girls educated in missionary +schools is universally severe. To a +foreigner who has lived almost entirely +among Japanese ladies of pure Japanese +education, the manners of the girls in these +schools seem brusque and awkward; and +though they are many of them noble +women and doing noble work, there is +room for hope that in the future of Japan +the charm of manner which is the distinguishing +feature of the Japanese woman +will not be lost by contact with our Western +shortness and roughness. A happy +mean undoubtedly can be reached; and +when it is, the women of new Japan will +be able to bear a not unfavorable comparison +with the women of the old régime.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3><span class="smcap">Footnotes:</span></h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> The Japanese written language is a strange combination +of Chinese and Japanese, to read which a knowledge +of the Chinese characters is necessary. Chinese literature +written in the Chinese ideographs, which of course give +no clue to the sound, are read by Japanese with the +Japanese rendering of the words, and the Japanese order +of words in the sentence. When there have not been +exact equivalent Japanese words, a Chinese term has +come into use, so that much corrupt Chinese is now well +engrafted into the Japanese language, both written and +spoken. In the forming of new words and technical +terms Chinese words are used, as the Greek and Latin +are here. There is probably no similarity in the origin +of the two languages, but the Japanese borrowed from +the Chinese about the sixth century <span class="ucsmcap">A. D.</span> their cleverly +planned but most complex method of expressing +thought in writing. The introduction of the Chinese literature +has done much for Japan, and to master this +language is one of the essentials in the education of every +boy. At least seven or eight thousand characters must +be learned for daily use, and there are several different +styles of writing each of them. For a scholar, twice as +many, or even more, must be mastered in order to read +the various works in that rich literature.</p> + +<p>The Japanese language contains a syllabary of forty-eight +letters, and in books and newspapers for the common +people is printed, by the side of the Chinese character, +the rendering of it, in the letters of the <i>kana</i>, or +Japanese alphabet.<a name="APXanchor_40" id="APXanchor_40" href="#APX_40" class="apxanchor">[*]</a></p> + +<p>A Japanese woman is not expected to do much in the +study of Chinese. She will, of course, learn a few of the +most common characters, such as are used in letter-writing, +and for the rest she will read by the help of the +<i>kana</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> The <i>samurai</i> in the feudal times were the hereditary +retainers of a <i>daimiō</i>, or feudal lord. They formed the +military and literary class. For further information, <a href="#Page_196">see +chap. viii.</a>, on <i>Samurai Women</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> <i>Kakémono</i>, a hanging scroll, upon which a picture is +painted, or some poem or sentiment written.</p></div> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER III.<br /><br /> +<span class="sm">MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE.</span></h2> + +<p><span class="smcap">When</span> the Japanese maiden arrives at +the age of sixteen, or thereabouts, she is +expected as a matter of course to marry. +She is usually allowed her choice in regard +to whether she will or will not marry a +certain man, but she is expected to marry +some one, and not to take too much time +in making up her mind. The alternative +of perpetual spinsterhood is never considered, +either by herself or her parents. +Marriage is as much a matter of course +in a woman's life as death, and is no more +to be avoided. This being the case, our +young woman has only as much liberty of +choice accorded to her as is likely to provide +against a great amount of unhappiness +in her married life. If she positively +objects to the man who is proposed to her, +she is seldom forced to marry him, but no +more cordial feeling than simple toleration +is expected of her before marriage.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span></p><p>The courtship is somewhat after the following +manner. A young man, who finds +himself in a position to marry, speaks to +some married friend, and asks him to be +on the lookout for a beautiful<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> and accomplished +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span>maiden, who would be willing +to become his wife. The friend, acting<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60"><br />[60]</a></span> +rather as advance agent, makes a canvass +of all the young maidens of his acquaintance, +inquiring among his friends; +and finally decides that so-and-so (Miss +Flower, let us say) will be a very good +match for his friend. Having arrived at +this decision, he goes to Miss Flower's +parents and lays the case of his friend before +them. Should they approve of the +suitor, a party is arranged at the house +of some common friend, where the young +people may have a chance to meet each +other and decide each upon the other's +merits. Should the young folks find no +fault with the match, presents are exchanged,<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> +a formal betrothal is entered +into, and the marriage is hastened forward. +All arrangements between the contracting +parties are made by go-betweens, +or seconds, who hold themselves responsible +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span>for the success of the marriage, and +must be concerned in the divorce proceedings, +should divorce become desirable or +necessary.</p> + +<p>The marriage ceremony, which seems to +be neither religious nor legal in its nature,<a name="APXanchor_61a" id="APXanchor_61a" href="#APX_61a" class="apxanchor">[*]</a> +takes place at the house of the groom, to +which the bride is carried, accompanied by +her go-betweens, and, if she be of the +higher classes, by her own confidential +maid, who will serve her as her personal +attendant in the new life in her husband's +house. The trousseau and household goods, +which the bride is expected to bring with +her, are sent before.<a name="APXanchor_61b" id="APXanchor_61b" href="#APX_61b" class="apxanchor">[*]</a> The household goods +required by custom as a part of the outfit +of every bride are as follows: A bureau; a +low desk or table for writing; a work-box; +two of the lacquer trays or tables on which +meals are served, together with everything +required for furnishing them, even to the +chopsticks; and two or more complete sets +of handsome bed furnishings. The trousseau +will contain, if the bride be of a well-to-do +family, dresses for all seasons, and +handsome sashes without number; for the +unchanging fashions of Japan, together +with the durable quality of the dress material, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span>make it possible for a woman, at the +time of her marriage, to enter her husband's +house with a supply of clothing that +may last her through her lifetime. The +parents of the bride, in giving up their +daughter, as they do when she marries, +show the estimation in which they have +held her by the beauty and completeness +of the trousseau with which they provide +her. This is her very own; and in the +event of a divorce, she brings back with +her to her father's house the clothing and +household goods that she carried away as +a bride.</p> + +<p>With the bride and her trousseau are +sent a great number of presents from the +family of the bride to the members of the +groom's household. Each member of the +family, from the aged grandfather to the +youngest grandchild, receives some remembrance +of the occasion; and even the servants +and retainers, down to the <i>jinrikisha</i> +men, and the <i>bettō</i> in the stables, are not +forgotten by the bride's relatives. Beside +this present-giving, the friends and relatives +of the bride and groom, as in this +country, send gifts to the young couple, +often some article for use in the household, +or crêpe or silk for dresses.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span></p><p>In old times, the wedding took place in +the afternoon, but it is now usually celebrated +in the evening. The ceremony consists +merely in a formal drinking of the +native wine (<i>saké</i>) from a two-spouted cup, +which is presented to the mouths of the +bride and groom alternately. This drinking +from one cup is a symbol of the equal +sharing of the joys and sorrows of married +life. At the ceremony no one is present +but the bride and bridegroom, their go-betweens, +and a young girl, whose duty it +is to present the cup to the lips of the contracting +parties. When this is over, the +wedding guests, who have been assembled +in the next room during the ceremony, +join the wedding party, a grand feast is +spread, and much merriment ensues.<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a></p> + +<p>On the third day after the wedding, the +newly married couple are expected to make +a visit to the bride's family, and for this +great preparations are made. A large +party is usually given by the bride's parents, +either in the afternoon or evening, in +honor of this occasion, to which the friends<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> +of the bride's family are invited. The young +couple bring with them presents from the +groom's family to the bride's, in return for +the presents sent on the wedding day.<a name="APXanchor_64" id="APXanchor_64" href="#APX_64" class="apxanchor">[*]</a></p> + +<p>The festivities often begin early in the +afternoon and keep up until late at night. +A fine dinner is served, and music and +dancing, by professional performers, or +some other entertainment, serve to make +the time pass pleasantly. The bride appears +as hostess with her mother, entertaining +the company, and receiving their +congratulations, and must remain to speed +the last departing guest, before leaving +the paternal roof.</p> + +<p>Within the course of two or three +months, the newly married couple are expected +to give an entertainment, or series +of entertainments, to their friends, as an +announcement of the marriage. As the +wedding ceremony is private, and no notice +is given, nor are cards sent out, this is +sometimes the first intimation that is received +of the marriage by many of the +acquaintances, though the news of a wedding +usually travels quickly. The entertainment +may be a dinner party, given at +home, or at some tea-house, similar in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span> +many ways to the one given at the bride's +home by her parents. Sometimes it is a +garden party, and very lately it has become +the fashion for officials and people of high +rank to give a ball in foreign style.</p> + +<p>Besides the entertainment, presents of +red rice, or <i>mochi</i>, are sent as a token of +thanks to all who have remembered the +young couple. These are arranged even +more elaborately than the ones sent after +the birth of an heir.</p> + +<p>The young people are not, as in this +country, expected to set up housekeeping +by themselves, and establish a new home. +Marriages often take place early in life, +even before the husband has any means of +supporting a family; and as a matter of +course, a son with his wife makes his +abode with his parents, and forms simply +a new branch of the household.</p> + +<p>The only act required to make the marriage +legal is the withdrawal of the bride's +name from the list of her father's family as +registered by the government, and its entry +upon the register of her husband's family. +From that time forward she severs all ties +with her father's house, save those of +affection, and is more closely related by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> +law and custom to her husband's relatives +than to her own. Even this legal recognition +of her marriage is a comparatively +new thing in Japan, as is any limitation of +the right of divorce on the part of the +husband, or extension of that right to the +wife.<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a></p> + +<p>At present in Japan the marriage relation +is by no means a permanent one, as it +is virtually dissoluble at the will of either +party, and the condition of public opinion +is such among the lower classes that it is +not an unknown occurrence for a man to +marry and divorce several wives in succession; +and for a woman, who has been +divorced once or twice, to be willing and +able to marry well a second or even a third +time. Among the higher classes, the +dread of the scandal and gossip, that must +attach themselves to troubles between man +and wife, serves as a restraint upon too +free use of the power of divorce; but still,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span> +divorces among the higher classes are so +common now that one meets numerous +respectable and respected persons who +have at some time in their lives gone +through such an experience.</p> + +<p>One provision of the law, which serves to +make most mothers endure any evil of +married life rather than sue for a divorce, +is the fact that the children belong to the +father; and no matter how unfit a person +he may be to have the care of them, the +disposal of them in case of a divorce rests +absolutely with him. A divorced woman +returns childless to her father's house; +and many women, in consequence of this +law or custom, will do their best to keep +the family together, working the more +strenuously in this direction, the more +brutal and worthless the husband proves +himself to be.</p> + +<p>The ancestor worship, as found in Japan, +the tracing of relationship in the male +line only, and the generally accepted belief +that children inherit their qualities +from their father rather than from the +mother, make them his children and not +hers. Thus we often see children of noble +rank on the father's side, but ignoble on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span> +the mother's, inherit the rank of their +father, and not permitted even to recognize +their mother as in any way their +equal. If she is plebeian, the children +are not regarded as tainted by it.</p> + +<p>In the case of divorce, even if the law +allowed the mother to keep her children, +it would be almost an impossibility for her +to do so. She has no means of earning +her bread and theirs, for few occupations +are open to women, and she is forced to +become a dependent on her father, or some +male relative. Whatever they may be +willing to do for her, it is quite likely that +they would begrudge aid to the children of +another family, with whom custom hardly +recognizes any tie. The children are the +children of the man whose name they bear. +If the woman is a favorite daughter, it may +happen that her father will take her and +her children under his roof, and support +them all; but this is a rare exception, and +only possible when the husband first gives +up all claim to the children.</p> + +<p>There comes to my mind now a case +illustrating this point, which I think I may +cite without betraying confidence. It is +that of a most attractive young woman<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> +who was married to a worthless husband, +but lived faithfully with him for several +years, and became the mother of three +children. The husband, who seemed at +first merely good-for-nothing, became +worse as the years went by, drank himself +out of situation after situation procured +for him by powerful relatives, and at +last became so violent that he even beat +his wife and threatened his children, a +proceeding most unusual on the part of +a Japanese husband and father. The poor +wife was at last obliged to flee from her +husband's house to her mother's, taking +her children with her. She sued for a divorce +and obtained it, and is now married +again; her youth, good looks, and high +connections procuring her a very good +catch for her second venture in matrimony; +but her children are lost to her, +and belong wholly to their worthless, +drunken father.</p> + +<p>Of the lack of permanence in the marriage +relation among the lower classes, the +domestic changes of one of my servants in +Tōkyō afford an amusing illustration. The +man, whom I had hired in the double +capacity of <i>jinrikisha</i> man and <i>bettō</i> or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span> +groom, was a strong, faithful, pleasant-faced +fellow, recently come to Tōkyō from +the country. I inquired, when I engaged +him, whether he had a wife, as I wanted +some one who could remain in his room in +the stable in care of the horse when he +was pulling me about in the <i>jinrikisha</i>. He +replied that he had a wife, but she was now +at Utsunomiya, the country town from +which he had come, but he would send for +her at once, and she would be in Tōkyō in +the course of a week or two. Two or three +weeks passed and no wife appeared, so I +inquired of my cook and head servant +what had become of Yasaku's wife. He +replied, with a twinkle in his eye, that she +had found work in Utsunomiya and did not +wish to come. A week more passed, and +still no wife, and further inquiries elicited +from the cook the information that Yasaku +had divorced her for disobedience, and was +on the lookout for a new and more docile +helpmate. His first thought was of the +maidservant of the Japanese family who +lived in the same house with me, a broad-faced, +red-cheeked country girl, of a very +low grade of intelligence. He gave this +up, however, because he thought it would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> +not be polite to put my friends to inconvenience +by taking away their servant. His +next effort was by negotiation through a +Tōkyō friend; but apparently Yasaku's +country manners were not to the taste of +the Tōkyō damsels, for he met with no success, +and was at last driven to write to his +father in Utsunomiya asking him to select +him a wife and bring her down to Tōkyō.</p> + +<p>The selection took a week or two, and at +last my maid told me that Yasaku's wife +was coming by the next morning's train. +A look into the <i>bettō's</i> quarters in the +stable showed great preparations for the +bride. The mats, new-covered with nice +straw matting, were white and clean; the +<i>shoji</i> were mended with new paper; the +walls covered with bright-colored pictures; +and various new domestic conveniences +had nearly bankrupted Yasaku, in spite of +his large salary of ten dollars a month. +He had ordered a fine feast at a neighboring +tea house, had had cards printed with +his own name in English and Japanese, +and had altogether been to such great expense +that he had had to put his winter +clothes in pawn to secure the necessary +money.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span></p><p>The day chosen for the marriage was +rainy, and, though Yasaku spent all his +time in going to trains, no bridal party +appeared; and he came home at night disconsolate, +to smoke his good-night pipe +over his solitary <i>hibachi</i>. He was, no +doubt, angry as well as disconsolate, for he +sat down and penned a severe letter to his +father, in which he said that, if the bride +did not appear on the next day counted +lucky for a wedding (no Japanese would +be married on an unlucky day), they could +send her back to her father's house, for he +would none of her. This letter did its +work, for on the next lucky day, about ten +days later, the bride appeared, and Yasaku +was given two days of holiday on the agreement +that he should not be married again +while he remained in my service. On the +evening of the second day, the bride came +in to pay me her respects, and, crouching +on her hands and knees before me, literally +trembled under the excitement of her +first introduction to a foreigner. She was +a girl of rather unattractive exterior, fat +and heavy, and rather older than Yasaku +had bargained for, I imagine; at any rate, +from the first, he seemed dissatisfied with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span> +his "pig in a poke," and after a couple of +months sent her home to her parents, and +was all ready to start out again in the hope +of better luck next time.</p> + +<p>Here is another instance, from the woman's +side. Upon one occasion, when I +was visiting a Japanese lady of high rank +who kept a retinue of servants, the woman +who came in with the tea bowed and +smiled upon me as if greeting me after a +long absence. As I was in and out of the +house nearly every day, I was a little surprised +at this demonstration, which was +quite different from the formal bow that +is given by the servant to her mistress's +guest upon ordinary occasions. When she +went out my friend said, "You see O Kiku +has come back." As I did not know that +the woman had been away, the news of +her return did not affect me greatly until +I learned the history of her departure. It +seemed that about a month before, she had +left her mistress's house to be married; +and the day before my visit she had quietly +presented herself, and announced that she +had come back, if they would take her in. +My friend had asked her what had happened,—whether +she had found her husband +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span>unkind. No, her husband was very +nice, very kind and good, but his mother +was simply unbearable; she made her work +so hard that she actually had no time to +rest at all. She had known before her +marriage that her proposed mother-in-law +was a hard task-mistress, but her husband +had promised that his mother should live +with his older brother, and they should +have their housekeeping quite independent +and separate. As the mother was then +living with her older son, it seemed unlikely +that she would care to move, and +O Kiku San had married on that supposition. +But it seemed that the wife of the +older brother was both lazy and bad-tempered, +and the new wife of the younger +brother soon proved herself industrious +and good-natured. As the mother's main +thought was to go where she would get +the most comfort and waiting upon, she +moved from the elder son's house to that +of her younger son, and began leading her +new daughter-in-law such a life that she +soon gave up the effort to live with her +husband, sued for a divorce, obtained it, +and was back in her old place, all in a +month's time from the date of her marriage.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span></p><p>But our readers must not suppose, from +the various incidents given, that few +happy marriages take place in Japan, or +that, in every rank of life, divorce is of +every-day occurrence. On the contrary, +there seems cause for wonder, not that +there are so many divorces, but that there +are so many happy marriages, with wives +and husbands devoted and faithful. For a +nobleman in the olden times to divorce his +wife would have caused such a scandal and +talk that it rarely occurred. If the wife +were disliked, he need have little or nothing +to do with her, their rooms, their +meals, and their attendance being entirely +separate, but he rarely took away from her +the name of wife, empty as it might be. +She usually would be from some other +noble house, and great trouble would arise +between the families if he attempted to +divorce her. The <i>samurai</i> also, with the +same loyalty which they displayed for their +lords, were loyal to their wives, and many +a novel has been written, or play acted, +showing the devotion of husband and wife. +The quiet, undemonstrative love, though +very different from the ravings of a lover +in the nineteenth century novel, is perhaps +truer to life.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span></p><p>Among the merchants and lower classes +there has been, and is, a much lower standard +of morality, but the few years which +have passed since the Revolution of 1868 +are not a fair sample of what Japan has +been. Noblemen, <i>samurai</i>, and merchants +have had much to undergo in the great +changes, and, as is the case in all such +transition periods, old customs and restraints, +and old standards of morality, +have been broken down and have not been +replaced. There is no doubt that men +have run to excesses of all sorts, and divorces +have been much more frequent of +late years.<a name="APXanchor_76" id="APXanchor_76" href="#APX_76" class="apxanchor">[*]</a></p> + +<p>Our little Japanese maiden knows, when +she blackens her teeth, dons her wedding +dress, and starts on her bridal journey to +her husband's house, that upon her good +behavior alone depend her chances of a +happy life. She is to be henceforth the +property of a man of whom she probably +knows little, and who has the power, at +any whim, to send her back to her father's +house in disgrace, deprived of her children, +with nothing to live for or hope for, except +that some man will overlook the disgrace +of her divorce, and by marrying her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span> +give her the only opportunity that a Japanese +woman can have of a home other +than that of a servant or dependent. That +these evils will be remedied in time, there +seems little reason to doubt, but just now +the various cooks who are engaged in brewing +the broth of the new civilization are +disagreed in regard to the condiments required +for its proper flavoring. The conservatives +wish to flavor strongly with the +subjection and dependence of women, believing +that only by that means can feminine +virtue be preserved. The younger +men, of foreign education, would drop into +the boiling pot the flavor of culture and +broader outlook; for by this means they +hope to secure happier homes for all, and +better mothers for their children. The +missionaries and native Christians believe +that, when the whole mixture is well impregnated +with practical Christianity, the +desired result will be achieved. All are +agreed on this point, that a strong public +opinion is necessary before improved legislation +can produce much effect; and +so, for the present, legislation remains in +the background, until the time shall come +when it can be used in the right way.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span></p><p>Let us examine the two remedies suggested +by the reformers, and see what +effect has been produced by each so far, +and what may be expected of them in the +future. Taking education first, what are +the effects produced so far by educating +women to a point above the old Japanese +standard? In many happy homes to-day, +we find husbands educated abroad, and +knowing something of the home life of +foreign lands, who have sought out wives +of broad intellectual culture, and who make +them friends and confidants, not simply +housekeepers and head-servants. In such +homes the wife has freedom, not such as +is enjoyed by American women, perhaps, +but equal to that of most European women. +In such homes love and equality rule, and +the power of the mother-in-law grows weak. +To her is paid due respect, but she seldom +has the despotic control which often makes +the beginning of married life hard to the +Japanese wife. These homes are sending +out healthy influences that are daily having +their effect, and raising the position of +women in Japan.</p> + +<p>But for the young girl whose mind has +been broadened by the new education, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span> +who marries, as the majority of Japanese +girls must, not in accordance with her own +wishes, but in obedience to the will of her +parents, a hard life is in store. A woman's +education, under the old régime, was one +that fitted her well for the position that +she was to occupy. The higher courses of +study only serve to make her kick against +the pricks, and render herself miserable +where she might before have been happy. +With mind and character developed by +education, she may be obliged to enter the +home of her husband's family, to be perhaps +one among many members under the +same roof. In the training of her own +children, in the care of her own health +and theirs, her wishes and judgment must +often yield to the prejudices of those above +her, under whose authority she is, and it +may not be until many years have passed +that she will be in a position to influence +in any measure the lives of those nearest +and dearest to her. Then, too, her life +must be passed entirely within the home, +with no opportunities to meet or to mingle +with the great world of which she has read +and studied. Surely her lot is harder than +that of the woman of the olden time, whose<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span> +plain duty always lay in the path of implicit +obedience to her superiors, and who +never for one moment considered obedience +to the dictates of her own reason and +conscience as an obligation higher than +deference to the wishes of husband and +parents. Education, without further amelioration +of their lot as wives and mothers, +can but result in making the women discontented +and unhappy,—in many cases +injuring their health by worry over the +constant petty disappointments and baffled +desires of their lives.</p> + +<p>This to superficial observers would seem +a step backward rather than forward, and +it is to this cause that the present reaction +against female education may be traced. +The first generation or two of educated +women must endure much for the sake of +those who come after, and by many this +vicarious suffering is misunderstood, and +distaste on the part of educated girls for +marriage, as it now exists in Japan, is regarded +as one of the sure signs that education +is a failure. Without some change +in the position of wife and mother, this +feeling will grow into absolute repugnance, +if women continue to be educated after the +Western fashion.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span></p><p>The second remedy that is suggested is +Christianity, a remedy which is even now +at work. Wherever one finds in Japan a +Christian home, there one finds the wife +and mother occupying the position that +she occupies all over Christendom. The +Christian man, in choosing his wife, feels +that it is not an ordinary contract, which +may be dissolved at any time at the will of +the contracting parties, but that it is a +union for life. Consequently, in making +his choice he is more careful, takes more +time, and thinks more of the personal +qualities of the woman he is about to +marry. Thus the chances are better at +the beginning for the establishment of a +happy home, and such homes form centres +of influence throughout the length and +breadth of the land to-day. Christianity +in the future will do much to mould public +sentiment in the right way, and can be +trusted as a force that is sure to grow in +time to be a mighty power in the councils +of the nation.</p> + +<p>One more remedy might be suggested, +as a preliminary to proper legislation, or a +necessary accompaniment of it, and that +is, the opening of new avenues of employment +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span>for women, and especially for women +of the cultivated classes. To-day marriage, +no matter how distasteful, is the only opening +for a woman; for she can do nothing for +her own support, and cannot require her +father to support her after she has reached +a marriageable age. As new ways of self-support +present themselves, and a woman +may look forward to making a single life +tolerable by her own labor, the intelligent +girls of the middle class will no longer +accept marriage as inevitable, but will only +marry when the suitor can offer a good +home, kindness, affection, and security in +the tenure of these blessings. So far, +there is little employment for women, except +as teachers; but even this change in +the condition of things is forming a class, +as yet small, but increasing yearly, of +women who enjoy a life of independence, +though accompanied by much hard work, +more than the present life of a Japanese +married woman. In this class we find +some of the most intelligent and respected +of the women of new Japan; and the +growth of this class is one of the surest +signs that the present state of the laws +and customs concerning marriage and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span> +divorce is so unsatisfactory to the women +that it must eventually be remedied, if the +educated and intelligent of the men care +to take for their wives, and for the mothers +of their children, any but the less +educated and less intelligent of the women +of their own nation.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3><span class="smcap">Footnotes:</span></h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> The Japanese standard of female beauty differs in +many respects from our own, so that it is almost impossible +for a foreigner visiting Japan to comprehend the +judgments of the Japanese in regard to the beauty of +their own women, and even more impossible for the untraveled +Japanese to discover the reasons for a foreigner's +judgments upon either Japanese or foreign beauties. +To the Japanese, the ideal female face must be long and +narrow; the forehead high and narrow in the middle, but +widening and lowering at the sides, conforming to the +outline of the beloved Fuji, the mountain that Japanese +art loves to picture. The hair should be straight and +glossy black, and absolutely smooth. Japanese ladies +who have the misfortune to have any wave or ripple in +their hair, as many of them do, are at as much pains to +straighten it in the dressing as American ladies are to +simulate a natural curl, when Nature has denied them +that charm. The eyes should be long and narrow, slanting +upward at the outer corners; and the eyebrows +should be delicate lines, high above the eye itself. The +distinctly aquiline nose should be low at the bridge, the +curve outward beginning much lower down than upon +the Caucasian face; and the eye-socket should not be outlined +at all, either by the brow, the cheek, or by the +nose. It is this flatness of the face about the eyes that +gives the mildness of expression to all young people of +Mongolian type that is so noticeable a trait always in +their physiognomy. The mouth of an aristocratic Japanese +lady must be small, and the lips full and red; the +neck, a conspicuous feature always when the Japanese +dress is worn, should be long and slender, and gracefully +curved. The complexion should be light,—a clear +ivory-white, with little color in the cheeks. The blooming +country girl style of beauty is not admired, and everything, +even to color in the cheeks, must be sacrificed to +gain the delicacy that is the <i>sine qua non</i> of the Japanese +beauty. The figure should be slender, the waist long, +but not especially small, and the hips narrow, to secure +the best effect with the Japanese dress. The head and +shoulders should be carried slightly forward, and the +body should also be bent forward slightly at the waist, to +secure the most womanly and aristocratic carriage. In +walking, the step should be short and quick, with the +toes turned in, and the foot lifted so slightly that either +clog or sandal will scuff with every step. This is necessary +for modesty, with the narrow skirt of the Japanese +dress. +</p><p> +Contrast with this type the fair, curling hair, the round +blue eyes, the rosy cheeks, the erect, slim-waisted, large-hipped +figures of many foreign beauties,—the rapid, +long, clean-stepping walk, and the air of almost masculine +strength and independence, which belongs especially to +English and American women,—and one can see how the +Japanese find little that they recognize as beauty among +them. Blue eyes, set into deep sockets, and with the +bridge of the nose rising as a barrier between them, impart +a fierce grotesqueness to the face, that the untraveled +Japanese seldom admire. The very babies will scream +with horror at first sight of a blue-eyed, light-haired +foreigner, and it is only after considerable familiarity +with such persons that they can be induced to show anything +but the wildest fright in their presence. Foreigners +who have lived a great deal among the Japanese find +their standards unconsciously changing, and see, to their +own surprise, that their countrywomen look ungainly, +fierce, aggressive, and awkward among the small, mild, +shrinking, and graceful Japanese ladies.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> The present from the groom is usually a piece of +handsome silk, used for the <i>obi</i> or girdle. This takes the +place of the conventional engagement ring of Europe and +America.<a name="APXanchor_60" id="APXanchor_60" href="#APX_60" class="apxanchor">[*]</a> From the family of the bride, silk, such as is +made up into men's dresses, is sent.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> Many women still blacken their teeth after marriage, +after the manner universal in the past; but this custom +is, fortunately, rapidly going out of fashion.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> "As early as 1870 an edict was published by which +official notice and approbation were made necessary preliminaries +to every matrimonial contract. In the following +year the class-limitations upon freedom of marriage +were abolished, and two years later the right of suing for +a divorce was conceded to the wife."—Rein's <cite>Japan</cite>, p. +425.</p></div> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER IV.<br /><br /> +<span class="sm">WIFE AND MOTHER.<a name="APXanchor_84" id="APXanchor_84" href="#APX_84" class="apxanchor">[*]</a></span></h2> + +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> young wife, when she enters her +husband's home, is not, as in our own country, +entering upon a new life as mistress of +a house, with absolute control over all of +her little domain. Should her husband's +parents be living, she becomes almost as +their servant, and even her husband is unable +to defend her from the exactions of +her mother-in-law, should this new relative +be inclined to make full use of the power +given her by custom. Happy is the girl +whose husband has no parents. Her comfort +in life is materially increased by her +husband's loss, for, instead of having to +serve two masters, she will then have to +serve only one, and that one more kind +and thoughtful of her strength and comfort +than the mother-in-law.</p> + +<p>In Japan the idea of a wife's duty to her +husband includes no thought of companionship +on terms of equality. The wife is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span> +simply the housekeeper, the head of the +establishment, to be honored by the servants +because she is the one who is nearest +to the master, but not for one moment to +be regarded as the master's equal. She +governs and directs the household, if it be +a large one, and her position is one of much +care and responsibility; but she is not the +intimate friend of her husband, is in no +sense his confidante or adviser, except in +trivial affairs of the household. She appears +rarely with him in public, is expected +always to wait upon him and save +him steps, and must bear all things from +him with smiling face and agreeable manners, +even to the receiving with open arms +into the household some other woman, +whom she knows to bear the relation of +concubine to her own husband.</p> + +<p>In return for this, she has, if she be of +the higher classes, much respect and honor +from those beneath her. She has, in +many cases the real though often inconsiderate +affection of her husband. If she +be the mother of children, she is doubly +honored, and if she be endowed with a good +temper, good manners, and tact, she can +render her position not only agreeable to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> +herself, but one of great usefulness to +those about her. It lies with her alone to +make the home a pleasant one, or to make +it unpleasant. Nothing is expected of the +husband in this direction; he may do as he +likes with his own, and no one will blame +him; but if his home is not happy, even +through his own folly or bad temper, the +blame will fall upon his wife, who should +by management do whatever is necessary +to supply the deficiencies caused by her +husband's shortcomings. In all things +the husband goes first, the wife second. +If the husband drops his fan or his handkerchief +the wife picks it up. The husband +is served first, the wife afterwards, and so +on through the countless minutiæ of daily +life. It is not the idea of the strong man +considering the weak woman, saving her +exertion, guarding and deferring to her; +but it is the less important waiting upon +the more important, the servant deferring +to her master.</p> + +<p>But though the present position of a +Japanese wife is that of a dependent who +owes all she has to her protector, and for +whom she is bound to do all she can in +return, the dependence is in many cases a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span> +happy one. The wife's position, especially +if she be the mother of children, is often +pleasant, and her chief joy and pride lies +in the proper conduct of her house and the +training of her children. The service of +her parents-in-law, however, must remain +her first duty during their lifetime. She +must make it her care to see that they are +waited upon and served with what they +like at meals, that their clothes are carefully +and nicely made, and that countless +little attentions are heaped upon them. +As long as her mother-in-law lives, the +latter is the real ruler of the house; and +though in many cases the elder lady prefers +freedom from responsibility to the personal +superintendence of the details of housekeeping, +she will not hesitate to require of +her daughter-in-law that the house be kept +to her satisfaction. If the maiden's lot is +to be the first daughter-in-law in a large +family, she becomes simply the one of the +family from whom the most drudgery is +expected, who obtains the fewest favors, +and who is expected to have always the +pleasantest of tempers under circumstances +not altogether conducive to repose of spirit. +The wife of the oldest son has, however,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> +the advantage that, when her mother-in-law +dies or retires, she becomes the mistress +of the house and the head lady of the +family, a position for which her apprenticeship +to the old lady has probably exceptionally +well fitted her.</p> + +<p>Next to her parents-in-law, her duty is +to her husband. She must herself render +to him the little services that a European +expects of his valet. She must not only +take care of his clothing, but must bring it +to him and help him put it on, and must +put away with care whatever he has taken +off; and she often takes pride in doing +with her own hands many acts of service +which might be left to servants, and which +are not actually demanded of her, unless +she has no one under her to do them. In +the poorer families all the washing, sewing, +and mending that is required is always +done by the wife; and even the Empress +herself is not exempt from these duties of +personal service, but must wait upon her +husband in various ways.</p> + +<p>When the earliest beams of the sun +shine in at the cracks of the dark wooden +shutters which surround the house at +night, the young wife in the family softly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span> +arises, puts out the feeble light of the +<i>andon</i>,<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> which has burned all night, and, +quietly opening one of the sliding doors, +admits enough light to make her own +toilet. She dresses hastily, only putting a +few touches here and there to her elaborate +coiffure, which she has not taken down for +her night's rest.<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> Next she goes to arouse +the servants, if they are not already up, +and with them prepares the modest breakfast. +When the little lacquer tables, with +rice bowls, plates, and chopsticks are arranged +in place, she goes softly to see +whether her parents and husband are +awake, and if they have hot water, charcoal +fire, and whatever else they may need +for their toilet. Then with her own hands,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span> +or with the help of the servants, she slides +back the wooden shutters, opening the +whole house to the fresh morning air and +sunlight. It is she, also, who directs the +washing and wiping of the polished floors, +and the folding and putting away of the +bedding, so that all is in readiness before +the morning meal.</p> + +<p>When breakfast is over, the husband +starts for his place of business, and the little +wife is in waiting to send him off with +her sweetest smile and her lowest bow, +after having seen that his foot-gear—whether +sandal, clog, or shoe—is at the +door ready for him to put on, his umbrella, +book, or bundle at hand, and his <i>kuruma</i> +waiting for him.</p> + +<p>Certainly a Japanese man is lucky in +having all the little things in his life attended +to by his thoughtful wife,—a good, +considerate, careful body-servant, always +on hand to bear for him the trifling worries +and cares. There is no wonder that +there are no bachelors in Japan. To some +degree, I am sure, the men appreciate +these attentions; for they often become +much in love with their sweet, helpful +wives, though they do not share with them<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span> +the greater things of life, the ambitions +and the hopes of men.</p> + +<p>The husband started on his daily rounds, +the wife settles down to the work of the +house. Her sphere is within her home, +and though, unlike other Asiatic women, +she goes without restraint alone through +the streets, she does not concern herself +with the great world, nor is she occupied +with such a round of social duties as fill +the lives of society women in this country. +Yet she is not barred out from all intercourse +with the outer world, for there are +sometimes great dinner parties, given perhaps +at home, when she must appear as +hostess, side by side with her husband, and +share with him the duty of entertaining +the guests. There are, besides, smaller +gatherings of friends of her husband, when +she must see that the proper refreshments +are served, if they be only the omnipresent +tea and cake. She may, perhaps, join +in the number and listen to the conversation; +but if there are no ladies, she will +probably not appear, except to attend to +the wants of her guests. There are also +lady visitors—friends and relatives—who +come to make calls, oftentimes from a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> +distance, and nearly always unexpectedly, +whose entertainment devolves on the wife. +Owing to the great distances in many of +the cities, and the difficulties that used to +attend going from place to place, it has +become a custom not to make frequent +visits, but long ones at long intervals. A +guest often stays several hours, remaining +to lunch or dinner, as the case may be, and, +should the distance be great, may spend +the night. So rigid are the requirements +of Japanese hospitality that no guest is +ever allowed to leave a house without having +been pressed to partake of food, if it +be only tea and cake. Even tradesmen or +messengers who come to the house must +be offered tea, and if carpenters, gardeners, +or workmen of any kind are employed +about the house, tea must be served in the +middle of the afternoon with a light lunch, +and tea sent out to them often during their +day's work. If a guest arrives in <i>jinrikisha</i>, +not only the guest, but the <i>jinrikisha</i> men +must be supplied with refreshments. All +these things involve much thought and +care on the part of the lady of the house.</p> + +<p>In the homes of rich and influential men +of wide acquaintance, there is a great deal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span> +going on to make a pleasant variety for +the ladies of the household, even although +the variety involves extra work and responsibility. +The mistress of such a household +sees and hears a great deal of life; +and her position requires no little wisdom +and tact, even where the housewife has +the assistance of good servants, capable, as +many are, of sharing not only the work, +but the responsibility as well. Clever wives +in such homes see and learn much, in +an indirect way, of the outside world in +which the men live; and may become, if +they possess the natural capabilities for +the work, wise advisers and sympathizers +with their husbands in many things far +beyond their ordinary field of action. An +intelligent woman, with a strong will, has +often been, unseen and unknown, a mighty +influence in Japan. That her power for +good or bad, outside of her influence as +wife and mother, is a recognized fact, is +seen in the circumstance that in novels +and plays women are frequently brought in +as factors in political plots and organized +rebellions, as well as in acts of private revenge.</p> + +<p>Still the life of the average woman is a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> +quiet one, with little to interrupt the monotony +of her days with their never-ending +round of duties; and to the most secluded +homes only an occasional guest comes to +enliven the dull hours. The principal occupation +of the wife, outside of her housekeeping +and the little duties of personal +service to husband and parents, is needle-work. +Every Japanese woman (excepting +those of the highest rank) knows how to +sew, and makes not only her own garments +and those of her children, but her +husband's as well. Sewing is one of the +essentials in the education of a Japanese +girl, and from childhood the cutting and +putting together of crêpe, silk, and cotton +is a familiar occupation to her. Though +Japanese garments seem very simple, custom +requires that each stitch and seam be +placed in just such a way; and this way is +something of a task to learn. To the uninitiated +foreigner, the general effect of the +loosely worn <i>kimono</i> is the same, whether +the garment be well or ill made; but the +skillful seamstress can easily discover that +this seam is not turned just as it should +be, or that those stitches are too long or +too short, or carelessly or unevenly set.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span></p><p>Fancy work<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> or embroidery is not done +in the house, the gorgeous embroidered +Japanese robes being the product of professional +workmen. Instead of the endless +fancy work with silks, crewels, or worsteds, +over which so many American ladies spend +their leisure hours, many of the Japanese +ladies, even of the highest rank, devote +much time to the cultivation of the silkworm. +In country homes, and in the great +cities as well, wherever spacious grounds +afford room for the growth of mulberry +trees, silkworms are raised and watched +with care; an employment giving much +pleasure to those engaged in it.</p> + +<p>It is difficult for any one who has not +experimented in this direction to realize +how tender these little spinners are. If a +strong breeze blow upon them, they are +likely to suffer for it, and the least change +in the atmosphere must be guarded against. +For forty days they must be carefully +watched, and the great, shallow, bamboo +basket trays containing them changed almost +daily. New leaves for their food<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span> +must be given frequently, and as the least +dampness might be fatal, each leaf, in case +of rainy weather, is carefully wiped. Then, +too, the different ages of the worms must +be considered in preparing their food; as, +for the young worms, the leaves should be +cut up, while for the older ones it is better +to serve them whole. When, finally, the +buzzing noise of the crunching leaves has +ceased, and the last worm has put himself +to sleep in his precious white cocoon, +the work of the ladies is ended; for the +cocoons are sent to women especially +skilled in the work, by them to be spun +off, and the thread afterwards woven into +the desired fabric. When at last the silk, +woven and dyed, is returned to the ladies +by whose care the worms were nourished +until their work was done, it is shown +with great pride as the product of the +year's labor, and if given as a present will +be highly prized by the recipient.</p> + +<p>Among the daily tasks of the housewife, +one, and by no means the least of her +duties, is to receive, duly acknowledge, and +return in suitable manner, the presents +received in the family. Presents are not +confined to special seasons, although upon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> +certain occasions etiquette is rigid in its +requirements in this matter, but they may +be given and received at all times, for the +Japanese are preëminently a present-giving +nation. For every present received, +sooner or later, a proper return must be +sent, appropriate to the season and to the +rank of the receiver, and neatly arranged +in the manner that etiquette prescribes. +Presents are not necessarily elaborate; +callers bring fruit of the season, cake, or +any delicacy, and a visit to a sick person +must be accompanied by something appropriate. +Children visiting in the family are +always given toys, and for this purpose a +stock is kept on hand. The present-giving +culminates at the close of the year, when +all friends and acquaintances exchange +gifts of more or less value, according to +their feelings and means. Should there be +any one who has been especially kind, and +to whom return should be made, this is the +time to do so.</p> + +<p>Tradesmen send presents to their patrons, +scholars to teachers, patients to +their physicians, and, in short, it is the +time when all obligations and debts are +paid off, in one way or another. On the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> +seventh day of the seventh month, there is +another general interchange of presents, +although not so universal as at the New +Year. It can easily be imagined that all +this present-giving entails much care, especially +in families of influence; and it +must be attended to personally by the wife, +who, in the secret recesses of her storeroom, +skillfully manages to rearrange the +gifts received, so that those not needed in +the house may be sent, not back to their +givers, but to some place where a present +is due. The passing-on of the presents is +an economy not of course acknowledged, +but frequently practiced even in the best +families, as it saves much of the otherwise +ruinous expense of this custom.</p> + +<p>As time passes by, occasional visits are +paid by the young wife to her own parents +or to other relatives. At stated times, too, +she, and others of the family, will visit +the tombs of her husband's ancestors, or of +her own parents, if they are no longer living, +to make offerings and prayers at the +graves, to place fresh branches of the +<i>sakaki</i><a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> before the tombs, and to see that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> +the priests in charge of the cemetery have +attended to all the little things which the +Japanese believe to be required by the +spirits of the dead. Even these visits are +often looked forward to as enlivening the +monotony of the humdrum home life. +Sometimes all the members of the family +go together on a pleasure excursion, spending +the day out of doors, in beautiful gardens, +when some one of the much-loved +flowers of the nation is in its glory; and +the little wife may join in this pleasure +with the rest, but more often she is the +one who remains at home to keep the house +in the absence of others. The theatre, too, +a source of great amusement to Japanese +ladies, is often a pleasure reserved for a +time later in life.</p> + +<p>The Japanese mother takes great delight +and comfort in her children, and +her constant thought and care is the +right direction of their habits and manners. +She seems to govern them entirely +by gentle admonition, and the severest +chiding that is given them is always in +a pleasant voice, and accompanied by a +smiling face. No matter how many servants +there may be, the mother's influence +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span>is always direct and personal. No +thick walls and long passageways separate +the nursery from the grown people's apartments, +but the thin paper partitions make +it possible for the mother to know always +what her children are doing, and +whether they are good and gentle with +their nurses, or irritable and passionate. +The children never leave the house, nor +return to it, without going to their mother's +room, and there making the little +bows and repeating the customary phrases +used upon such occasions. In the same +way, when the mother goes out, all the +servants and the children escort her to +the door; and when her attendant shouts +"<i>O kaeri</i>," which is the signal of her return, +children and servants hasten to the +gate to greet her, and do what they can +to help her from her conveyance and make +her home-coming pleasant and restful.</p> + +<p>The father has little to do with the +training of his children, which is left almost +entirely to the mother, and, except +for the interference of the mother-in-law, +she has her own way in their training, +until they are long past childhood. The +children are taught to look to the father<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> +as the head, and to respect and obey him +as the one to whom all must defer; but +the mother comes next, almost as high in +their estimation, and, if not so much feared +and respected, certainly enjoys a larger +share of their love.</p> + +<p>The Japanese mother's life is one of +perfect devotion to her children; she is +their willing slave. Her days are spent +in caring for them, her evenings in watching +over them; and she spares neither +time nor trouble in doing anything for +their comfort and pleasure. In sickness,<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> +in health, day and night, the little ones +are her one thought; and from the home +of the noble to the humble cot of the +peasant, this tender mother-love may be +seen in all its different phases. The Japanese +woman has so few on whom to lavish +her affection, so little to live for beside her +children, and no hopes in the future except +through them, that it is no wonder that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span> +she devotes her life to their care and service, +deeming the drudgery that custom +requires of her for them the easiest of +all her duties. Even with plenty of servants, +the mother performs for her children +nearly all the duties often delegated +to nurses in this country. Mother and +babe are rarely separated, night or day, +during the first few years of the baby's +life, and the mother denies herself any +entertainment or journey from home when +the baby cannot accompany her. To give +the husband any share in the baby-work +would be an unheard-of thing, and a disgrace +to the wife; for in public and in +private the baby is the mother's sole +charge, and the husband is never asked +to sit up all night with a sick baby, or +to mind it in any way at all. Nothing +in all one's study of Japanese life seems +more beautiful and admirable than the +influence of the mother over her children,—an +influence that is gentle and all-pervading, +bringing out all that is sweetest +and noblest in the feminine character, and +affording the one almost unlimited opportunity +of a Japanese woman's life. The +lot of a childless wife in Japan is a sad<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span> +one. Not only is she denied the hopes +and the pleasures of a mother in her children, +but she is an object of pity to her +friends, and well does she know that Confucius +has laid down the law that a man is +justified in divorcing a childless wife. All +feel that through her, innocent though she +is, the line has ceased; that her duty is +unfulfilled; and that, though the name be +given to adopted sons, there is no heir of +the blood. A man rarely sends away his +wife solely with this excuse, but children +are the strongest of the ties which bind +together husband and wife, and the childless +wife is far less sure of pleasing her +husband. In many cases she tries to make +good her deficiencies by her care of adopted +children; in them she often finds the love +which fills the void in her heart and home, +and she receives from them in after-life the +respect and care which is the crown of old +age.</p> + +<p>We have hitherto spoken of married life +when the wife is received into her husband's +home. Another interesting side of +Japanese marriage is when a man enters +the wife's family, taking her name and +becoming entirely one of her family, as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span> +usually the wife becomes of the husband's. +When there are daughters but no sons in +a family to inherit the name, one of three +things may happen: a son may be adopted +early in life and grow up as heir; or he +may be adopted with the idea of marrying +one of the daughters; or, again, no one +may have been formally adopted, but on the +eldest daughter's coming to a marriageable +age, her family and friends seek for her a +<i>yōshi</i>, that is to say, some man (usually a +younger son) who is willing and able to +give up his family name, and, by marrying +the daughter, become a member of +her family and heir to the name. He +cuts off all ties from his own family, and +becomes a member of hers, and the young +couple are expected to live with her parents. +In this case the tables are turned, +and it is he who has to dread the mother-in-law; +it is his turn to have to please his +new relatives and to do all he can to be +agreeable. He, too, may be sent away and +divorced by the all-powerful parents, if he +does not please; and such divorces are not +uncommon. Of course, in such marriages, +the woman has the greater power, and the +man has to remember what he owes her;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span> +and though the woman yields to him obediently +in all respects, it is an obedience not +demanded by the husband, as under other +circumstances. In such marriages the +children belong to the family whose name +they bear, so that in case of divorce they +remain in the wife's family, unless some +special arrangement is made about them.</p> + +<p>It may be wondered why young men +ever care to enter a family as <i>yōshi</i>. There +is only one answer,—it is the attraction +of wealth and rank, very rarely that of the +daughter herself. In the houses of rich +<i>daimiōs</i> without sons, <i>yōshi</i> are very common, +and there are many younger sons of +the nobility, themselves of high birth, but +without prospects, who are glad enough to +become great lords. In feudal times, the +number of <i>samurai</i> families was limited. +Several sons of one family could not establish +different <i>samurai</i> families, but all but +the eldest son, if they formed separate +houses, must enroll themselves among the +ranks of the common people. Hence the +younger sons were often adopted into other +<i>samurai</i> families as <i>yōshi</i>, where it was desired +to secure a succession to a name that +must otherwise die out. Since the Restoration, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span>and the breaking down of the old +class distinctions, young men care more +for independence than for their rank as +<i>samurai</i>; and it is now quite difficult to +find <i>yōshi</i> to enter <i>samurai</i> families, unless +it be because of the attractiveness and +beauty of the young lady herself. Many a +young girl who could easily make a good +marriage with some suitable husband, could +she enter his family, is now obliged to take +some inferior man as <i>yōshi</i>, because few +men in these days are willing to change +their names, give up their independence, +and take upon themselves the support of +aged parents-in-law; for this also is expected +of the <i>yōshi</i>, unless the family that +he enters is a wealthy one.</p> + +<p>From this custom of <i>yōshi</i>, and its effect +upon the wife's position, we see that, in +certain cases, Japanese women are treated +as equal with men. It is not because of +their sex that they are looked down upon +and held in subjection, but it is because of +their almost universal dependence of position. +The men have the right of inheritance, +the education, habits of self-reliance, +and are the bread-winners. Wherever the +tables are turned, and the men are dependents +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span>of the women, and even where the +women are independent of the men,—there +we find the relations of men to +women vastly changed. The women of +Japan must know how to do some definite +work in the world beyond the work of the +home, so that their position will not be one +of entire dependence upon father, husband, +or son. If fathers divided their estates +between sons and daughters alike, and +women were given, before the law, right +to hold property in their own names, much +would be accomplished towards securing +them in their positions as wives and mothers; +and divorce, the great evil of Japanese +home life to-day, would become simply +a last resort to preserve the purity of the +home, as it is in most civilized countries +now.</p> + +<p>The difference between the women of +the lower and those of the higher classes, +in the matter of equality with their husbands, +is quite noticeable. The wife of the +peasant or merchant is much nearer to +her husband's level than is the wife of the +Emperor. Apparently, each step in the +social scale is a little higher for the man +than it is for the woman, and lifts him a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> +little farther above his wife. The peasant +and his wife work side by side in the field, +put their shoulders to the same wheel, eat +together in the same room, at the same +time, and whichever of them happens to +be the stronger in character governs the +house, without regard to sex. There is no +great gulf fixed between them, and there +is frequently a consideration for the wife +shown by husbands of the lower class, that +is not unlike what we see in our own country. +I remember the case of a <i>jinrikisha</i> +man employed by a friend of mine in Tōkyō, +who was much laughed at by his +friends because he actually used to spend +some of his leisure moments in drawing +the water required for his household from +a well some distance away, and carrying +the heavy buckets to the house, in order +to save the strength of his little, delicate +wife. That cases of such devotion are rare +is no doubt true, but that they occur +shows that there is here and there a recognition +of the claims that feminine weakness +has upon masculine strength.</p> + +<p>A frequent sight in the morning, in +Tōkyō, is a cart heavily laden with wood, +charcoal, or some other country produce,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> +creaking slowly along the streets, propelled +by a farmer and his family. Sometimes +one will see an old man, his son, and +his son's wife with a baby on her back, all +pushing or pulling with might and main; +the woman with tucked-up skirts and tight-fitting +blue trousers, a blue towel enveloping +her head,—only to be distinguished +from the men by her smaller size and the +baby tied to her back. But when evening +comes, and the load of produce has +been disposed of, the woman and baby are +seen seated upon the cart, while the two +men pull it back to their home in some +neighboring village. Here, again, is the +recognition of the law that governs the +position of woman in this country,—the +theory, not of inferior position, but of +inferior strength; and the sight of the +women riding back in the empty carts at +night, drawn by their husbands, is the +thing that strikes a student of Japanese +domestic life as nearest to the customs of +our own civilization in regard to the relations +of husbands and wives.</p> + +<p>Throughout the country districts, where +the women have a large share in the labor +that is directly productive of wealth, where<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span> +they not only work in the rice fields, pick +the tea crops, gather the harvests, and +help draw them to market, but where they +have their own productive industries, such +as caring for the silkworms, and spinning, +and weaving both silk and cotton, +we find the conventional distance between +the sexes much diminished by the important +character of feminine labor; but in +the cities, and among the classes who are +largely either indirect producers or non-producers, +the only labor of the women is +that personal service which we account as +menial. It is for this reason, perhaps, that +the gap widens as we go upward in society, +and between the same social levels +as we go cityward.</p> + +<p>The wife of the countryman, though she +may work harder and grow old earlier, is +more free and independent than her city +sister; and the wife of the peasant, pushing +her produce to market, is in some ways +happier and more considered than the wife +of the noble, who must spend her life +among her ladies-in-waiting, in the seclusion +of her great house with its beautiful +garden, the plaything of her husband in +his leisure hours, but never his equal, or +the sharer of his cares or of his thoughts.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span></p><p>One of the causes which must be mentioned +as contributing to the lowering of +the wife's position, among the higher and +more wealthy classes, lies in the system of +concubinage which custom allows, and the +law until quite recently has not discouraged. +From the Emperor, who was, by the +old Chinese code of morals, allowed twelve +supplementary wives, to the <i>samurai</i>, who +are permitted two, the men of the higher +classes are allowed to introduce into their +families these <i>mékaké</i>, who, while beneath +the wife in position, are frequently more +beloved by the husband than the wife herself. +It must be said, however, to the +credit of many husbands, that in spite of +this privilege, which custom allows, there +are many men of the old school who are +faithful to one wife, and never introduce +this discordant element into the household. +Even should he keep <i>mékaké</i>, it is often +unknown to the wife, and she is placed in +a separate establishment of her own. And +in spite of the code of morals requiring +submission in any case on the part of the +woman, there are many wives of the <i>samurai</i> +and lower classes who have enough +spirit and wit to prevent their husbands<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> +from ever introducing a rival under the +same roof. In this way the practice is +made better than the theory.</p> + +<p>Not so with the more helpless wife of +the nobleman, for wealth and leisure make +temptation greater for the husband. She +submits unquestioningly to the custom requiring +that the wife treat these women +with all civility. Their children she may +even have to adopt as her own. The lot of +the <i>mékaké</i> herself is rendered the less endurable, +from the American point of view, +by the fact that, should the father of her +child decide to make it his heir, the mother +is thenceforth no more to it than any other +of the servants of the household. For instance, +suppose a hitherto childless noble is +presented with a son by one of his concubines, +and he decides by legal adoption to +make that son his heir: the child at its birth, +or as soon afterwards as is practicable, is +taken from its mother and placed in other +hands, and the mother never sees her own +child until, on the thirtieth day after its +birth, she goes with the other servants of +the household to pay her respects to her +young master. If it were not for the habit +of abject obedience to parents which Japanese +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span>custom has exalted into the one feminine +virtue, few women could be found of +respectable families who would take a position +so devoid of either honor or satisfaction +of any kind as that of <i>mékaké</i>. That +these positions are not sought after must be +said, to the honor of Japanese womanhood. +A nobleman may obtain <i>samurai</i> women +for his "<i>O mékaké</i>" (literally, honorable +concubines), but they are never respected +by their own class for taking such positions. +In the same way the <i>mékaké</i> of <i>samurai</i> +are usually from the <i>héimin</i>. No woman +who has any chance of a better lot will ever +take the unenviable position of <i>mékaké</i>.</p> + +<p>A law which has recently been promulgated +strikes at the root of this evil, and, if +enforced, will in course of time go far toward +extirpating it. Henceforth in Japan, +no child of a concubine, or of adoption from +any source, can inherit a noble title. The +heir to the throne must hereafter be the +son, not only of the Emperor, but of the +Empress, or the succession passes to some +collateral branch of the family. This law +does not apply to Prince Haru, the present +heir to the throne, as, although he is not +the son of the Empress, he was legally<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span> +adopted before the promulgation of the +law; but should he die, it will apply to all +future heirs.</p> + +<p>That public opinion is moving in the +right direction is shown by the fact that +the young men of the higher classes do +not care to marry the daughters of <i>mékaké</i>, +be they ever so legally adopted by their +own fathers. When the girls born of such +unions become a drug in the matrimonial +market, and the boys are unable to keep +up the succession, the <i>mékaké</i> will go out +of fashion, and the real wife will once more +assume her proper importance.<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a></p> + +<p>Upon the 11th day of February, 1889, +the day on which the Emperor, by his own +act in giving a constitution to the people, +limited his own power for the sake of putting +his nation upon a level with the most +civilized nations of the earth, he at the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span> +same time, and for the first time, publicly +placed his wife upon his own level. In an +imperial progress made through the streets +of Tōkyō, the Emperor and Empress, for +the first time in the history of Japan, rode +together in the imperial coach.<a name="APXanchor_115" id="APXanchor_115" href="#APX_115" class="apxanchor">[*]</a> Until +then, the Emperor, attended by his chief +gentlemen-in-waiting and his guards, had +always headed the procession, while the +Empress must follow at a distance with her +own attendants. That this act on the part +of the Emperor signifies the beginning of a +new and better era for the women of Japan, +we cannot but hope; for until the position +of the wife and mother in Japan is improved +and made secure, little permanence +can be expected in the progress of the +nation toward what is best and highest +in the Western civilization. Better laws, +broader education for the women, a change +in public opinion on the subject, caused by +the study, by the men educated abroad, of +the homes of Europe and America,—these +are the forces which alone can bring the +women of Japan up to that place in the +home which their intellectual and moral +qualities fit them to fill. That Japan is +infinitely ahead of other Oriental countries<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span> +in her practices in this matter is greatly +to her credit; but that she is far behind +the civilized nations of Europe and America, +not only in practice but in theory, is a +fact that is incontestable, and a fact that, +unless changed, must sooner or later be a +stumbling-block in the path of her progress +toward the highest civilization of which she +is capable.<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> The European practice cannot +be grafted upon the Asiatic theory, but the +change in the home must be a radical one, +to secure permanent good results. As long +as the wife has no rights which the husband +is bound to respect, no great advance<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span> +can be made, for human nature is too +mean and selfish to give in all cases to +those who are entirely unprotected by law, +and entirely unable to protect themselves, +those things which the moral nature declares +to be their due. In the old slave +times in the South, many of the negroes +were better fed, better cared for, and happier +than they are to-day; but they were +nevertheless at the mercy of men who +too often thought only of themselves, and +not of the human bodies and souls over +which they had unlimited power. It was a +condition of things that could not be prevented +by educating the masters so as to +induce them to be kind to their slaves; it +was a condition that was wrong in theory, +and so could not be righted in practice. In +the same way the position of the Japanese +wife is wrong in theory, and can never be +righted until legislation has given to her +rights which it still denies. Education will +but aggravate the trouble to a point beyond +endurance. The giving to the wife power +to obtain a divorce will not help much, but +simply tend to weaken still further the +marriage tie. Nothing can help surely +and permanently but the growth of a sound<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> +public opinion, in regard to the position of +the wife, that will, sooner or later, have +its effect upon the laws of the country. +Legislation once effected, all the rest will +come, and the wife, secure in her home and +her children, will be at the point where +her new education can be of use to her +in the administration of her domestic affairs +and the training of her children; +and where she will finally become the +friend and companion of her husband, instead +of his mere waitress, seamstress, and +housekeeper,—the plaything of his leisure +moments, too often the victim of his caprices.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3><span class="smcap">Footnotes:</span></h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> The <i>andon</i> is the standing lamp, inclosed in a paper +case, used as a night lamp in all Japanese houses. +Until the introduction of kerosene lamps, the <i>andon</i> was +the only light used in Japanese houses. The light is produced +by a pith wick floating in a saucer of vegetable +oil.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> The pillow used by ladies is merely a wooden rest for +the head, that supports the neck, leaving the elaborate +head-dress undisturbed. The hair is dressed by a professional +hair-dresser, who comes to the house once in +two or three days. In some parts of Japan, as in Kiōto, +where the hair is even more elaborately dressed than in +Tōkyō, it is much less frequently arranged. The process +takes two hours at least.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> The one exception to this statement, so far as I know, +is the species of silk mosaic made by the ladies in the +<i>daimiōs'</i> houses. (<a href="#Page_169">See chap. vii.</a>)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> <i>Sakaki</i>, the <i>Cleyera Japonica</i>, a sacred plant emblematic +of purity, and much used at funerals and in +the decoration of graves.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> Since the introduction of the foreign system of medicine +and nursing, the Japanese realize so acutely the lack +of conveniences and appliances for nursing the sick in +their own homes, that cases of severe or even serious illness +are usually sent to hospitals, where the invalids can +have the comforts that even the wealthy Japanese homes +cannot furnish.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> It is worth while to mention in this connection the +noteworthy efforts made by the Woman's Christian Temperance +Union of Japan in calling the attention of the +public to this custom, and in arousing public sentiment +in favor of legislation against not only this system, but +against the licensed houses of prostitution. Though +there has not yet been any practical result, much discussion +has ensued in the newspapers and magazines, lectures +have been given, and much strong feeling aroused, +which may, before long, produce radical change.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> Many of the thinking men of Japan, though fully +recognizing the injustice of the present position of woman +in society, and the necessity of reform in the marriage +and divorce laws, refuse to see the importance of any +movement to change them. Their excuse is, that such +power in the hands of the husband over his wife might be +abused, but that in fact it is not. Wrongs and injustice +are rare, they argue, and kind treatment, affection, and +even respect for the wife is the general rule; and that +the keeping of the power in the hands of the husband is +better than giving too much freedom to women who are +without education. These men wish to wait until every +woman is educated, before acting in a reform movement, +while many conservatives oppose the new system of education +for girls as making them unwomanly. Between +these two parties, the few who really wish for a change +are utterly unable to act.</p></div> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER V.<br /><br /> +<span class="sm">OLD AGE.</span></h2> + +<p><span class="smcap">No</span> Japanese woman is ashamed to show +that she is getting along in years, but all +take pains that every detail of the dress +and coiffure shall show the full age of the +wearer. The baby girl is dressed in the +brightest of colors and the largest of patterns, +and looks like a gay butterfly or +tropical bird. As she grows older, colors +become quieter, figures smaller, stripes +narrower, until in old age she becomes a +little gray moth or plain-colored sparrow. +By the sophisticated eye, a woman's age +can be told with considerable accuracy by +the various little things about her costume,<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> +and no woman cares to appear<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span> +younger than her real age, or hesitates to +tell with entire frankness the number of +years that have passed over her head.</p> + +<p>The reason for this lies, at least in part, +in the fact that every woman looks forward +to the period of old age as the time when +she will attain freedom from her life-long +service to those about her,—will be in the +position of adviser of her sons, and director +of her daughters-in-law; will be a person +of much consideration in the family, privileged +to amuse herself in various ways, to +speak her own mind on most subjects, and +to be waited upon and cared for by children +and grandchildren, in return for her +long years of faithful service in the household. +Should her sight and other bodily +powers remain good, she will doubtless +perform many light tasks for the general +good, will seldom sit idle by herself, but +will help about the sewing and mending, +the marketing, shopping, housework, and +care of the babies, tell stories to her grandchildren +after their lessons are learned, +give the benefit of her years of experience +to the young people who are still bearing +the heat and burden of the day, and, by her +prayers and visits to the temple at stated<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span> +seasons, will secure the favor of the gods +for the whole family, as well as make her +own preparations for entry into the great +unknown toward which she is rapidly drifting. +Is there wonder that the young +wife, steering her course with difficulty +among the many shoals and whirlpools of +early married life, looks forward with anticipation +to the period of comparative rest +and security that comes at the end of the +voyage? As she bears all things, endures +all things, suffers long, and is kind, as she +serves her mother-in-law, manages her +husband's household, cares for her babies, +the thought that cheers and encourages +her in her busy and not too happy life is +the thought of the sunny calm of old age, +when she can lay her burdens and cares +on younger shoulders, and bask in the +warmth and sunshine which this Indian +Summer of her life will bring to her.</p> + +<p>In the code of morals of the Japanese, +obedience to father, husband, or son is exalted +into the chief womanly virtue, but +the obedience and respect of children, both +male and female, to their parents, also occupies +a prominent position in their ethical +system. Hence, in this latter stage of a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> +woman's career, the obedience expected of +her is often only nominal, and in any case +is not so absolute and unquestioning as +that of the early period; and the consideration +and respect that a son is bound to +show to his mother necessitates a care of +her comfort, and a consultation of her +wishes, that renders her position one of +much greater freedom than can be obtained +by any woman earlier in life. She +has, besides, reached an age when she is +not expected to remain at home, and she +may go out into the streets, to the theatre, +or other shows, without the least restraint +or fear of losing her dignity.</p> + +<p>A Japanese woman loses her beauty early. +At thirty-five her fresh color is usually entirely +gone, her eyes have begun to sink a +little in their sockets, her youthful roundness +and symmetry of figure have given +place to an absolute leanness, her abundant +black hair has grown thin, and much care +and anxiety have given her face a pathetic +expression of quiet endurance. One seldom +sees a face that indicates a soured +temper or a cross disposition, but the lines +that show themselves as the years go by +are lines that indicate suffering and disappointment, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span>patiently and sweetly borne. +The lips never forget to smile; the voice +remains always cheerful and sympathetic, +never grows peevish and worried, as is too +often the case with overworked or disappointed +women in this country. But youth +with its hopeful outlook, its plans and its +ambitions, gives way to age with its peaceful +waiting for the end, with only a brief +struggle for its place; and the woman of +thirty-five is just at the point when she +has bid good-by to her youth, and, having +little to hope for in her middle life, is +doing her work faithfully, and looking forward +to an old age of privilege and authority, +the mistress of her son's house, +and the ruler of the little domain of home.</p> + +<p>But I have spoken so far only of those +happy women whose sons grow to maturity, +and who manage to evade the dangerous +reefs of divorce upon which so many lives +are shipwrecked. What becomes of the +hundreds who have no children to rise up +and call them blessed, but who have in +old age to live as dependents upon their +brothers or nephews? Even these, who +in this country often lead hard and unrewarded +lives of toil among their happier<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span> +relatives, find in old age a pleasanter lot +than that of youth. Many such old ladies +I have met, whose short hair or shaven +heads proclaim to all who see them that +the sorrow of widowhood has taken from +them the joy that falls to other women, +but whose cheerful, wrinkled faces and +happy, childlike ways have given one a feeling +of pleasure that the sorrow is past, and +peace and rest have come to their declining +years. Fulfilling what little household +tasks they can, respected and self-respecting +members of the household, the +<i>O Bă San</i>, or Aunty, is not far removed in +the honor and affection of the children +from the <i>O Bā San</i>, or Grandma, but both +alike find a peaceful shelter in the homes +of those nearest and dearest to them.</p> + +<p>One of the happiest old ladies I have +ever seen was one who had had a rough +and stormy life. The mother of many +children, most of whom had died in infancy, +she was at last left childless and a +widow. In her children's death the last +tie that bound her to her husband's family +was broken, and, rather than be a burden +to them, she made her home for many +years with her own younger brother, taking +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span>up again the many cares and duties of +a mother's life in sharing with the mother +the bringing up of a large family of children. +One by one, from the oldest to the +youngest, each has learned to love the old +aunty, to be lulled asleep on her back, and +to go to her in trouble when mother's +hands were too full of work. Many the +caress received, the drives and walks enjoyed +in her company, the toys and candies +that came out unexpectedly from the +depths of mysterious drawers, to comfort +many an hour of childish grief. That was +years ago, and the old aunty's hard times +are nearly over. Hale and hearty at three-score +years and ten, she has seen these +children grow up one by one, until now +some have gone to new homes of their +own. Her bent form and wrinkled face +are ever welcome to her children,—hers +by the right of years of patient care and +toil for them. They now, in their turn, +enjoy giving her pleasure, and return to +her all the love she has lavished upon +them. It is a joy to see her childlike +pride and confidence in them all, and to +know that they have filled the place left +vacant by the dead with whom had died +all her hopes of earthly happiness.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span></p><p>The old women of Japan,—how their +withered faces, bent frames, and shrunken, +yellow hands abide in one's memory! One +seldom sees among them what we would +call beauty, for the almost universal shrinking +with age that takes place among the +Japanese covers the face with multitudinous +wrinkles, and produces the effect of a +withered russet apple; for the skin, which +in youth is usually brightened by red +cheeks and glossy black hair, in old age, +when color leaves cheek and hair, has a +curiously yellow and parchment-like look. +But with all their wrinkles and ugliness, +there is a peculiar charm about the old +women of Japan.</p> + +<p>In Tōkyō, when the grass grows long +upon your lawn, and you send to the gardener +to come and cut it, no boy with +patent lawn-mower, nor stalwart countryman +with scythe and sickle, answers your +summons, but some morning you awake to +find your lawn covered with old women. +The much-washed cotton garments are +faded to a light blue, the exact match of +the light blue cotton towels in which their +heads are swathed, and on hands and +knees, each armed with an enormous pair<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span> +of shears, the old ladies clip and chatter +cheerfully all day long, until the lawn is as +smooth as velvet under their careful cutting. +An occasional rest under a tree, for +pipes and tea, is the time for much cheerful +talk and gossip; but the work, though +done slowly and with due attention to the +comfort of the worker, is well done, and +certainly accomplished as rapidly as any +one could expect of laborers who earn only +from eight to twelve cents a day. Another +employment for this same class of laborers +is the picking of moss and grass from the +crevices of the great walls that inclose the +moats and embankments of the capital. +Mounted on little ladders, they pick and +scrape with knives until the wall is clear +and fresh, with no insidious growth to push +the great uncemented stones out of their +places.</p> + +<p>In contrast with these humble but cheerful +toilers may be mentioned another class +of women, often met with in the great +cities. Dressed in rags and with covered +heads and faces, they wander about the +streets playing the <i>samisen</i> outside the +latticed windows, and singing with cracked +voices some wailing melody. As they go<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span> +from house to house, gaining a miserable +pittance by their weird music, they seem +the embodiment of all that is hopeless and +broken-hearted. What they are or whence +they come, I know not, but they always remind +me of the grasshopper in the fable, +who danced and sang through the brief +summer, to come, wailing and wretched, +seeking aid from her thriftier neighbor +when at last the winter closed in upon her.</p> + +<p>As one rides about the streets, one often +sees a little, white-haired old woman trotting +about with a yoke over her shoulders +from which are suspended two swinging +baskets, filled with fresh vegetables. The +fact that her hair is still growing to its +natural length shows that she is still a wife +and not a widow; her worn and patched +blue cotton clothes, bleached light from +much washing, show that extreme poverty +is her lot in life; and as she hobbles along +with the gait peculiar to those who carry a +yoke, my thoughts are busy with her home, +which, though poor and small, is doubtless +clean and comfortable, but my eye follows +her through the city's crowd, where laborer, +soldier, student, and high official +jostle each other by the way. Suddenly I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span> +see her pause before the gateway of a temple. +She sets her burden down, and there +in the midst of the bustling throng, with +bowed head, folded hands, and moving lips, +she invokes her god, snatching this moment +from her busy life to seek a blessing +for herself and her dear ones. The throng +moves busily on, making a little eddy +around the burden she has laid down, but +paying no heed to the devout little figure +standing there; then in a moment the +prayer is finished; she stoops, picks up her +yoke, balances it on her shoulders, and +moves on with the crowd, to do her share +while her strength lasts, and to be cared +for tenderly, I doubt not, by children and +children's children when her work is done.</p> + +<p>Another picture comes to me, too, a picture +of one whose memory is an inspiring +thought to the many who have the honor +to call her "mother." A stately old lady, +left a widow many years ago, before the +recent changes had wrought havoc preparatory +to further progress, she seemed always +to me the model of a mother of the +old school. Herself a woman of thorough +classical education, her example and teaching +were to both sons and daughters a constant +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span>inspiration; and in her old age she +found herself the honored head of a family +well known in the arts of war and peace, +a goodly company of sons and daughters, +every one of them heirs of her spirit and +of her intellect. Though conservative herself, +and always clinging to the old customs, +she put no block in the path of her +children's progress, and her fine character, +heroic spirit, and stanch loyalty to what +she believed were worth more to her children +than anything else could have been. +Tried by war, by siege, by banishment, by +danger and sufferings of all kinds, to her +was given at last an old age of prosperity +among children of whom she might well +be proud. Keeping her physical vigor to +the end, and dying at last, after an illness +of only two days, her spirit passed out into +the great unknown, ready to meet its dangers +as bravely as she had met those of +earth, or to enjoy its rest as sweetly and +appreciatively as she had enjoyed that of +her old age in the house of her oldest son.</p> + +<p>My acquaintance with her was limited by +our lack of common language, but was a +most admiring and appreciative one on my +side; and I esteem it one of the chief<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span> +honors of my stay in Japan, that upon my +last meeting with her, two weeks before +her death, she gave me her wrinkled but +still beautiful and delicately shaped hand +at parting,—a deference to foreign customs +that she only paid upon special occasions.</p> + +<p>Two weeks later, amid such rain as Japanese +skies know all too well how to let +fall, I attended her funeral at the cemetery +of Aoyama. The cemetery chapel was +crowded, but a place was reserved for me, +on account of special ties that bound me +to the family, just behind the long line of +white-robed mourners. In the Buddhist +faith she had lived, and by the Buddhist +ceremonial she was buried,—the chanted +ritual, the gorgeously robed priests, and +the heavy smell of incense in the air reminding +one of a Roman Catholic ceremony. +The white wooden coffin was placed +upon a bier at the entrance to the chapel, +and when the priests had done their work, +and the ecclesiastical ceremony was over, +the relatives arose, one by one, walked over +to the coffin, bowed low before it, and +placed a grain of incense upon the little +censer that stood on a table before the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span> +bier, then, bowing again, retired to their +places. Slowly and solemnly, from the tall +soldier son, his hair already streaked with +gray, to the two-year-old grandchild, all +paid this last token of respect to a noble +spirit; and after the relatives the guests, +each in the order of rank or nearness to +the deceased, stepped forward and performed +the same ceremony before leaving +the room. What the meaning of the rite +was, I did not know, whether a worship of +strange gods or no; but to me, as I performed +the act, it only signified the honor +in which I held the memory of a heroic +woman who had done well her part in the +world according to the light that God had +given her.</p> + +<p>Japanese art loves to picture the old woman +with her kindly, wrinkled face, leaving +out no wrinkle of them all, but giving with +equal truthfulness the charm of expression +that one finds in them. Long life is desired +by all as passionately as by ancient +Hebrew poet and psalmist, and with good +reason, for only by long life can a woman attain +the greatest honor and happiness. We +often exclaim in impatience at the thought +of the weakness and dependence of old<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span> +age, and pray that we may die in the fullness +of our powers, before the decay of advancing +years has made us a burden upon +our friends. But in Japan, dependence is +the lot of woman, and the dependence of +old age is that which is most respected +and considered. An aged parent is never +a burden, is treated by all with the greatest +love and tenderness; and if times are hard, +and food and other comforts are scarce, the +children, as a matter of course, deprive +themselves and their children to give ungrudgingly +to their old father and mother. +Faults there are many in the Japanese +social system, but ingratitude to parents, +or disrespect to the aged, must not be +named among them; and Young America +may learn a salutary lesson by the study of +the place that old people occupy in the +home.</p> + +<p>It is not only for the women of Japan, +but for the men as well, that old age is a +time of peace and happiness. When a man +reaches the age of fifty or thereabouts, +often while apparently in the height of his +vigor, he gives up his work or business and +retires, leaving all the property and income +to the care of his eldest son, upon whom<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span> +he becomes entirely dependent for his support.<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> +This support is never begrudged +him, for the care of parents by their children +is as much a matter of course in +Japan as the care of children by those who +give them birth. A man thus rarely makes +provision for the future, and looks with +scorn on foreign customs which seem to +betoken a fear lest, in old age, ungrateful +children may neglect their parents and +cast them aside. The feeling, so strong in +America, that dependence is of itself irksome +and a thing to be dreaded, is altogether +strange to the Japanese mind. +The married son does not care to take his +wife to a new and independent home of his +own, and to support her and her children by +his own labor or on his own income, but he +takes her to his father's house, and thinks +it no shame that his family live upon his +parents. But in return, when the parents +wish to retire from active life, the son takes +upon himself ungrudgingly the burden of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> +their support, and the bread of dependence +is never bitter to the parents' lips, for it is +given freely. To the time-honored European +belief, that a young man must be independent +and enterprising in early life in +order to lay by for old age, the Japanese will +answer that children in Japan are taught +to love their parents rather than ease and +luxury, and that care for the future is +not the necessity that it is in Europe +and America, where money is above everything +else,—even filial love. This habit of +thought may account for the utter want of +provision for the future, and the disregard +for things pertaining to the accumulation +of wealth, which often strikes curiously the +foreigner in Japan. A Japanese considers +his provision for the future made when he +has brought up and educated for usefulness +a large family of children. He invests +his capital in their support and education, +secure of bountiful returns in their +gratitude and care for his old age. It is +hard for the men of old Japan to understand +the rush and struggle for riches in +America,—a struggle that too often leaves +not a pause for rest or quiet pleasure until +sickness or death overtakes the indefatigable +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span>worker. The <i>go inkyo</i><a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> of Japan is glad +enough to lay down early in life the cares +of the world, to have a few years of calm +and peace, undisturbed by responsibilities +or cares for outside matters. If he be an +artist or a poet, he may, uninterrupted, +spend his days with his beloved art. If he +is fond of the ceremonial tea, he has whole +afternoons that he may devote to this æsthetic +repast; and even if he has none of +these higher tastes, he will always have +congenial friends who are ready to share +the <i>saké</i> bottle, to join in a quiet smoke over +the <i>hibachi</i>, or to play the deep-engrossing +game of <i>go</i>, or <i>shogi</i>, the Japanese chess. +To the Japanese mind, to be in the company +of a few kindred souls, to spend the +long hours of a summer's afternoon at the +ceremonial tea party, sipping tea and conversing +in a leisurely manner on various +subjects, is an enjoyment second to none. +A cultivated Japanese of the old times must +receive an education fitting him especially<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span> +for such pursuits. At these meetings of +friends, artistically or poetically inclined, +the time is spent in making poems and exchanging +wittily turned sentiments, to be +read, commented on, and responded to; or +in the making of drawings, with a few bold +strokes of the brush, in illustration of some +subject given out. Such enjoyments as +these, the Japanese believe, cannot be appreciated +or even understood by the practical, +rush-ahead American, the product of +the wonderful but material civilization of +the West.</p> + +<p>Thus, amid enjoyments and easy labors +suited to their closing years, the elder +couple spend their days with the young +people, cared for and protected by them. +Sometimes there will be a separate suite +of rooms provided for them; sometimes a +little house away from the noises of the +household, and separated from the main +building by a well-kept little garden. In +any case, as long as they live they will +spend their days in quiet and peace; and it +is to this haven, the <i>inkyo</i>, that all Japanese +look forward, as to the time when +they may carry out their own inclinations +and tastes with an income provided for the +rest of their days.<a name="APXanchor_137" id="APXanchor_137" href="#APX_137" class="apxanchor">[*]</a></p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3><span class="smcap">Footnotes:</span></h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> Children wear their hair on top of their heads while +very young, and the manner of arranging it is one of the +distinctive marks of the age of the child. The <i>marumagé</i>, +the style of headdress of married ladies, consisting of a +large puff of hair on the top of the head, diminishes in +size with the age of the wearer until, at sixty or seventy, +it is not more than a few inches in width. The number, +size, and variety of ornamental hairpins, and the tortoise-shell +comb worn in front, all vary with the age.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> It is this custom of going into early retirement that +made it possible for the nobles in old times to keep the +Emperor always a child. The ruling Emperor would be +induced to retire from the throne at the age of sixteen or +twenty; thus making room for some baby, who would be +in his turn the puppet of his ambitious courtiers.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> <i>Go Inkyo Sama</i> is the title belonging to a retired old +gentleman or old lady. <i>Inkyo</i> is the name of the house or +suite of rooms set apart for such a person, and the title +itself is made up of this word with the Chinese honorific +<i>go</i> and the title <i>Sama</i>, the same as <i>San</i>, used in addressing +all persons except inferiors.</p></div> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER VI.<br /><br /> +<span class="sm">COURT LIFE.</span></h2> + +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> court of the Emperor was, in the +early ages of Japan, the centre of whatever +culture and refinement the country could +boast, and the emperors themselves took +an active part in the promotion of civilization. +The earliest history of Japan is so +wrapped in the mists of legend and tradition +that only here and there do we get +glimpses of heroic figures,—leaders in +those early days. Demigods they seem, children +of Heaven, receiving from Heaven by +special revelation the wisdom or strength +by means of which they conquered their +enemies, or gave to their subjects new arts +and better laws. The traditional emperors, +the early descendants of the great Jimmu +Tenno,<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> seem to have been merely conquering +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span>chieftains, who by virtue of their descent +were regarded as divine, but who +lived the simple, hardy life of the savage +king, surrounded by wives and concubines, +done homage to by armed retainers and +subject chiefs, but living in rude huts, and +moving in and out among the soldiers, not +in the least retired into the mysterious solitude +which in later days enveloped the +Son of the Gods. The first emperors ruled +not only by divine right, but by personal +force and valor; and the stories of the valiant +deeds of these early rulers kept strong +the faith of the people in the divine qualities +of the imperial house during the hundreds +of years when the Emperor was a +mere puppet in the hands of ambitious and +powerful nobles.</p> + +<p>Towards the end of this legendary period, +a figure comes into view that for heroic +qualities cannot be excelled in the annals +of any nation,—Jingo Kōgō, the conqueror<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> +of Corea, who alone, among the nine female +rulers of Japan, has made an era in the +national history. She seems to have been +from the beginning, like Jeanne D'Arc, a +hearer of divine voices; and through her +was conveyed to her unbelieving husband +a divine command, to take ship and sail +westward to the conquest of an unknown +land. Her husband questioned the authenticity +of the message, took the earthly and +practical view that, as there was no land +to be seen in the westward, there could be +no land there, and refused to organize any +expedition in fulfillment of the command; +but for his unbelief was sternly told that he +should never see the land, but that his wife +should conquer it for the son whom she +should bear after the father's death. This +message from the gods was fulfilled. The +Emperor died in battle shortly after, and +the Empress, after suppressing the rebellion +in which her husband had been killed, +proceeded to organize an expedition for the +conquest of the unknown land beyond the +western sea. By as many signs as those +required by Gideon to assure himself of his +divine mission, the Empress tested the call +that had come to her, but at last, satisfied<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span> +that the voices were from Heaven, she gave +her orders for the collection of troops and +the building of a navy. I quote from Griffis +the inspiring words with which she addressed +her generals: "The safety or destruction +of our country depends upon this +enterprise. I intrust the details to you. +It will be your fault if they are not carried +out. I am a woman and young. I shall +disguise myself as a man, and undertake +this gallant expedition, trusting to the +gods and to my troops and captains. We +shall acquire a wealthy country. The glory +is yours, if we succeed; if we fail, the guilt +and disgrace shall be mine." What wonder +that her captains responded to such an +appeal, and that the work of recruiting and +shipbuilding began with a will! It was a +long preparation that was required—sometimes, +to the impatient woman, it seemed unnecessarily +slow—but by continual prayer +and offerings she appealed to the gods for +aid; and at last all was ready, and the brave +array of ships set sail for the unknown +shore, the Empress feeling within her the +new inspiration of hope for her babe as yet +unborn. Heaven smiled upon them from +the start. The clearest of skies, the most<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span> +favoring of breezes, the smoothest of seas, +favored the god-sent expedition; and tradition +says that even the fishes swarmed in +shoals about their keels, and carried them +on to their desired haven. The fleet ran +safely across to southern Corea, but instead +of finding battles and struggles awaiting +them, the king of the country met them on +the beach to receive and tender allegiance to +the invaders, whose unexpected appearance +from the unexplored East had led the natives +to believe that their gods had forsaken +them. The expedition returned laden +with vast wealth, not the spoil of battle, +but the peaceful tribute of a bloodless victory; +and from that time forward Japan, +through Corea, and later by direct contact +with China itself, began to receive and assimilate +the civilization, arts, and religions +of China. Thus through a woman Japan +received the start along the line of progress +which made her what she is to-day, +for the sequel of Jingo Kōgō's Corean expedition +was the introduction of almost +everything which we regard as peculiar +to civilized countries. With characteristic +belittling of the woman and exalting of +the man, the whole martial career of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span> +Empress is ascribed to the influence of her +son as yet unborn,—a son who by his valor +and prowess has secured for his deified +spirit the position of God of War in the +Japanese pantheon. We should say that +pre-natal influences and heredity produced +the heroic son; the Japanese reason from +the other end, and show that all the noble +qualities of the mother were produced by +the influence of the unborn babe.</p> + +<p>With the introduction of literature, art, +and Buddhism, a change took place in +the relations of the court to the people. +About the Emperor's throne there gathered +not only soldiers and governors, but the +learned, the accomplished, the witty, the +artistic, who found in the Emperor and the +court nobles munificent patrons by whom +they were supported, and before whom they +laid whatever pearls they were able to produce. +The new culture sought not the clash +of arms and the shout of soldiers, but the +quiet and refinement of palaces and gardens +far removed from the noise and clamor of +the world. And while emperors sought to +encourage the new learning and civilization, +and to soften the warlike qualities of +the people about them, there was a frontier<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span> +along which the savages still made raids +into the territory which the Japanese had +wrested from them, and which it required +a strong arm and a quick hand to guard +for the defense of the people. But the +Emperor gradually gave up the personal +leadership in war, and passed the duty of +defending the nation into the hands of one +or another of the great noble families. The +nobles were not by any means slow to see +the advantage to be gained for themselves +by the possession of the military power in +an age when might made right, even more +than it does to-day, and when force, used +judiciously and with proper deference to +the prejudices of the people, could be made +to give to its possessor power even over +the Emperor himself. And so gradually, +in the pursuit of the new culture and the +new religion, the emperors withdrew themselves +more and more into seclusion, and +the court became a little world in itself,—a +centre of culture and refinement into +which few excitements of war or politics +ever came. While the great nobles wrangled +for the possession of the power, +schemed and fought and turned the nation +upside down; while the heroes of the country +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span>rose, lived, fought, and died,—the Emperor, +amid his ladies and his courtiers, his +priests and his literary men, spent his life +in a world of his own; thinking more of +this pair of bright eyes, that new and +charming poem, the other witty saying +of those about him, than of the kingdom +that he ruled by divine right; and +retiring, after ten years or so of puppet +kinghood, from the seclusion of his court +to the deeper seclusion of some Buddhist +monastery.</p> + +<p>Within the sacred precincts of the court, +much time was given to such games and +pastimes as were not too rude or noisy +for the refinement that the new culture +brought with it. Polo, football, hunting +with falcons, archery, etc., were exercises +not unworthy of even the most refined of +gentlemen, and certain noble families were +trained hereditarily in the execution of certain +stately, antique dances, many of them +of Chinese or Corean origin. The ladies, +in trailing garments and with flowing hair, +reaching often below the knees, played a +not inconspicuous part, not only because of +their beauty and grace, but for their quickness +of wit, their learning in the classics,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span> +their skill in repartee, and their quaint +fancies, which they embodied in poetic +form.<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a></p> + +<p>Much attention was given to that harmony +of art with nature that the Japanese +taste makes the <i>sine qua non</i> of all true +artistic effort. The gorgeously embroidered +gowns must change with the changing +season, so that the cherry succeeds +the plum, the wistaria the cherry, and so on +through the whole calendar of flowers, upon +the silken robes of the court, as regularly +as in the garden that graces the palace +grounds. And so with the confectionery, +which in Japan is made in dainty imitation +of flowers and fruits. The chrysanthemum +blooms in sugar no earlier than<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span> +on its own stalk; the little golden orange, +with its dark green leaves, is on the confectioner's +list in winter, when the real orange +is yellow on its tree. The very decorations +of the palace must be changed with the +changing of the months; and <i>kakémono</i> and +vase are alternately stored in the <i>kura</i> and +brought out to decorate the room, according +as their designs seem in harmony with +the mood of Nature. This effort to harmonize +Nature and Art is seen to-day, not +only in the splendid furnishings of the +court, but all through the decorative art +of Japan. In every house the decorations +are changed to suit the changing seasons.</p> + +<p>Through the years when Japan was +adopting the civilization of China, a danger +threatened the nation,—the same +danger that threatens it to-day: it was the +danger lest the adoption of so much that +was foreign should result in a servile copying +of all that was not Japanese, and lest +the introduction of literature, art, and numerous +hitherto unknown luxuries should +take from the people their independence, +patriotism, and manliness. But this result +was happily avoided; and at a time when +the language was in danger of being swept<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span> +almost out of existence by the introduction +of Chinese learning through Chinese letters, +the women of Japan, not only in their +homes and conversation, but in the poetry +and lighter literature of the country, preserved +a strain of pure and graceful Japanese, +and produced some of the standard +works of a distinctly national literature. +Favor at court to-day, as in the olden +times, is the reward, not of mere rank, +beauty, and grace of person, but must be +obtained through the same intellectual endowments, +polished by years of education, +that made so many women famous in the +mediæval history of Japan. Many court +ladies have read much of their national +literature, so that they are able to appreciate +the <i>bonmots</i> which contain allusions +in many cases to old poems, or plays on +words; and are able to write and present +to others, at fitting times, those graceful +but untranslatable turns of phrase which +form the bulk of Japanese poetry.<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> Even<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span> +in this busy era of Méiji,<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> the Emperor and +his court keep up the old-time customs, +and strive to promote a love of the beautiful +poetry of Japan. At each New Year +some subject appropriate to the time is +chosen and publicly announced. Poems +may be written upon this subject by any +one in the whole realm, and may be sent +to the palace before a certain date fixed as +the time for closing the list of competitors. +All the poems thus sent are examined by +competent judges, who select the best five +and send them to the Emperor, an honor +more desired by the writers than the most +favorable of reviews or the largest of emoluments +are desired by American poets. +Many of the other poems are published in +the newspapers. It is interesting to note +that many of the prominent men and women +of the country are known as competitors, +and that many of the court ladies +join in the contest.</p> + +<p>There are also, at the palace, frequent +meetings of the poets and lovers of poetry<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span> +connected with the court. At these meetings +poems are composed for the entertainment +of the Emperor and Empress, as +well as for the amusement of the poets +themselves.</p> + +<p>In the school recently established for the +daughters of the nobles, under the charge +of the imperial household, much attention +is given to the work of thoroughly grounding +the scholars in the Japanese language +and literature, and also to making them +skillful in the art of composing poetry. At +the head of the school, in the highest position +held by any woman in the employ of +the government, is a former court lady, +who is second to none in the kingdom, not +only in her knowledge of all that belongs +to court etiquette, but in her study of the +history and literature of her own people, +and in her skill in the composition of these +dainty poems. A year or two ago, when +one of the scholars in the school died after +a brief decline, her schoolmates, teachers, +and school friends wrote poems upon her +death, which they sent to the bereaved +parents.</p> + +<p>It is difficult for any Japanese, much +more so for a foreigner, to penetrate into<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span> +the seclusion of the palace and see anything +of the life there, except what is +shown to the public in the occasional entertainments +given at court, such as formal +receptions and dinner parties. In +1889, the new palace, built on the site of +the old Tokugawa Castle, burnt seventeen +years ago, was finally completed; and it +was my privilege to see, before the removal +of the court, not only the grand reception +rooms, throne-room, and dining-room, but +also the private apartments of the Emperor +and Empress. The palace is built in +Japanese style, surrounded by the old castle +moats, but there are many foreign additions +to the palace and grounds. It is +heated and lighted in foreign style, and +the larger rooms are all furnished after +the magnificent manner of European palaces; +while the lacquer work, carvings, +and gorgeous paneled ceilings remind one +of the finest of Japanese temples. The +private apartments of the Emperor and +Empress are, on the other hand, most +simple, and in thorough Japanese style; +and though the woodwork and polished +floors of the corridors are very beautiful, +the paintings and lacquer work most exquisite, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span>there is little in this simplicity +to denote the abode of royalty. It seems +that their majesties, though outwardly conforming +to many European customs, and +to the European manner of dress, prefer +to live in Japanese ways, on matted, not +carpeted floors, reposing on them rather +than on chairs and bedsteads.<a name="APXanchor_152" id="APXanchor_152" href="#APX_152" class="apxanchor">[*]</a></p> + +<p>Their apartments are not large; each +suite consisting of three rooms opening +out of each other, the Empress's rooms +being slightly smaller than the Emperor's, +and those of the young Prince Haru, +the heir apparent, again a little smaller. +The young prince has a residence of his +own, and it is only on his visits that he +occupies his apartments in his father's +palace. There are also rooms for the Empress +dowager to occupy on her occasional +visits. All of these apartments are quite +close together in one part of the palace, +and are connected by halls; but the private +rooms of the court ladies are in an +entirely separate place, quite removed, and +only connected with the main building +by a long, narrow passageway, running +through the garden. There, in the rooms +assigned to them, each one has her own<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span> +private establishment, where she stays +when she is not on duty in attendance on +the Emperor and Empress. Each lady has +her own servants, and sometimes a younger +sister or a dependent may be living there +with her, though they are entirely separate +from the court and the life there, and +must never be seen in any of the other +parts of the building. In these rooms, +which are like little homes in themselves, +cooking and housekeeping are done, entirely +independent of the other parts of +the great palace; and the tradesmen find +their way through some back gate to these +little establishments, supplying them with +all the necessaries of life, as well as the +luxuries.</p> + +<p>A court lady is a personage of distinction, +and lives in comparative ease and +luxury, with plenty of servants to do all +the necessary work. Besides her salary, +which of course varies with the rank and +the duties performed, but is always liberal +enough to cover the necessary expenses of +dress, the court lady receives many presents +from the Emperor and Empress, which +make her position one of much luxury.</p> + +<p>The etiquette of the imperial household<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span> +is very complicated and very strict, though +many of the formalities of the olden times +have been given up. The court ladies are +models of conservatism. In order to be +trained for the life there and its duties, +they usually enter the court while mere +children of ten or eleven, and serve apprenticeship +to the older members. In +the rigid seclusion of the palace they are +strictly, almost severely, brought up, and +trained in all the details of court etiquette. +Cut off from all outside influences while +young, the little court maidens are taught +to go through an endless round of formalities +which they are made to think +indispensable. These details of etiquette +extend not only to all that concerns the +imperial household, but to curious customs +among themselves, and in regard to +their own habits. Many of these ideas +have come down from one generation to +another, within the narrow limits of the +court, so that the life there is a curious +world in itself, and very unlike that in +ordinary Japanese homes.</p> + +<p>But among all the ladies of Japan to-day,—charming, +intellectual, refined, and +lovely as many of them are,—there is no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span> +one nobler, more accomplished, more beautiful +in life and character, than the Empress +herself. The Emperor of Japan, +though he may have many concubines, may +have but one wife, and she must be chosen +out of one of the five highest noble families.<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> +Haru Ko, of the noble family of +Ichijō, became Empress in the year 1868, +one year after her husband, then a boy of +seventeen, had ascended the throne, and +the very year of the overthrow of the Shōgunate,<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> +and the restoration of the Emperor +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span>to actual power and the leading part +in the government. Reared amid the deep +and scholarly seclusion of the old court at +Kyōto, the young Empress found herself +occupying a position very different from +that for which she had been educated,—a +position the duties and responsibilities of +which grow more multifarious as the years +go by. Instead of a life of rigid seclusion, +unseeing and unseen, the Empress has had +to go forth into the world, finding there +the pleasures as well as the duties of actual +leadership. With the removal of the court +to Tōkyō, and the reappearance of the Emperor, +in bodily form, before his people, +there came new opportunities for the Empress, +and nobly has she used them. From +the time when, in 1871, she gave audience +to the five little girls of the samurai class +who were just setting forth on a journey +to America, there to study and fit themselves +to play a part in the Japan of the +future, on through twenty years of change<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span> +and progress, the Empress Haru Ko has +done all that lay within her power to advance +the women of her country.<a name="APXanchor_157" id="APXanchor_157" href="#APX_157" class="apxanchor">[*]</a> Many +stories are afloat which show the lovable +character of the woman, and which have +given her an abiding place in the affections +of the people.</p> + +<p>Some years ago, when the castle in +Tōkyō was burned, and the Emperor and +Empress were obliged to take refuge in an +old daimiō's house, a place entirely lacking +in luxuries and considerably out of repair, +some one expressed to her the grief that +all her people felt, that she should have to +put up with so many inconveniences. Her +response was a graceful little poem, in +which she said that the narrowness of her +abode would not limit her love for her +people, and that for them she would endeavor +to explore wisely the unlimited fields +of knowledge.</p> + +<p>Upon another occasion, when Prince Iwakura, +one of the leaders of Japan in the +early days of the crisis through which the +country is still passing, lay dying at his +home, the Empress sent him word that +she was coming to visit him. The prince, +afraid that he could not do honor to such<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span> +a guest, sent her word back that he was +very ill, and unable to make proper preparation +to entertain an Empress. To this +the Empress replied that he need make no +preparations for her, for she was coming, +not as an Empress, but as the daughter of +Ichijō, his old friend and colleague, and as +such he could receive her. And then, setting +aside imperial state and etiquette, she +visited the dying statesman, and brightened +his last hours with the thought of +how lovely a woman stood as an example +before the women of his beloved country.</p> + +<p>Many of the charities and schools of new +Japan are under the Empress's special +patronage; and this does not mean simply +that she allows her name to be used in +connection with them, but it means that +she thinks of them, studies them, asks +questions about them, and even practices +little economies that she may have the +more money to give to them. There is a +charity hospital in Tōkyō, having in connection +with it a training school for nurses, +that is one of the special objects of her +care. Last year she gave to it, at the +end of the year, the savings from her own +private allowance, and concerning this act<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span> +an editorial from the "Japan Mail" speaks +as follows:—</p> + +<p>"The life of the Empress of Japan is an +unvarying routine of faithful duty-doing +and earnest charity. The public, indeed, +hears with a certain listless indifference, +engendered by habit, that her Majesty has +visited this school, or gone round the wards +at that hospital. Such incidents all seem +to fall naturally into the routine of the +imperial day's work. Yet to the Empress +the weariness of long hours spent in classrooms +or in laboratories, or by the beds of +the sick, must soon become quite intolerable +did she not contrive, out of the goodness +of her heart, to retain a keen and +kindly interest in everything that concerns +the welfare of her subjects. That her Majesty +does feel this interest, and that it +grows rather than diminishes as the years +go by, every one knows who has been present +on any of the innumerable occasions +when the promoters of some charity or the +directors of some educational institution +have presented, with merciless precision, +all the petty details of their projects or +organizations for the examination of the +imperial lady. The latest evidence of her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span> +Majesty's benevolence is, however, more +than usually striking. Since the founding +of the Tōkyō Charity Hospital, where so +many poor women and children are treated, +the Empress has watched the institution +closely, has bestowed on it patronage of the +most active and helpful character, and has +contributed handsomely to its funds. Little +by little the hospital grew, extending its +sphere of action and enlarging its ministrations, +until the need of more capacious +premises—a need familiar to such undertakings—began +to be strongly felt. The +Empress, knowing this, cast about for some +means of assisting this project. To practice +strict economy in her own personal +expenses, and to devote whatever money +might thus be saved from her yearly income +to the aid of the hospital, appears +to have suggested itself to her Majesty +as the most feasible method of procedure. +The result is, that a sum of 8,446 yen, 90 +sen, and 8 rin has just been handed over +to Dr. Takagi, the chief promoter and +mainstay of the hospital, by Viscount +Kagawa, one of her Majesty's chamberlains. +There is something picturesque +about these sen and rin. They represent<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span> +an account minutely and faithfully kept +between her Majesty's unavoidable expenses +and the benevolent impulse that constantly +urged her to curtail them. Such gracious +acts of sterling effort command admiration +and love."</p> + +<p>Not very long ago, on one of her visits to +the hospital, the Empress visited the children's +ward, and took with her toys, which +she gave with her own hand to each child +there. When we consider that this hospital +is free to the poorest and lowest person +in Tōkyō, and that twenty years ago the +persons of the Emperor and Empress were +so sacred in the eyes of the people that no +one but the highest nobles and the near +officials of the court could come into their +presence,—that even these high nobles +were received at court by the Emperor at +a distance of many feet, and his face even +then could not be seen,—when we think of +all this, we can begin to appreciate what +the Empress Haru has done in bridging +the distance between herself and her +people so that the poorest child of a beggar +may receive a gift from her hand. In +the country places to this day, there are +peasants who yet believe that no one can<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span> +look on the sacred face of the Emperor +and live.</p> + +<p>The school for the daughters of the +nobles, to which I have before referred, is +an institution whose welfare the Empress +has very closely at heart, for she sees the +need of rightly combining the new and the +old in the education of the young girls +who will so soon be filling places in the +court. At the opening of the school the +Empress was present, and herself made a +speech to the scholars; and her visits, at +intervals of one or two months, show her +continued interest in the work that she +has begun. Upon all state occasions, the +scholars, standing with bowed heads as if +in prayer, sing a little song written for +them by the Empress herself; and at the +graduating exercises, the speeches and addresses +are listened to by her with the profoundest +interest. The best specimens of +poetry, painting, and composition done by +the scholars are sent to the palace for her +inspection, and some of these are kept by +her in her own private rooms. When she +visits the class-rooms, she does not simply +pass in and pass out again, as if doing a +formal duty, but sits for half an hour or so<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span> +listening intently, and watching the faces +of the scholars as they recite. In sewing +and cooking classes (for the daughters of +the nobles are taught to sew and cook), +she sometimes speaks to the scholars, asking +them questions. Upon one occasion +she observed a young princess, a newcomer +in the school, working somewhat awkwardly +with needle and thimble. "The +first time, Princess, is it not?" said the +Empress, smiling, and the embarrassed +Princess was obliged to confess that this +was her first experience with those domestic +implements.</p> + +<p>Sometimes in her leisure hours—and +they are rare in her busy life—the Empress +amuses herself by receiving the little +daughters of some imperial prince or +nobleman, or even the children of some of +the high officials. In the kindness of her +heart, she takes great pleasure in seeing +and talking to these little ones, some of +whom are intensely awed by being in the +presence of the Empress, while others, in +their innocence, ignorant of all etiquette, +prattle away unrestrainedly, to the great +entertainment of the court ladies as well +as of the Empress herself. These visits<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span> +always end with some choice toy or gift, +which the child takes home and keeps +among her most valued treasures in remembrance +of her imperial hostess. In +this way the Empress relieves the loneliness +of the great palace, where the sound +of childish voices is seldom heard, for the +Emperor's children are brought up in separate +establishments, and only pay occasional +visits to the palace, until they have +passed early childhood.<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a></p> + +<p>The present life of the Empress is not +very different from that of European royalty. +Her carriage and escort are frequently +met with in the streets of Tōkyō +as she goes or returns on one of her numerous +visits of ceremony or beneficence. +Policemen keep back the crowds of people +who always gather to see the imperial +carriage, and stand respectfully, but without +demonstration, while the horsemen +carrying the imperial insignia, followed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span> +closely by the carriages of the Empress +and her attendants, pass by. The official +Gazette announces almost daily visits by +the Emperor, Empress, or other members +of the imperial family, to different places of +interest,—sometimes to various palaces +in different parts of Tōkyō, at other times +to schools, charitable institutions or exhibitions, +as well as occasional visits to the +homes of high officials or nobles, for which +great preparations are made by those who +have the honor of entertaining their Majesties.</p> + +<p>Among the amusements within the palace +grounds, one lately introduced, and at +present in high favor, is that of horseback-riding, +an exercise hitherto unknown to +the ladies of Japan. The Empress and her +ladies are said to be very fond of this active +exercise,—an amusement forming a +striking contrast to the quiet of former +years.</p> + +<p>The grounds about the palaces in Tōkyō +are most beautifully laid out and cultivated, +but not in that artificial manner, with regular +flower beds and trees at certain equal +distances, which is seen so often in the +highly cultivated grounds of the rich in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span> +this country. The landscape gardening of +Japan keeps unchanged the wildness and +beauty of nature, and imitates it closely. +The famous flowers, however, are, in the +imperial gardens, changed by art and cultivated +to their highest perfection, blooming +each season for the enjoyment of the +members of the court. Especially is attention +given to the cultivation of the imperial +flower of Japan, the chrysanthemum; +and some day in November, when this +flower is in its perfection, the gates of the +Akasaka palace are thrown open to invited +guests, who are received in person by the +Emperor and Empress. Here the rarest +species of this favorite flower, and the oddest +colors and shapes, the results of much +care and cultivation, are exhibited in spacious +beds, shaded by temporary roofs of +bamboo twigs and decorated with the imperial +flags. This is the great chrysanthemum +party of the Emperor, and another +of similar character is given in the spring +under the flower-laden boughs of the cherry +trees.</p> + +<p>In these various ways the Empress shows +herself to her people,—a gracious and +lovely figure, though distant, as she needs<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span> +must be, from common, every-day life. +Only by glimpses do the people know her, +but those glimpses reveal enough to excite +the warmest admiration, the most tender +love. Childless herself, destined to see +a child not her own, although her husband's, +heir to the throne, the Empress +devotes her lonely and not too happy life +to the actual, personal study of the wants +of daughters of her people, and side by +side with Jingo,<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> the majestic but shadowy +Empress of the past, should be enshrined +in the hearts of the women of Japan the +memory of Haru Ko, the leader of her +countrywomen into that freer and happier +life that is opening to them.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span></p><p>Each marks the beginning of a new era,—the +first, of the era of civilization and +morality founded upon the teachings of +Buddha and Confucius; the second, of the +civilization and morality that have sprung +from the teachings of Christ. Buddhism +and Confucianism were elevating and civilizing, +but failed to place the women of +Japan upon even as high a plane as they +had occupied in the old barbaric times. To +Christianity they must look for the security +and happiness which it has never failed to +give to the wives and mothers of all Christian +nations.<a name="APXanchor_168" id="APXanchor_168" href="#APX_168" class="apxanchor">[*]</a></p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3><span class="smcap">Footnotes:</span></h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> The Japanese claim for their present Emperor direct +descent from Jimmu Tenno, the Son of the Gods; and +it is for this reason that the Emperor is supposed to be +divine, and the representative of the gods on the earth. +The dynasty, for about twenty-five hundred years since +Jimmu Tenno, has never been broken. It must, however, +be said in connection with this statement, that the Japanese +family is a much looser organization than that known +to our Western civilization, on account of the customs of +concubinage and adoption, and that descent through family +lines is not necessarily actual descent by blood.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> In ancient times, before the long civil wars of the +Middle Ages, much attention was given by both men and +women to poetry, and many of the classics of Japanese +literature are the works of women. Among these distinguished +writers can be mentioned Murasaki Shikibu, +Seishō Nagon, and Iséno Taiyu, all court ladies in the +time of the Emperor Ichijō (about 1000 <span class="ucsmcap">A. D.</span>). The court +at that time was the centre of learning, and much encouragement +was given by the Emperor to literary pursuits, +the cultivation of poetry, and music. The Emperor gathered +around him talented men and women, but the great +works that remain are, strange to say, mostly those of +women.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> The court ladies in immediate contact with the Emperor +and Empress are selected from the daughters of +the nobles. Only in the present reign have a few samurai +women risen to high positions at court on account of +special talents.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> <i>Méiji</i> (Enlightened Rule) is the name of the era that +began with the present Emperor's accession to the throne. +The year <span class="ucsmcap">A. D.</span> 1890 is the twenty-third year of Méiji, and +would be so designated in all Japanese dates.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> The Empresses of Japan are not chosen from any +branch of the imperial family, but from among the +daughters of the five of the great <i>kugé</i>, or court nobles, +who are next in rank to the imperial princes. The +choice usually rests with the Emperor or his advisers, and +would be naturally given to the most worthy, whether in +beauty or accomplishments. No doubt one reason why +the Empress is regarded as far below the Emperor is, +that she is not of royal blood, but one of the subjects of +the Empire. In the old times, the daughters of the Emperor +could never marry, as all men were far beneath +them in rank. These usually devoted their lives to religion, +and as Shintō priestesses or Buddhist nuns dwelt +in the retirement of temple courts or the seclusion of +cloisters.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> Tokugawa Shōguns were the military rulers of the +Tokugawa family, who held the power in Japan for a +period of two hundred and fifty years. They are better +known to Americans, perhaps, under the title of <i>Tycoon</i> +(Great Prince), a name assumed, or rather revived, to impress +the foreigners when Commodore Perry was negotiating +in regard to treaties. The Shōgun held the daimiōs +in forced subjection,—a subjection that was shaken in +1862, and broken at last in the year 1868, when, by the +fall of the Shōgunate, the Emperor was restored to direct +power over his people.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> The Emperor's children are placed, from birth, in +the care of some noble or high official, who becomes the +guardian of the child. Certain persons are appointed as +attendants, and the child with its retinue lives in the establishment +of the guardian, who is supposed to exercise +his judgment and experience in the physical and mental +training of the child.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> Jingo Kōgō, like many of the heroic, half mythical +figures of other nations, has suffered somewhat under the +assaults of the modern historical criticism. Many of the +best Japanese historians deny that she conquered Corea; +some go so far as to doubt whether she had right to the +title of Empress; all are sure that much of romance has +gathered about the figure of this brave woman; but to +the mass of the Japanese to-day, she is still an actual historic +reality, and she represents to them in feminine form +the Spirit of Japan. Whether she conquered Corea or +no, she remains the prominent female figure upon the +border line where the old barbaric life merges into the +newer civilization, just as the present Empress, Haru Ko, +stands upon the border line between the Eastern and the +Western modes of thought and life.</p></div> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER VII.<br /><br /> +<span class="sm">LIFE IN CASTLE AND YASHIKI.<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a></span></h2> + +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> seclusion of the Emperors and the +gathering of the reins of government into +the hands of Shōguns was a gradual process, +beginning not long after the introduction +of Chinese civilization, and continuing +to grow until Iyéyasŭ, the founder +of the Tokugawa dynasty, through his code +of laws, took from the Emperor the last +vestige of real power, and perfected the +feudal system which maintained the sway<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span> +of his house for two hundred and fifty years +of peace.</p> + +<p>The Emperor's court, with its literary +and æsthetic quiet, its simplicity of life and +complexity of etiquette, was the centre of +the culture and art of Japan, but never +the centre of luxury. After the growth of +the Tokugawa power had secured for that +house and its retainers great hereditary +possessions, the Emperor's court was a +mere shadow in the presence of the magnificence +in which the Tokugawas and the +daimiōs chose to live. The wealth of the +country was in the hands of those who +held the real power, and the Emperor +was dependent for his support upon his +great vassal, who held the land, collected +the taxes, made the laws, and gave to his +master whatever seemed necessary for his +maintenance in the simple style of the old +days, keeping for himself and for his retainers +enough to make Yedo, the Tokugawa +capital, the centre of a luxury far +surpassing anything ever seen at the Emperor's +own court. While the <i>kugé</i>, the +old imperial nobility, formerly the governors +of the provinces under the Emperors, +lived in respectable but often extreme poverty +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span>at Kyōto, the landed nobility, or daimiōs, +brought, after many struggles, under +the sway of the Tokugawas, built for themselves +palaces and pleasure gardens in the +moated city of Yedo. At Yedo with its castle, +its gardens, its <i>yashikis</i>, and its fortifications, +was established a new court, more +luxurious, but less artistic and cultivated, +than the old court of Kyōto. In the various +provinces, too, at every castle town, a +little court arose about the castle, and the +daimiō became not only the feudal chief, +but the patron of literature and art among +his people, as the years went by filling his +<i>kura</i> with choice works of art, in lacquer, +bronze, silver, and pottery, to be brought +out on special occasions. These nobles, +under a law of Iyémitsŭ, the third of the +Tokugawa line, were compelled to spend +half of each year at the city of the Shōguns; +and each had his <i>yashiki</i>, or large +house and garden, in the city. At this +house, his family must reside permanently, +as hostages for the loyalty of their lord +while away. The annual journeys to and +from Yedo were events not only in the lives +of the daimiōs and their trains of retainers, +but in the lives of the country people who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span> +lived along the roads by which they must +travel. The time and style of each journey +for each daimiō were rigidly prescribed in +the laws of Iyémitsŭ, as well as the behavior +of the country people who might +meet the procession moving towards Yedo, +or returning therefrom. When some noble, +or any member of his family, was to pass +through a certain section of the country, +great preparations were made beforehand. +Not only was traffic stopped along the +route, but every door and window had to +be closed. By no means was any one to +show himself, or to look in any way upon +the passing procession. To do so was to +commit a profane deed, punishable by a +fine. Among other things, no cooking was +allowed on that day. All the food must be +prepared the day before, as the air was +supposed to become polluted by the smoke +from the fires. Thus through crowded +cities, full and busy with life, the daimiō +in his curtained palanquin, with numerous +retinue, would pass by; but wherever he +approached, the place would be as deserted +and silent as if plague-stricken. It is +hardly necessary to add that these journeys, +attended with so much ceremony and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span> +inconvenience to the people, were not as +frequent as the trips now taken, at a moment's +notice, from one city to another, +by these very same men.</p> + +<p>One story current in Tōkyō shows the +narrowing effect of such seclusion. A +noble who had traveled into Yedo, across +one of the large bridges built over the +Sumida River, remarked one day to his +companions that he was greatly disappointed +on seeing that bridge. "From the +pictures," he said, "which I have seen, the +bridge seemed alive with people, the centre +of life and activity, but the artists must exaggerate, +for not a soul was on the bridge +when I passed by."</p> + +<p>The castle of the Shōgun in Yedo, with +its moats and fortifications, and its fine +house and great <i>kura</i>, was reproduced on a +small scale in the castles scattered through +the country; and as in Yedo the <i>yashikis</i> +of the daimiōs stood next to the inner +moat of the castle, that the retainers might +be ready to defend their lord at his earliest +call, so in the provinces the <i>yashikis</i> of the +samurai occupied a similar position about +the daimiō's castle.</p> + +<p>It is curious to see that, as the Shōgun<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span> +took away the military and temporal power +of the Emperor, making of him only a +figure-head without real power, so, to a +certain degree, the daimiō gave up, little by +little, the personal control of his own province, +the power falling into the hands of +ambitious samurai, who became the councilors +of their lord. The samurai were +the learned class and the military class; +they were and are the life of Japan; and +it is no wonder that the nobles, protected +and shielded from the world, and growing +up without much education, should have +changed in the course of centuries from +strong, brave warriors into the delicate, effeminate, +luxury-loving nobles of the present +day. Upon the loyalty and wisdom of +the samurai, often upon some one man of +undoubted ability, rested the greatness of +the province and the prosperity of the master's +house.</p> + +<p>The life of the ladies in these daimiōs' +houses is still a living memory to many of +the older women of Japan; but it is a memory +only, and has given place to a different +state of things. The Emperor occupies +the castle of the Shōgun to-day, and every +daimiō's castle throughout the country is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span> +in the hands of the imperial government. +The old pleasure gardens of the nobles are +turned into arsenals, schools, public parks, +and other improvements of the new era. +But here and there one finds some conservative +family of nobles still keeping up in +some measure the customs of former times; +and daimiōs' houses there are still in Tōkyō, +though stripped of power and of retainers, +where life goes on in many ways much as +it did in the old days. In such a house as +this, one finds ladies-in-waiting, of the samurai +rank, who serve her ladyship—the +daimiō's wife—in all personal service. In +the old days, the daughters of the samurai +were eager for the training in etiquette, +and in all that belongs to nice housekeeping, +that might be obtained by a few years +of apprenticeship in a daimiō's house, and +gladly assumed the most menial positions +for the sake of the education and reputation +to be gained by such training.</p> + +<p>The wife and daughters of a daimiō led +the quietest of lives, rarely passing beyond +the four great walls that inclose the palace +with its grounds. They saw the changes +of the seasons in the flowers that bloomed +in their lovely gardens, when, followed by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span> +numerous attendants, they slowly walked +through the bamboo groves or under the +bloom-laden boughs of the plum or cherry +trees, forming their views of life, its pleasures, +its responsibilities, and its meaning, +within the narrow limits of the daimiō's +<i>yashiki</i>.</p> + +<p>Their mornings were passed in the +adorning of their own persons, and in the +elaborate dressing of their luxuriant hair; +the afternoons were spent in the tea ceremony, +in writing poetry, or the execution +of a sort of silk mosaic that is a favorite +variety of fancy work still among the ladies +of Japan.</p> + +<p>A story is told of one of the Tokugawa +princesses that illustrates the amusements +of the Shōgun's daughters, and the pains +that were taken to gratify their wishes, +however unreasonable. The cherry-trees +of the castle gardens of Tōkyō are noted +for their beauty when in bloom during the +month of April. It is said that once a +daughter of the Tokugawa house expressed +a wish to give a garden party amid the +blossoming cherry-trees in the month +of December, and nothing would do but +that her wishes must be carried out. Her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span> +retainers accordingly summoned to their +aid skillful artificers, who from pink and +white tissue paper produced myriads of +cherry blossoms, so natural that they could +hardly be distinguished from the real ones. +These they fastened upon the trees in just +such places as the real flowers would have +chosen to occupy, and the happy princess +gave her garden party in December under +the pink mist of cherry blooms.</p> + +<p>The children of a daimiō's wife occupied +her attention but little. They were placed +in the charge of careful attendants, and the +mother, though allowed to see them when +she wished, was deprived of the pleasure of +constant intercourse with them, and had +none of the mother's cares which form so +large a part of life to an ordinary Japanese +woman.</p> + +<p>When we know that the average Japanese +girl is brought up strictly by her own +mother, and thoroughly drilled in obedience +and in all that is proper as regards +etiquette and the duties of woman, we can +imagine the narrowness of the education +of the daimiō's poor little daughter, surrounded, +from early childhood, with numerous +attendants of the strictest sort, to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span> +teach her all that is proper according to +the highest and severest standards. Sometimes, +by the whim or the indulgence of +parents, or through exceptional circumstances +in her surroundings, a samurai's +daughter became more independent, more +self-reliant, or better educated, than others +of her rank; but such opportunities +never came to the more carefully reared +noble's daughter.</p> + +<p>From her earliest childhood, she was +addressed in the politest and most formal +way, so that she could not help acquiring +polite manners and speech. She was +taught etiquette above all things, so that +no rude action or speech would disgrace +her rank; and that she should give due +reverence to her superiors, courtesy to +equals, and polite condescension to inferiors. +She was taught especially to show +kindness to the families under the rule of +her father, and was early told of the noble's +duty to protect and love his retainers, as +a father loves and protects his children. +From childhood, presents were made in +her name to those around her, often without +her previous knowledge or permission, +and from them she would receive profuse<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span> +thanks,—lessons in the delights of beneficence +which could not fail to make +their impression on the child princess. +Even to inferiors she used the polite language,<a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> +and never the rude, brusque speech +of men, or the careless phrases and expressions +of the lower classes.</p> + +<p>The education of the daimiō's daughter +was conducted entirely at home.<a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> Instead +of going out to masters for instruction, +she was taught by some one in the household,—one +of her father's retainers, or +perhaps a member of her own private retinue. +Teachers for certain branches came +from outside, and these were not expected +to give the lesson within a certain time +and hurry away, but they would remain,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span> +conversing, sipping tea, and partaking of +sweetmeats, until their noble pupil was +ready to receive them. Hospitality required +that the teacher be offered a meal +after the lesson, and this meal etiquette +would not permit him to refuse, so that +both teacher and pupil must spend much +time waiting for each other and for the +lesson.</p> + +<p>Pursued in this leisurely way, the education +of the noble's daughter could not +advance very rapidly, and it usually ended +with an extremely early marriage; and the +girl wife would sometimes play with her +doll in the new home until the living baby +took its place to the young mother.</p> + +<p>The samurai women, who in one position +or another were close attendants on these +noble ladies, performing for them every +act of service, were often women of more +than average intelligence and education. +From childhood to old age, the noble ladies +were never without one or more of these +maids of honor, close at hand to help or +advise. Some entered the service in the +lower positions for only a short period, +leaving sooner or later to be married; for +continued service in a daimiō's household<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span> +meant a single life. Many of them remained +in the palace all their days, leading +lives of devotion to their mistress; the +comfort and ease of which hardly compensated +for the endless formalities and the +monotonous seclusion.</p> + +<p>Even the less responsible and more menial +positions were not looked down upon, +and the higher offices in the household +were exceedingly honorable. When, once +in a long while, a day's leave of absence +was granted to one of these gentlewomen, +and, loaded with presents sent by the daimiō's +lady, she went on her visit to her +home, she was received as a greatly honored +member of her own family. The respect +which was paid to her knowledge of +etiquette and dress was never lessened +because of the menial services she might +have performed for those of noble blood.</p> + +<p>The lady who was the head attendant, +and those in the higher positions, had a +great deal of power and influence in matters +that concerned their mistress and the +household; just as the male retainers decided +for the prince, and in their own +way, many of the affairs of the province. +The few conservative old ladies, the last<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span> +relics of the numerous retainers that once +filled the castle, who still remain faithful +in attendance in the homes now deprived +of the grandeur of the olden times, look +with horror upon the innovations of the +present day, and sigh for the glory of old +Japan. It is only upon compulsion that +they give up many of the now useless formalities, +and resign themselves to seeing +their once so honored lords jostle elbow to +elbow with the common citizen.</p> + +<p>I shall never forget the horror of one +old lady, attendant on a noble's daughter +of high rank, just entering the peeress' +school, when it was told her that each student +must carry in her own bundle of books +and arrange them herself, and that the attendants +were not allowed in the classroom. +The poor old lady was doubtless +indignant at the thought that her noble-born +mistress should have to perform even +so slight a task as the arranging of her +own desk unaided.<a name="APXanchor_182" id="APXanchor_182" href="#APX_182" class="apxanchor">[*]</a></p> + +<p>In the daimiōs' houses there was little +of the culture or wit that graced the more +aristocratic seclusion of Kyōto, and none +of the duties and responsibilities that belonged +to the samurai women, so that the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span> +life of the daimiō's lady was perhaps more +purposeless, and less stimulating to the +noble qualities, than the lives of any other +of the women of Japan. Surrounded by +endless restrictions of etiquette, lacking +both the stimulus that comes from physical +toil and that to be derived from intellectual +exertion, the ladies of this class of the +nobility simply vegetated. There is little +wonder that the nobles degenerated both +mentally and physically during the years +when the Tokugawas held sway; for there +was absolutely nothing in the lives of the +women to fit them to be the wives and +mothers of strong men. Delicate, dainty, +refined, dexterous in all manner of little +things but helpless to act for themselves,—ladies +to the inmost core of their beings, +with instincts of honor and of <i>noblesse oblige</i> +appearing in them from earliest childhood,—the +years of seclusion, of deference from +hundreds of retainers, of constant instruction +in the duties as well as the dignities +of their position, have produced an abiding +effect upon the minds of the women of this +aristocracy, and to-day even the youngest +and smallest of them have the virtues as +well as the failings produced by nearly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span> +three centuries of training. They are lacking +in force, in ambition, in clearness of +thought, among a nation abounding in +those qualities; but the national characteristics +of dignity, charming manners, +a quick sense of honor, and indomitable +pride of race and nation, combined with +a personal modesty almost deprecating in +its humility,—these are found among the +daughters of the nobles developed to their +highest extent. With the qualities of gentleness +and delicacy possessed by these ladies, +which make them shrink from rough +contact with the outer world, there are +mingled the stronger qualities of moral +and physical courage. A daimiō's wife, +as befitted the wife of a warrior and the +daughter of long generations of brave men, +never shrank from facing danger and death +when necessary; and considered the taking +of her own life an honorable and easy escape +from being captured by her enemy.</p> + +<p>Two or three little ripples from the past +broke into my life in Tōkyō, giving a little +insight into those old feudal times, and the +customs that were common then, but that +are now gone forever. A story was told +me in Japan by a lady who had herself, as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span> +a child, witnessed the events narrated. It +illustrates the responsibility felt by the retainers +for their lord and his house. A +daimiō fell into disgrace with the Shōgun, +and was banished to his own capital,—a +castle town several days' journey from +Yedo,—as a punishment for some offense. +The castle gates were closed, and no communication +with the outer world allowed. +During this period of disgrace, it happened +that the noble fell ill, and died quite suddenly +before his punishment was ended. +His death under such circumstances was +the most terrible thing that could befall +either himself or his family, as his funeral +must be without the ordinary tokens of respect; +and his tombstone, instead of bearing +tribute to his virtues, and the favor in +which he had been held by his lord, must +be simply the monument of his disgrace. +This being the case, the retainers felt that +these evils must be averted at any cost. +Knowing that the Shōgun's anger was +probably not so great as to make him wish +to bring eternal disgrace to their dead +lord, they at once decided to send a messenger +to the Shōgun, begging for pardon +on the plea of desperate illness, and asking +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span>the restoration of his favor before the +approach of death. The death was not +announced, but the floor of the room in +which the man had died was lifted up, and +the body let down to the ground beneath; +and through all the town it was announced +that the daimiō was hopelessly ill. Forty +days passed before the Shōgun sent to the +retainers the token that the disgrace was +removed, and during all those forty days, +in castle and barrack and village, the fiction +of the daimiō's illness was kept up. +As soon as the messengers returned, the +body was drawn up again through the floor +and placed on the bed; and all the retainers, +from the least unto the greatest, +were summoned into the room to congratulate +their master upon his restoration to +favor. One by one they entered the darkened +room, prostrated themselves before +the corpse, and uttered the formal words +of congratulation. Then when all, even to +the little girl who, grown to womanhood, +told me the story, had been through the +horrible ceremony, it was announced that +the master was dead,—that he had died +immediately after the return of the messenger +with the good tidings of pardon.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span> +All obstacles being thus removed, the funeral +was celebrated with due pomp and +circumstance; and the tombstone of the +daimiō to-day gives no hint of the disgrace +from which he so narrowly escaped.</p> + +<p>Another instance very similar, throwing +some light on the custom of adoption or +<i>yōshi</i>, referred to in a previous chapter, was +the case of a nobleman who died without +children, and without an heir appointed to +inherit his title. It would never have done, +in sending in the official notice of death, to +be unable to name the legal head of the +house and the successor to the title. There +was also no male relative to perform the +office of chief mourner at the funeral; and +so the death of the nobleman was kept +secret, and his house showed no signs of +mourning during a long period, until a +son satisfactory to all the members of the +household had been adopted. When the +legal notice of the adoption had been sent +in, and the son received into the family as +heir, then, and only then, was the death of +the lord announced, the period of mourning +begun, and the funeral ceremony performed.</p> + +<p>Upon one occasion I was visiting a Japanese +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span>lady, who knew the interest that I +took in seeing and procuring the old-fashioned +embroidered <i>kimonos</i>, which are now +entirely out of style in Japan, and which +can only be obtained at second-hand clothing +stores, or at private sale. My friend +said that she had just been shown an assortment +of old garments which were offered +at private sale by the heirs of a lady, +recently deceased, who had once been a +maid of honor in a daimiō's house. The +clothes were still in the house, and were +brought in, in a great basket, for my inspection. +Very beautiful garments they +were, of silk, crêpe, and linen, embroidered +elaborately, and in extremely good order. +Many of them seemed not to have been +worn at all, but had been kept folded away +for years, and only brought out when a fitting +occasion came round at the proper +season of the year. As we turned over the +beautiful fabrics, a black broadcloth garment +at the bottom of the basket aroused +my curiosity, and I pulled it out and held +it up for closer inspection. A curious garment +it was, bound with white, and with a +great white crest <i>appliqué</i> on the middle of +the back. Curious white stripes gave the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span> +coat a military look, and it seemed appropriate +rather to the wardrobe of some two-sworded +warrior than to that of a gentlewoman +of the old type. To the question, +How did such a coat come to be in such a +place? the older lady of the company—one +to whom the old days were still the +natural order and the new customs an exotic +growth—explained that the garment +rightfully belonged in the wardrobe of any +lady-in-waiting in a daimiō's house, for it +was made to wear in case of fire or attack +when the men were away, and the women +were expected to guard the premises. Further +search among the relics of the past +brought to light the rest of the costume: +silk <i>hakama</i>, or full kilted trousers; a stiff, +manlike black silk cap bound with a white +band; and a spear cover of broadcloth, with +a great white crest upon it, like the one on +the broadcloth coat. These made up the +uniform which must be donned in time of +need by the ladies of the palace or the +castle, for the defense of their lord's property. +They had been folded away for twenty +years among the embroidered robes, to +come to light at last for the purpose of +showing to a foreigner a phase of the old<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span> +life that was so much a matter of course to +the older Japanese that it never occurred +to them even to mention it to a stranger. +The elder lady of the house was wonderfully +amused at my interest in these mute +memorials of the past, and could never comprehend +why I was willing to expend the +sum of one dollar for the sake of gaining +possession of a set of garments for which I +could have no possible use. The uniform +had probably never been worn in actual +warfare, but its owner had been trained +in the use of the long-handled spear, the +cover of which she had kept stored away +all these years; and had regarded herself +as liable to be called into action at any +time as one of the home guard, when the +male retainers of her lord were in the field.</p> + +<p>There are in the shops of Tōkyō to-day +hundreds of colored prints illustrating the +splendor of the Shōgunate; for the fine +clothes, the pageants, the show and display +that ended with the fall of the house of +Tokugawa, are still dear to the popular +mind. In these one sees reproduced, in +more than their original brilliancy of coloring, +the daimiōs, with their trains of uniformed +retainers, proceeding in stately pageant +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span>to the palace of the Shōgun; the +games, the dances, the reviews held before +the Shōgun himself; the princess, with her +train of ladies and attendants, visiting the +cherry blossoms at Uyéno, or crossing some +swift but shallow river on her journey to +Yedo. There one sees the fleet of red-lacquered +pleasure barges in which the +Shōgun with his court sailed up the river +to Mukōjima, in the spring, to view the +cherry-trees which bloom along the banks +for miles. One sees, too, the interiors of +the daimiōs' houses, the intimate domestic +scenes into which no outsider could ever +penetrate. One picture shows the excitements +consequent upon the advent of an +heir to a noble house,—the happy mother +on her couch, surrounded by brightly +dressed ladies-in-waiting; the baby in the +room adjoining; another group of brilliant +beings preparing his bath; while down the +long piazza, which opens upon the little +courtyard in the centre of the house, one +sees still other groups of servants, bringing +the gifts with which the great mansion +is flooded at such a time. Still further +away, across the courtyard, are the doctors, +holding learned consultation around a little<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span> +table, and mixing medicines to secure the +health and strength of both mother and +baby.</p> + +<p>The fall of the Shōgunate, and the abolition +of castle and <i>yashiki</i>, have made a +radical change in the fashions of dress in +Japan. One sees no longer the beautiful +embroidered robes, except upon the stage, +for the abolition of the great leisure class +has put the flowered <i>kimono</i> out of fashion. +There are no courts, small and great, scattered +all through the country, where the +ladies must be dressed in changing styles +for the changing seasons, and where the +embroideries that imitate most closely the +natural flowers are sure of a market. +When one asks, as every foreigner is likely +to ask, the Japanese ladies of one's acquaintance, +"Why have you given up the +beautiful embroideries and gorgeous colors +that you used to wear?" the answer +always is, "There are no daimiōs' houses +now." And this is regarded as a sufficient +explanation of the change.<a name="APXanchor_192" id="APXanchor_192" href="#APX_192" class="apxanchor">[*]</a></p> + +<p>I have in my possession to-day two dainty +bits of the silk mosaic work before mentioned, +the work of the sixteen-year-old +wife of one of the proudest and most conservative +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span>of the present generation of nobles. +A dainty little creature she was, +with a face upon which her two years of +wifehood and one year of motherhood had +left no trace of care. Living amid her +host of ladies and women servants, most of +them older and wiser than herself; having +no care and no amusements save the easy +task of keeping herself pretty and well-dressed, +and the amusement of watching +her baby grow, and hearing the chance +rumors that might come to her from the +great new world into which her husband +daily went, but with which she herself +never mingled,—her days were one pleasant, +monotonous round, unawakening alike +either to soul or intellect. Into this life of +remoteness from all that belongs to the +new era, imagine the excitement produced +by the advent of a foreign lady, with an +educated dog, whose wonderful intelligence +had been already related to her by one of +her own ladies-in-waiting. I shall always +believe that my invitation into that exclusive +house was due largely to the reports +of my dog, carried to its proprietors by one +of the lady servitors who had seen him perform +upon one occasion. Certain it is that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span> +the first words of the little lady of the +house to me were a question about the dog; +and her last act of politeness to our party +was a warm embrace of the handsome +collie, who had given unimpeachable evidence +that he understood a great deal of +English,—a tongue which the daimiō himself +was painfully learning. The dainty +child-wife with both arms buried in the +heavy ruff of the astonished dog is a picture +that comes to me often, and that +brings up most pathetically the monotony +of an existence into which so small a thing +can bring so much. The lifelike black and +white silk puppy, the creeping baby doll +from Kyōto, the silk mosaic box and chopstick +case,—the work of my lady's delicate +fingers,—are most agreeable reminders +of the kindness and sweetness of the +little wife, whose sixteen summers have +been spent among the surroundings of +thirty years ago, and who lives, like the +enchanted princess of the fairy tales, +wrapped about by a spell which separates +her from the bustling world of to-day. The +product of the past,—the daughter of the +last of the Shōguns,—she dwells in her +enchanted house, among the relics of a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span> +past which is still the present to her and +to her household. So lovely, so æsthetic, +so dainty and charming seems the world +into which one enters there, that one +would not care to break the spell that +holds it as it is, and let the girl-wife, +with her gentlewomen and her kneeling +servants, hurry forward into the busy, +perplexing life of to-day. May time deal +gently with her and hers, nor rudely break +the enchantment that surrounds her!</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3><span class="smcap">Footnotes:</span></h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> <i>Yashiki</i>, or spread-out house, was the name given to +the palace and grounds of a daimiō's city residence, and +also to the barracks occupied by his retainers, both in +city and country. In the city the barracks of the samurai +were built as a hollow square, in the centre of which stood +the palace and grounds of their lord, and this whole place +was the daimiō's <i>yashiki</i>. In the castle towns the daimiō's +palace and gardens stood within the castle inclosure, surrounded +by a moat, while the <i>yashikis</i> of the samurai were +placed without the moat. They in turn were separated +from the business part of the village sometimes by a +second or third moat. By life in castle and <i>yashiki</i> we +mean the life of the daimiō, whether in city or country.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> The Japanese language is full of expressions showing +different shades of meaning in the politeness or respect +implied. There are words and expressions which superiors +in rank use to inferiors, or <i>vice versa</i>, and others used +among equals. Some phrases belong especially to the +language of the high-born, just as there are common expressions +of the people. Some verbs in this extremely +complex language must be altered in their termination +according to the degree of honor in which the subject of +the action is held in the speaker's mind.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> The establishment of the peeress' school, mentioned +in the last chapter, is a great innovation upon the old-time +ways of many of the aristocratic families.</p></div> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER VIII.<br /><br /> +<span class="sm">SAMURAI WOMEN.</span></h2> + +<p><span class="smcap">Samurai</span> was the name given to the +military class among the Japanese,—a +class intermediate between the Emperor +and his nobles and the great mass of the +common people who were engaged in agriculture, +mechanical arts, or trade. Upon +the samurai rested the defense of the +country from enemies at home or abroad, +as well as the preservation of literature +and learning, and the conduct of all official +business. At the time of the fall of +feudalism, there were, among the thirty-four +millions of Japanese, about two million +samurai; and in this class, in the +broadest sense of the word, must be included +the daimiōs, as well as their two-sworded +retainers. But as the greater +among the samurai were distinguished by +special class names, the word as commonly +used, and as used throughout this work,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span> +applies to the military class, who served +the Shōgun and the daimiōs, and who +were supported by yearly allowances from +the treasuries of their lords. These form +a distinct class, actuated by motives quite +different from those of the lower classes, +and filling a great place in the history of +the country. As the nobility, through long +inheritance of power and wealth, became +weak in body and mind, the samurai grew +to be, more and more, not only the sword, +but the brain of Japan; and to-day the +great work of bringing the country out of +the middle ages into the nineteenth century +is being performed by the samurai +more than by any other class.</p> + +<p>What, it may be asked, are the traits of +the samurai which distinguish them, and +make them such honored types of the perfect +Japanese gentleman, so that to live and +die worthy the name of samurai was the +highest ambition of the soldier? The samurai's +duty may be expressed in one word, +loyalty,—loyalty to his lord and master, and +loyalty to his country,—loyalty so true and +deep that for it all human ties, hopes, and +affections, wife, children, and home, must +be sacrificed if necessary. Those who have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span> +read the tale of "The Loyal Rōnins"<a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a>—a +story which has been so well told by Mitford, +Dickins, and Greey that many readers +must be already familiar with it—will +remember that the head councilor and +retainer, Oishi, in his deep desire for revenge +for his lord's unjust death, divorces +his wife and sends off his children, that they +may not distract his thoughts from his +plans; and performs his famous act of revenge +without once seeing his wife, only +letting her know at his death his faithfulness +to her and the true cause of his seeming +cruelty. And the wife, far from feeling +wronged by such an act, only glories in +the loyalty of her husband, who threw aside +everything to fulfill his one great duty, +even though she herself was his unhappy +victim.</p> + +<p>The true samurai is always brave, never +fearing death or suffering in any form. +Life and death are alike to him, if no disgrace +is attached to his name.</p> + +<p>An incident comes into my mind which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span> +may serve as an example of the samurai +spirit,—a spirit which has filled the history +of Japan with heroic deeds. It is the +story of a long siege, at the end of which +the little garrison in the besieged castle +was reduced to the last stages of endurance, +though hourly expecting reinforcement. +In this state of affairs, the great +question is, whether to wait for the expected +aid, or to surrender immediately, +and the answer to the question can only +be obtained through a knowledge of the +enemy's strength. At this juncture, one +of the samurai volunteers to steal into the +camp of the besiegers, inspect their forces, +and report their strength before the final +decision is made. He disguises himself, +and through various chances is able to +penetrate, unsuspected, into the midst of +the enemy's camp. He discovers that the +besiegers are so weak that they cannot +maintain the siege much longer, but while +returning to the castle he is recognized +and taken by the enemy. His captors give +him one chance for escape from the horrible +death of crucifixion. He is to go to +the edge of the moat, and, standing on an +elevated place, shout out to the soldiers<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span> +that they must surrender, for the forces are +too strong for them. He seemingly consents +to this, and, led down to the water's +edge, he sees across the moat his wife and +child, who greet him with demonstrations +of joy. To her he waves his hand; then, +bravely and loudly, so that it may be heard +by friend and foe, he shouts out the true +tidings, "Wait for reinforcement at any +cost, for the besiegers are weak and will +soon have to give up." At these words +his enraged enemies seize him and put +him to a death of horrible torture, but he +smiles in their faces as he tells them the +sweetness of such a sacrifice for his master. +Japanese history abounds with heroic +deeds of blood displaying the indomitable +courage of the samurai. In the reading of +them, we are often reminded of the Spartan +spirit of warfare, and samurai women +are in some ways very like those Spartan +mothers who would rather die than see +their sons branded as cowards.</p> + +<p>The implicit obedience which samurai +gave their lords, when conflicting with +feelings of loyalty to their country, often +produced two opposing forces which had +to be overcome. When the daimiō gave<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span> +orders that the keener-sighted retainer felt +would not be for the good of the house, +he had either to disobey his lord, or act +against his feeling of loyalty. Divided between +the two duties, the samurai would +usually do as he thought right for his +country or his lord, disobeying his master's +orders; write a confession of his real +motives; and save his name from disgrace +by committing suicide. By this act he +would atone for his disobedience, and his +loyalty would never be questioned.</p> + +<p>The now abolished custom of <i>hara-kiri</i>, +or the voluntary taking of one's life to +avoid disgrace, and blot out entirely or +partially the stain on an honorable name, +is a curious custom which has come down +from old times. The ancient heroes stabbed +themselves as calmly as they did their enemies, +and women as well as men knew +how to use the short sword<a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> worn always<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span> +at the side of the samurai, his last and +easy escape from shame.</p> + +<p>The young men of this class, as well as +their masters, the daimiōs, were early instructed +in the method of this self-stabbing, +so that it might be cleanly and easily +done, for a bloody and unseemly death +would not redound to the honor of the +suicide. The fatal cut was not instantaneous +in its effect, and there was always +opportunity for that display of courage—that +show of disregard for death or +pain—which was expected of the brave +man.</p> + +<p>The <i>hara-kiri</i> was of course a last resort, +but it was an honorable death. The vulgar +criminal must be put to death by the hands +of others, but the nobler samurai, who +never cares to survive disgrace, was condemned +to <i>hara-kiri</i> if found guilty of actions +worthy of death. Not to be allowed +to do this, but to be executed in the common +way, was a double disgrace to a samurai. +Even to this day, when crimes such +as the assassination of a minister of state +are committed, in the mistaken belief that +the act is for the good of the country, the +idea on the part of the assassin is never to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span> +escape detection. He calmly gives himself +up to justice or takes his own life,<a name="FNanchor_38_38" id="FNanchor_38_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> stating +his motive for the deed; and, believing +himself justified in the act, is willing that +his life should be the cost.</p> + +<p>The old samurai was proud of his rank, +his honorable vocation, his responsibility; +proud of his ignorance of trade and barter +and of his disregard for the sordid cares of +the world, regarding as far beneath him all +occupations but those of arms. Wealth, +as artisan or farmer, rarely tempted him +to sink into the lower ranks; and his support +from the daimiō, often a mere pittance, +insured to him more respect and +greater privileges than wealth as a héimin. +To this day even, this feeling exists. Preference +for rank or position, rather than +for mere salary, remains strongly among +the present generation, so that official positions +are more sought after than the more +lucrative occupations of trade. Japan<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span> +is flooded with small officials, and yet the +samurai now is obliged to lay down his +sword and devote his time to the once +despised trades, and to learn how important +are the arts of peace compared with +those of war.</p> + +<p>The dislike of anything suggestive of +trade or barter—of services and actions +springing, not from duty and from the +heart, but from the desire of gain—has +strongly tinted many little customs of the +day, often misunderstood and misconstrued +by foreigners. In old Japan, experience +and knowledge could not be bought and +sold. Physicians did not charge for their +services, but on the contrary would decline +to name or even receive a compensation +from those in their own clan. Patients, +on their side, were too proud to accept +services free, and would send to the physicians, +not as pay exactly, but more as +a gift or a token of gratitude, a sum +of money which varied according to the +means of the giver, as well as to the +amount of service received. Daimiōs did +not send to ask a teacher how much an +hour his time was worth, and then arrange +the lessons accordingly; the teacher was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span> +not insulted by being expected to barter +his knowledge for so much filthy lucre, +but was merely asked whether his time +and convenience would allow of his taking +extra teaching. The request was made, +not as a matter of give and take, but a +favor to be granted. Due compensation, +however, would never fail to be made,—of +this the teacher could be sure,—but no +agreement was ever considered necessary.</p> + +<p>With this feeling yet remaining in Japan,—this +dislike of contracts, and exact +charges for professional services,—we can +imagine the inward disgust of the samurai +at the business-like habits of the foreigners +with whom he has to deal. On the +other hand, his feelings are not appreciated +by the foreigner, and his actions clash with +the European and American ideas of independence +and self-respect. In Japan a +present of money is more honorable than +pay, whereas in America pay is much more +honorable than a present.</p> + +<p>The samurai of to-day is rapidly imbibing +new ideas, and is learning to see the +world from a Western point of view; but +his thoughts and actions are still moulded +on the ideas of old Japan, and it will be a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span> +long time before the loyal, faithful, but +proud spirit of the samurai will die out. +The pride of clan is now changed to pride +of race; loyalty to feudal chief has become +loyalty to the Emperor as sovereign; and +the old traits of character exist under the +European costumes of to-day, as under +the flowing robes of the two-sworded retainer.</p> + +<p>It is this same spirit of loyalty that +has made it hard for Christianity to get a +foothold in Japan. The Emperor was the +representative of the gods of Japan. To +embrace a new religion seemed a desertion +of him, and the following of the strange +gods of the foreigner. The work of the +Catholic missionaries which ended so disastrously +in 1637 has left the impression +that a Christian is bound to offer allegiance +to the Pope in much the same +way as the Emperor now receives it from +his people; and the bitterness of such +a thought has made many refuse to hear +what Christianity really is. Such words as +"King" and "Lord" they have understood +as referring to temporal things, and it +has taken years to undo this prejudice; a +feeling in no way surprising when we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span> +consider how the Jesuit missionaries once +interfered with political movements in +Japan.</p> + +<p>So bitter was this feeling, when Japan +was first opened, that a native Christian +was at once branded as a traitor to his +country, and very severe was the persecution +against all Christians. Missionaries +at one time dared not acknowledge themselves +as such, and lived in danger of their +lives; and the Japanese Christian who remained +faithful did so knowing that he +was despised and hated. I know of one +mother who, finding command and entreaty +alike unavailing to move her son, a +convert to the new religion, threatened to +commit suicide, feeling that the disgrace +which had fallen on the family could only +be wiped out with her death. Happily, all +this is of the past, and to-day the samurai +has found that he can reconcile the new +religion with his loyalty to Japan, and that +in receiving the one he is not led to betray +the other.</p> + +<p>The women of the samurai have shared +with the men the responsibilities of their +rank, and the pride that comes from hereditary +positions of responsibility. A woman's +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span>first duty in all ranks of society is +obedience; but sacrifice of self, in however +horrible a way, was a duty most cheerfully +and willingly performed, when by such sacrifice +father, husband, or son might be +the better able to fulfill his duty towards +his feudal superior. The women in the +daimiōs' castles who were taught fencing, +drilled and uniformed, and relied upon +to defend the castle in case of need, were +women of this class,—women whose husbands +and fathers were soldiers, and in +whose veins ran the blood of generations +of fighting ancestors. Gentle, feminine, +delicate as they were, there was a possibility +of martial prowess about them when +the need for it came; and the long education +in obedience and loyalty did not +fail to produce the desired results. Death, +and ignominy worse than death, could be +met bravely, but disgrace involving loss of +honor to husband or feudal lord was the +one thing that must be avoided at all hazards. +It was my good fortune, many years +ago, to make the acquaintance of a little +Japanese girl who had lived in the midst +of the siege of Wakamatsu, the city in +which the Shōgun's forces made their last<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span> +stand for their lord and the system that +he represented. As the Emperor's forces +marched upon the castle town, moat after +moat was taken,<a name="APXanchor_209" id="APXanchor_209" href="#APX_209" class="apxanchor">[*]</a> until at last men, women, +and children took refuge within the citadel +itself to defend it until the last gasp. The +bombs of the besiegers fell crashing into +the castle precincts, killing the women as +they worked at whatever they could do in +aid of the defenders; and even the little +girls ran back and forth, amid the rain of +bullets and balls, carrying cartridges, which +the women were making within the castle, +to the men who were defending the walls. +"Weren't you afraid?" we asked the delicate +child, when she told us of her own share +in the defense. "No," was the answer. A +small but dangerous sword, of the finest +Japanese steel, was shown us as the sword +that she wore in her belt during all those +days of war and tumult. "Why did you +wear the sword?" we asked. "So that I +would have it if I was taken prisoner." +"What would you have done with it?" was +the next question, for we could not believe +that a child of eight would undertake to +defend herself against armed soldiers with +that little sword. "I would have killed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span> +myself," was the answer, with a flash of +the eye that showed her quite capable of +committing the act in case of need.</p> + +<p>In the olden times, when the spirit of +warfare was strong and justice but scantily +administered, revenge for personal insult, +or for the death of father or lord, fell upon +the children, or the retainers. Sometimes +the bloody deed has fallen to the lot of a +woman, to some weak and feeble girl, who, +in many a tale, has braved all the difficulties +that beset a woman's path, devoted her +life to an act of vengeance, and, with the +courage of a man, has often successfully +consummated her revenge.</p> + +<p>One of the tales of old Japan, and a favorite +subject of theatrical representation, +is the death and revenge of a lady in a daimiō's +palace. Onoyé, a daughter of the +people, child of a merchant, has by chance +risen to the position of lady-in-waiting to a +daimiō's wife,—a thing so uncommon that +it has roused the jealousy of the other +ladies, who are of the samurai class. Iwafuji, +one of the highest and proudest ladies +at the court, takes pains on every occasion +to insult and torment the poor, unoffending +Onoyé, whom she cannot bear to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span> +have as an associate. She constantly reminds +her of her inferior birth, and at last +challenges her to a trial in fencing, in +which accomplishment Onoyé is not proficient, +having lacked the proper training +in her early life. At last the hatred and +anger of Iwafuji culminate in a frenzy of +rage; she forgets herself, and strikes the +meek and gentle Onoyé with her sandal,—the +worst insult that could be offered to +any one.</p> + +<p>Onoyé, overcome by this deep disgrace offered +her in public, returns from the main +palace to her own apartments, and ponders +long and deeply, in the bitterness of her +soul, how to wipe out the disgrace of an +insult by such an enemy.</p> + +<p>Her own faithful maid, seeing her disordered +hair and anxious looks, perceives +some secret trouble, which her mistress +will not disclose, and tries, while performing +her acts of service, to dispel the gloom +by telling gayly all the gossip of the day. +This maid, O Haru, is a type of the clever +faithful servant. She is really of higher +birth than her mistress, for, though she +has been obliged to go out to service, she +was born of a samurai family. Onoyé,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span> +while listening to the talk of her servant, +has made up her mind that only one thing +can blot out her disgrace, and that is to +commit suicide. She hastily pens a farewell +to her family, for the deed must not +be delayed, and sends with the letter the +token of her disgrace,—Iwafuji's sandal, +which she has kept. O Haru is sent on +this errand, and, unconscious of the ill-news +she is bearing, she starts out. On +the way, the ominous croak of the ravens, +who are making a dismal noise,—a presage +of ill-luck,—frightens the observant +O Haru. A little further on, the strap +of her clog breaks,—a still more alarming +sign. Thoroughly frightened, O Haru +turns back, and reaches her mistress' room +in time to find that the fatal deed is done, +and her mistress is dying. O Haru is +heart-broken, learns the whole truth, and +vows vengeance on the enemy of her loved +mistress.</p> + +<p>O Haru, unlike Onoyé, is thoroughly +trained in fencing. An occasion arises +when she returns to Iwafuji in public the +malicious blow, and with the same sandal, +which she has kept as a sign of her revenge. +She then challenges Iwafuji, in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span> +behalf of the dead, to a trial in fencing. +The haughty Iwafuji is forced to accept, +and is thoroughly defeated and shamed +before the spectators. The whole truth is +now made known, and the daimiō, who admires +and appreciates the spirit of O Haru, +sends for her, and raises her from her low +position to fill the post of her dead mistress.</p> + +<p>These stories show the spirit of the +samurai women; they can suffer death +bravely, even joyfully, at their own hands +or the hands of husband or father, to avoid +or wipe out any disgrace which they regard +as a loss of honor; but they will as +bravely and patiently subject themselves to +a life of shame and ignominy, worse than +death, for the sake of gaining for husband +or father the means of carrying out a feudal +obligation. There is a pathetic scene, in +one of the most famous of the Japanese historical +dramas, in which one seems to get +the moral perspective of the ideal Japanese +woman, as one cannot get it in any other +way. The play is founded on the story of +"The Loyal Rōnins," referred to in the beginning +of this chapter. The loyal rōnins +are plotting to avenge the death of their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span> +master upon the daimiō whose cupidity +and injustice have brought it about. As +there is danger of disloyalty even in their +own ranks, Oishi, the leader of the dead +daimiō's retainers, displays great caution +in the selection of his fellow-conspirators, +and practices every artifice to secure absolute +secrecy for his plans. One young +man, who was in disgrace with his lord at +the time of his death, applies to be admitted +within the circle of conspirators; +but as it is suspected that he may not be +true to the cause, a payment in money is +exacted from him as a pledge of his honorable +intentions. It is thus made his first +duty to redeem his honor from all suspicion +by the payment of the money, in order +that he may perform his feudal obligation +of avenging the death of his lord. But the +young man is poor; he has married a poor +girl, and has agreed to support not only his +wife, but her old parents as well, and the +payment is impossible for him. In this +emergency, his wife, at the suggestion of +her parents, proposes, as the only way, to +sell herself, for a term of two years, to +the proprietor of a house of pleasure, that +she may by this vile servitude enable her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span> +husband to escape the dishonor that must +come to him if he fails to fulfill his feudal +duty. Negotiations are entered into, +the contract is made, and an advance payment +is given which will furnish money +enough for the pledge required by the conspirators. +All this is done without the +knowledge of the husband, lest his love +for his wife and his grief for the sacrifice +prevent him from accepting the only +means left to prove his loyalty. The noble +wife even plans to leave her home while +he is away on a hunting expedition, and +so spare him the pain of parting. His +emotion upon learning of this venture in +business is not of wrath at the disgrace +that has overtaken his family, but simply +of grief that his wife and her parents must +make so great a sacrifice to save his honor. +It is a terrible affliction, but it is not a disgrace +in any way parallel to the disgrace +of disloyalty to his lord. And the heroic +wife, when the men come to carry her away, +is upheld through all the trying farewells +by the consciousness that she is making as +noble a sacrifice of herself as did the wife +of Yamato Daké when she leaped into the +sea to avert the wrath of the sea-god from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span> +her husband. The Japanese, both men +and women, knowing this story and many +others similar in character, can see, as we +cannot from our point of view, that, even if +the body be defiled, there is no defilement +of the soul, for the woman is fulfilling her +highest duty in sacrificing all, even her +dearest possession, for the honor of her +husband. It is a climax of self-abnegation +that brings nothing but honor to the soul +of her who reaches it. Japanese women +who read this story feel profound pity for +the poor wife, and a horror of a sacrifice +that binds her to a life which outwardly, +to the Japanese mind even, is the lowest +depth a woman ever reaches. But they do +not despise her for the act; nor would they +refuse to receive her even were she to appear +in living form to-day in any Japanese +home, where, thanks to happier fortunes, +such sacrifices are not demanded. Just +at this point is the difference of moral +perspective that foreigners visiting Japan +find so hard to understand, and that leads +many, who have lived in the country the +longest, to believe that there is no modesty +and purity among Japanese women. It is +this that makes it possible for the vilest<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span> +of stories, and those that have the least +foundation in fact, to find easy belief among +foreigners, even if they be told about the +purest, most high-minded, and most honorable +of Japanese women. Our maidens, as +they grow to womanhood, are taught that +anything is better than personal dishonor, +and their maidenly instincts side with the +teaching. With us, a virtuous woman does +not mean a brave, a heroic, an unselfish, or +self-sacrificing woman, but means simply +one who keeps herself from personal dishonor. +Chastity is the supreme virtue for +a woman; all other virtues are secondary +compared with it. This is our point of +view, and the whole perspective is arranged +with that virtue in the foreground. Dismiss +this for a moment, and consider the +moral training of the Japanese maiden. +From earliest youth until she reaches maturity, +she is constantly taught that obedience +and loyalty are the supreme virtues, +which must be preserved even at the sacrifice +of all other and lesser virtues. She is +told that for the good of father or husband +she must be willing to meet any danger, +endure any dishonor, perpetrate any crime, +give up any treasure. She must consider<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span> +that nothing belonging solely to herself is +of any importance compared with the good +of her master, her family, or her country. +Place this thought of obedience and loyalty, +to the point of absolute self-abnegation, in +the foreground, and your perspective is altered, +the other virtues occupying places of +varying importance. Because a Japanese +woman will sometimes sacrifice her personal +virtue for the sake of father or husband, +does it follow that all Japanese women are +unchaste and impure? In many cases this +sacrifice is the noblest that she believes +possible, and she goes to it, as she would +go to death in any dreadful form, for those +whom she loves, and to whom she owes the +duty of obedience. The Japanese maiden +grows to womanhood no less pure and +modest than our own girls, but our girls +are never called upon to sacrifice their modesty +for the sake of those whom they love +best; nor is it expected of any woman in +this country that she exist solely for the +good of some one else, in whatever way he +chooses to use her, during all the years of +her life. Let us take this difference into +our thought in forming our judgment, and +let us rather seek the causes that underlie<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span> +the actions than pass judgment upon the +actions themselves. From a close study of +the characters of many Japanese women +and girls, I am quite convinced that few +women in any country do their duty, as +they see it, more nobly, more single-mindedly, +and more satisfactorily to those about +them, than the women of Japan.</p> + +<p>Many argue that the purity of Japanese +women, as compared with the men, the +ready obedience which they yield, their +sweet characters and unselfish devotion as +wives and mothers, are merely the results +of the restraint under which they live, +and that they are too weak to be allowed +to enjoy freedom of thought and action. +Whether this be true or no is a point +which we leave for others to take up, as +time shall have provided new data for reasoning +on the subject.</p> + +<p>To me, the sense of duty seems to be +strongly developed in the Japanese women, +especially in those of the samurai +class. Conscience seems as active, though +often in a different manner, as the old-fashioned +New England conscience, transmitted +through the bluest of Puritan blood. And +when a duty has once been recognized as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span> +such, no timidity, or mortification, or fear +of ridicule will prevent the performance +of it. A case comes to my mind now of +a young girl of sixteen, who made public +confession before her schoolmates of shortcomings +of which none of them knew, for +the sake of easing her troubled conscience +and warning her schoolmates against similar +errors. The circumstances were as follows: +The young girl had recently lost her +grandmother, a most loving and affectionate +old lady, who had taken the place of +a mother to the child from her earliest +infancy. In a somewhat unhappy home, +the love of the old grandmother was the +one bright spot; and when she was taken +away, the poor, lonely child's memory recalled +all of her own shortcomings to this +beloved friend; and, too late to make amendment +to the old lady herself, she dwelt +on her own undutifulness, and decided that +she must by some means do penance, or +make atonement for her fault. She might, +if she made a confession before her schoolmates, +warn them against similar mistakes; +and accordingly she prepared, for the literary +society in which the girls took what +part they chose, a long confession, written<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span> +in poetical style, and read it before her +schoolmates and teachers. It was a terrible +ordeal, as one could see by the blushing +face and breaking voice, often choked +with sobs; and when at the conclusion she +urged her friends to behave in such a way +to their dear ones that they need never +suffer what she had had to endure since +her grandmother's death, there was not a +dry eye in the room, and many of the girls +were sobbing aloud. It was a curious expiation +and a touching one, but one not in +the least exceptional or uncharacteristic of +the spirit of duty that actuates the best +women of the samurai class.</p> + +<p>Here is another instance which illustrates +this sense of duty, and desire of +atoning for past mistakes or sins. At the +time of the overthrow of the feudal system, +the samurai, bred to loyalty to their +own feudal superiors as their highest duty, +found themselves ranged on different sides +in the struggle, according to the positions +in which their lords placed themselves. At +the end of the struggle, those who had +followed their daimiōs to the field, in defense +of the Shōgunate, found that they +had been fighting against the Emperor, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span> +Son of Heaven himself, who had at last +emerged from the seclusion of centuries to +govern his own empire. Thus the supporters +of the Shōgunate, while absolutely +loyal to their daimiōs, had been disloyal to +the higher power of the Emperor; and +had put themselves in the position of traitors +to their country. There was a conflict +of principles there somewhat similar to +that which took place in our Civil War, +when, in the South, he who was true to his +State became a traitor to his country, and +he who was true to his country became +a traitor to his State. Two ladies of the +finest samurai type had, with absolute loyalty +to a lost cause, aided by every means +in their power in the defense of the city of +Wakamatsu against the victorious forces +of the Emperor. They had held on to the +bitter end, and had been banished, with +others of their family and clan, to a remote +province, for some years after the end of +the war. In 1877, eleven years after the +close of the War of the Restoration, a rebellion +broke out in the south which required +a considerable expenditure of blood +and money for its suppression. When the +new war began, these two ladies presented<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span> +a petition to the government, in which +they begged that they might be allowed to +make amends for their former position of +opposition to the Emperor, by going with +the army to the field as hospital nurses. +At that time, no lady in Japan had ever +gone to the front to nurse the wounded +soldiers; but to those two brave women +was granted the privilege of making atonement +for past disloyalty, by the exercise of +the skill and nerve that they had gained in +their experience of war against the Emperor, +in the nursing of soldiers wounded +in his defense.<a name="APXanchor_223" id="APXanchor_223" href="#APX_223" class="apxanchor">[*]</a></p> + +<p>In the old days, the women of the samurai +class fulfilled most nobly the duties +that fell to their lot. As wives and mothers +in time of peace, they performed their +work faithfully in the quiet of their homes; +and, their time filled with household cares, +they busied themselves with the smaller +duties of life. As the wives and mothers +of soldiers, they cultivated the heroic spirit +befitting their position, fearing no danger +save such as involved disgrace. As the +home-guard in time of need, they stood +ready to defend their master's possessions +with their own lives; as gentlewomen and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span> +ladies-in-waiting at the court of the daimiō +or the Shōgun, they cultivated the arts +and accomplishments required for their +position, and veiled the martial spirit that +dwelt within them under an exterior as +feminine, as gracious, as cultivated and +charming, as that of any ladies of Europe +or America. To-day in the new Japan, +where the samurai have no longer their +yearly allowance from their lords and their +feudal duties, but, scattered through the +whole nation, are engaged in all the arts +and trades, and are infusing the old spirit +into the new life, what are the women +doing? As the government of the land +to-day lies in the hands of the samurai +men under the Emperor, so the progress +of the women, the new ideas of work for +women, are in the hands of the samurai +women, led by the Empress. Wherever +there is progress among the women, wherever +they are looking about for new opportunities, +entering new occupations, elevating +the home, opening hospitals, industrial +schools, asylums, there you will find +the leading spirits always of the samurai +class. In the recent changes, some of this +class have risen above their former state<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span> +and joined the ranks of the nobility; and +there the presence of the samurai spirit infuses +new life into the aristocracy. So, too, +the changes that have raised some have +lowered others, and the samurai is now to +be found in the formerly despised occupations +of trade and industry, among the +merchants, the farmers, the fishermen, the +artisans, and the domestic servants. But +wherever his lot is cast, the old training, +the old ideals, the old pride of family, still +keep him separate from his present rank, +and, instead of pulling him down to the +level of those about him, tend to raise that +level by the example of honor and intelligence +that he sets. The changed fortunes +were not met without a murmur. Most of +the outrages, the reactionary movements, +the riots and inflammatory speeches and +writings, that characterized the long period +of disquiet following the Restoration, came +from men of this class, who saw their support +taken from them, leaving them unable +to dig and ashamed to beg. But the +greater part of them went sturdily to work, +in government positions if they could get +them, in the army, on the police force, on +the farm, in the shop, at trades, at service,—even +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span>to the humble work of wheeling a +<i>jinrikisha</i>, if other honest occupation could +not be found; and the women shared patiently +and bravely the changed fortunes of +the men, doing whatever they could toward +bettering them. The samurai women to-day +are eagerly working into the positions +of teachers, interpreters, trained nurses, +and whatever other places there are which +may be honorably occupied by women. The +girls' schools, both government and private, +find many of their pupils among the +samurai class; and their deference and +obedience to their teachers and superiors, +their ambition and keen sense of honor in +the school-room, show the influence of the +samurai feeling over new Japan. To the +samurai women belongs the task—and +they have already begun to perform it—of +establishing upon a broader and surer +foundation the position of women in their +own country. They, as the most intelligent, +will be the first to perceive the +remedy for present evils, and will, if I +mistake not, move heaven and earth, at +some time in the near future, to have that +remedy applied to their own case. Most of +them read the literature of the day, some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span> +of them in at least one language beside +their own; a few have had the benefit of +travel abroad, and have seen what the home +and the family are in Christian lands. +There is as much of the unconquerable +spirit of the samurai to-day in the women +as in the men; and it will not be very long +before that spirit will begin to show itself +in working for the establishment of their +homes and families upon some stronger +basis than the will of the husband and +father.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3><span class="smcap">Footnotes:</span></h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> <i>Rōnin</i> was the term applied to a samurai who had +lost his master, and owed no feudal allegiance to any +daimiō. The exact meaning of the word is <i>wave-man</i>, +signifying one who wanders to and fro without purpose, +like a wave driven by the wind.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> The samurai always wore two swords, a long one for +fighting only, and a short one for defense when possible, +but, as a last resort, for <i>hara-kiri</i>. The sword is the emblem +of the samurai spirit, and as such is respected and +honored. A samurai took pride in keeping his swords as +sharp and shining as was possible. He was never seen +without the two swords, but the longer one he removed +and left at the front door when he entered the house of a +friend. To use a sword badly, to harm or injure it, or to +step over it, was considered an insult to the owner.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> Kurushima, who attempted to take the life of Okuma, +the late Minister of Foreign Affairs, as recently as 1889, +committed suicide immediately after throwing the dynamite +bomb which caused the minister the loss of his leg. +This was the more remarkable in that, at the time of his +death, the assassin supposed that his victim had escaped +all injury.</p></div> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER IX.<br /><br /> +<span class="sm">PEASANT WOMEN.</span></h2> + +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> great héimin class includes not +only the peasants of Japan, but also the +artisans and merchants; artisans ranking +below farmers, and merchants below artisans, +in the social structure. It includes +the whole of the common people, except +such as were in former times altogether +below the level of respectability, the <i>éta</i> +and <i>hinin</i>,<a name="FNanchor_39_39" id="FNanchor_39_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a>—outcasts who lived by begging, +slaughtering animals, caring for dead +bodies, tanning skins, and other employments +which rendered them unclean according +to the old notions. From very +early times the agricultural class has been +sharply divided from the samurai or military. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span>Here and there one from the peasantry +mounts by force of his personal qualities +into the higher ranks, for there is no +caste system that prevents the passing +from one class into another,—only a class +prejudice that serves very nearly the same +purpose, in keeping samurai and héimin in +their places, that the race prejudice in this +country serves in confining the negroes, +North and South, to certain positions and +occupations. The first division of the military +from the peasantry occurred in the +eighth century, and since then the peculiar +circumstances of each class have tended to +produce quite different characteristics in +persons originally of the same stock. To +the soldier class have fallen learning, skill +in arms and horsemanship, opportunities +to rise to places of honor and power, lives +free from sordid care in regard to the +daily rice, and in which noble ideas of duty +and loyalty can spring up and bear fruit in +heroic deeds. To the peasant, tilling his +little rice-field year after year, have come +the heavy burdens of taxation; the grinding +toil for a mere pittance of food for +himself and his family; the patient bearing +of all things imposed by his superiors, with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span> +little hope of gain for himself, whatever +change the fortunes of war may bring to +those above him in the social scale. Is +there wonder that, as the years have gone +by, his wits have grown heavy under his +daily drudgery; that he knows little and +understands less of the changes that are +taking place in his native land; that he is +easily moved by only one thing, and that +the failure of his crops, or the shortening +of his returns from his land by heavier +taxation? This is true of the héimin as a +class: they are conservative, fearing that +change will but tend to make harder a lot +that is none too easy; and though peaceable +and gentle usually, they may be moved +to blind acts of riot and bloodshed by any +political change that seems likely to produce +heavier taxation, or even by a failure +of their crops, when they see themselves +and their families starving while the military +and official classes have enough and +to spare. But though, as a class, the farmers +are ignorant and heavy, they are seldom +entirely illiterate; and everywhere, +throughout the country, one finds men belonging +to this class who are well educated +and have risen to positions of much responsibility +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span>and power, and are able to hold +their own, and think for themselves and +for their brethren. From an article in the +"Tōkyō Mail," entitled "A Memorialist of +the Latter Days of the Tokugawa Government," +I quote passages which show the +thoughts of one of the héimin upon the +condition of his own class about the year +1850. It is from a petition sent to the +Shōgun by the head-man of the village of +Ogushi.</p> + +<p>The first point in the petition is, that +there is a growing tendency to luxury +among the military and official classes. +"It is useless to issue orders commanding +peasants and others to be frugal and industrious, +when those in power, whose +duty it is to show a good example to the +people, are themselves steeped in luxury +and idleness." He ventures to reproach +the Shōguns themselves by pointing to the +extravagance with which they have decorated +the mausoleums at Nikkō and elsewhere. +"Is this," he asks, "in keeping +with the intentions of the glorious founder +of your dynasty? Look at the shrines in +Isé and elsewhere, and at the sepulchres of +the Emperors of successive ages. Is gold +or silver used in decorating them?" He<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span> +then turns to the vassals of the Shōgun, +and charges them with being tyrannical, +rapacious, and low-minded. "Samurai," +he continues,—"samurai are finely attired, +but how contemptible they look in the eyes +of those peasants who know how to be contented +with what they have!"</p> + +<p>Further on in the same memorial, he +points out what he regards as a grave mistake +in the policy of the Shōgun. A decree +had just been issued prohibiting the +peasantry from exercising themselves with +sword-play, and from wearing swords. Of +this he says: "Perhaps this decree may +have been issued on the supposition that +Japan is naturally impregnable and defended +on all sides. But when she receives +insult from a foreign country, it may become +necessary to call on the militia. And +who knows that men of extraordinary military +genius, like Toyotomi,<a name="FNanchor_40_40" id="FNanchor_40_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> will not again +appear among the lower classes?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span></p><p>He ends his memorial with this warning: +"Should the Shōgun's court, and the +military class in general, persist in the +present oppressive way of government, Heaven +will visit this land with still greater +calamities. If this circumstance is not +clearly kept in view, the consequence may +be civil disturbance. I, therefore, beseech +that the instructions of the glorious founder +of the dynasty be acted upon; that +simplicity and frugality be made the guiding +principle of administration; and that +a general amnesty be proclaimed, thereby +complying with the will of Heaven and placating +the people. Should these humble +suggestions of mine be acted upon, prospective +calamities will fly before the light +of virtue. Whether the country is to be +safe or not depends upon whether the administration +is carried on with mercy or +not. What I pray for is, that the country +may enjoy peace and tranquillity, that the +harvest may be plentiful, and that the people +may be happy and prosperous."</p> + +<p>One is able to see, by this rather remarkable +document, that the peasants of +Japan, though frequently almost crushed +by the heavy burdens of taxation, do not,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span> +even in the most grinding poverty, lose +entirely that independence of thought and +of action which is characteristic of their +nation. They do not consider themselves +as a servile class, nor their military rulers +as beyond criticism or reproach, but are +ready to speak boldly for their rights whenever +an opportunity occurs. There is a +pathetic story, told in Mitford's "Tales of +Old Japan," of a peasant, the head-man of +his village, who goes to Yedo to present +to the Shōgun a complaint, on behalf of +his fellow-villagers, of the extortions and +exactions of his daimiō. He is unable to +get any one to present his memorial to the +Shōgun, so at last he stops the great lord's +palanquin in the street,—an act in itself +punishable with death,—and thrusts the +paper forcibly into his hand. The petition +is read, and his fellow-villagers saved from +further oppression, but the head-man, for +his daring, is condemned by his own daimiō +to suffer death by crucifixion,—a fate +which he meets with the same heroism +with which he dared everything to save his +fellows from suffering.</p> + +<p>The peasant, though ignorant and oppressed, +has not lost his manhood; has not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span> +become a slave or a serf, but clings to his +rights, so far as he knows what they are; +and is ready to hold his own against all +comers, when the question in debate is one +that appeals to his mind. The rulers of +Japan have always the peasantry to reckon +with when their ruling becomes unjust or +oppressive. They cannot be cowed, though +they may be misled for a time, and they +form a conservative element that serves to +hold in check too hasty rulers who would +introduce new measures too quickly, and +would be likely to find the new wine bursting +the old bottles, as well as to prevent +any rash extravagance in the way of personal +expenditure on the part of government +officials. The influence of this great +class will be more and more felt as the +new parliamentary institutions gain in +power, and a more close connection is established +between the throne and public +opinion.</p> + +<p>In considering this great héimin class, +it is well to remember that the artisans, +who form so large a part of it, are also the +artists who have made the reputation of +Japan, in Europe and America, as one of +the countries where art and the love of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span> +beauty in form and color are still instinct +with life. The Japanese artisan works +with patient toil, and with the skill and +originality of the artist, to produce something +that shall be individual and his own; +not simply to make, after a pattern, some +utensil or ornament for which he cares +nothing, so long as a purchaser can be +found for it, or an employer can be induced +to pay him money for making it. It seems +as easy for the Japanese to make things +pretty and in good taste, even when they +are cheap and only used by the poorer +people, as it is for American mills and +workers to turn out endless varieties of attempts +at decoration,—all so hideous that +a poor person must be content, either to be +surrounded by the worst possible taste, or +to purchase only such furnishings and +utensils as are entirely without decoration +of any kind. "Cheap" and "nasty" have +come to be almost synonymous words with +us, for the reason that taste in decoration +is so rare that it commands a monopoly +price, and can only be procured by the +wealthy. In Japan this is not the case, +for the cheapest of things may be found in +graceful and artistic designs,—indeed can<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span> +hardly be found in any designs that are not +graceful and artistic; and the poorest and +commonest of the people may have about +them the little things that go to cultivate +the æsthetic part of human nature. It +was not the costly art of Japan that interested +me the most, although that is, of +course, the most wonderful proof of the +capacity and patience of individuals among +this héimin class: but it was the common, +cheap, every-day art that meets one at +every turn; the love for the beautiful, in +both nature and art, that belongs to the +common coolie as well as to the nobleman. +The cheap prints, the blue and white towels, +the common teacups and pots, the +great iron kettles in use over the fire in +the farmhouse kitchen,—all these are +things as pretty and tasteful in their way +as the rich crêpes, the silver incense burners, +the delicate porcelain, and the elegant +lacquer that fill the storehouse of the daimiō; +and they show, much more conclusively +than these costlier things, the universal +sense of beauty among the people.</p> + +<p>The artisan works at his home, helped +less often by hired laborers than by his +own children, who learn the trade of their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span> +father; and his house, though small, is +clean and tasteful, with its soft mats, its +dainty tea service, its little hanging scroll +upon the walls, and its vase of gracefully +arranged flowers in the corner; for flowers, +even in winter and in the great city of +Tōkyō, are so cheap that they are never +beyond the reach of the poorest. In homes +that seem to the foreign mind utterly +lacking in the comforts and even the necessities +of life, one finds the few furnishings +and utensils beautiful in shape and +decoration; and the money that in this +country must be spent in beds, tables, and +chairs can be used for the purchase of +<i>kakémonos</i>, flowers, and vases, and for various +gratifications of the æsthetic taste. +Hence it is that the Japanese laborer, who +lives on a daily wage which would reduce +an American or European to the verge of +starvation, finds both time and money for +the cultivation of that sense of beauty +which is too often crushed completely out +of the lower classes by the burdens of this +nineteenth century civilization which they +bear upon their shoulders. To the Japanese, +the "life is more than meat," it is +beauty as well; and this love of beauty has<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span> +upon him a civilizing and refining effect, +and makes him in many ways the superior +of the American day-laborer.<a name="APXanchor_239" id="APXanchor_239" href="#APX_239" class="apxanchor">[*]</a></p> + +<p>The peasants and farmers of Japan, +thrifty and hard-working as they are, are +not by any means a prosperous class. As +one passes into the country districts from +the large cities, there seems to be a conspicuous +dearth of neat, pleasant homes,—a +lack of the comforts and necessities +of life such as are enjoyed by city people. +The rich farmers are scarce, and the laborers +in the rice-fields hardly earn, from days +of hardest toil with the rudest implements, +the little that will provide for their +families. In the face of heavy taxes, the +incessant toil, the frequent floods of late +years, and the threatening famine, one +would expect the poor peasants to be a +most discouraged and unhappy class. That +all this toil and anxiety does wear on them is +no doubt true, but the laborers are always +ready to bear submissively whatever comes, +and are always hopeful and prepared to enjoy +life again in happier times. The charms +of the city tempt them sometimes to exchange +their daily labor for the excitement +of life as <i>jinrikisha</i> men; but in any case<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span> +they will be perfectly independent, and ask +no man for their daily rations.</p> + +<p>Although there is much poverty, there +are few or no beggars in Japan, for both +strong and weak find each some occupation +that brings the little pittance required +to keep soul and body together, and gives +to all enough to make them light-hearted, +cheerful, and even happy. From the rich +farmer, whose many acres yield enough to +provide for a home of luxury quite as fine +as the city homes, to the poor little vender +of sticks of candy, around whose store the +children flock like bees with their rin and +sen, all seem independent, contented, and +satisfied with their lot in life.</p> + +<p>The religious beliefs of old Japan are +stronger to-day among the country people +than among the dwellers in cities. And +they are still willing to give of their substance +for the aid of the dying faiths to +which they cling, and to undertake toilsome +pilgrimages to obtain some longed-for +blessing from the gods whom they +serve. A great Buddhist temple is being +built in Kyōtō to-day, from the lofty ceiling +of which hangs a striking proof of the +devotion of some of the peasant women<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span> +to the Buddhist faith. The whole temple, +with its immense curved roof, its vast +proportions, and its marvelous wood carvings, +has been built by offerings of labor, +money, and materials made by the faithful. +The great timbers were given and brought +to the spot by the countrymen; and the +women, wishing to have some part in the +sacred work, cut off their abundant hair, +a beauty perhaps more prized by the Japanese +women than by those of other countries, +and from the material thus obtained +they twisted immense cables, to be used in +drawing the timbers from the mountains +to the site of the temple. The great black +cables hang in the unfinished temple to-day, +a sign of the devotion of the women +who spared not their chief ornament in the +service of the gods in whom they still believe. +And a close scrutiny of these touching +offerings shows that the glossy black +locks of the young women are mingled +with the white hairs of those who, by this +sacrifice, hope to make sure of a quick and +easy departure from a life already near its +close.</p> + +<p>All along the Tōkaidō, the great road +from Tōkyō to Kyōto, in the neighborhood<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span> +of some holy place, or in the district around +the great and sacred Fuji, the mountain so +much beloved and honored in Japanese art, +will be seen bands of pilgrims slowly walking +along the road, their worn and soiled +white garments telling of many days' weary +march. Their large hats shield them from +the sun and the rain, and the pieces of +matting slung over their backs serve them +for beds to sleep on, when they take shelter +for the night in rude huts. The way up the +great mountain of Fuji is lined with these +pilgrims; for to attain its summit, and +worship there the rising sun, is believed +to be the means of obtaining some special +blessing. Among these religious devotees, +in costumes not unlike those of the men, +under the same large hat and coarse matting, +old women often are seen, their aged +faces belying their apparent vigor of body, +as they walk along through miles and miles +of country, jingling their bells and holding +their rosaries until they reach the shrine, +where they may ask some special blessing +for their homes, or fulfill some vow already +made.<a name="APXanchor_242" id="APXanchor_242" href="#APX_242" class="apxanchor">[*]</a></p> + +<p>Journeying through rural Japan, one is +impressed by the important part played by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span> +women in the various bread-winning industries. +In the village homes, under the +heavily thatched roofs, the constant struggle +against poverty and famine will not +permit the women to hold back, but they +enter bravely into all the work of the men. +In the rice-field the woman works side by +side with the man, standing all day up to +her knees in mud, her dress tucked up and +her lower limbs encased in tight-fitting, +blue cotton trousers, planting, transplanting, +weeding, and turning over the evil-smelling +mire, only to be distinguished from +her husband by her broader belt tied in a +bow behind. In mountain regions we meet +the women climbing the steep mountain +roads, pruning-hook in hand, after wood for +winter fires; or descending, towards night, +carrying a load that a donkey need not be +ashamed of, packed on a frame attached +to the shoulders, or poised lightly upon a +straw mat upon the head. There is one +village near Kyōto, Yasé by name, at the +base of Hiyéi Zan, the historic Buddhist +stronghold, where the women attain a +stature and muscular development quite +unique among the pigmy population of the +island empire. Strong, jolly, red-cheeked<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span> +women they are, showing no evidence of +the shrinking away with the advance of +old age that is characteristic of most of +their countrywomen. With their tucked-up +<i>kimonos</i> and blue cotton trousers, they +stride up and down the mountain, carrying +the heaviest and most unwieldy of burdens +as lightly and easily as the ordinary woman +carries her baby. My first acquaintance +with them was during a camping expedition +upon the sacred mountain. I myself +was carried up the ascent by two small, +nearly naked, finely tattooed and moxa-scarred +men; but my baggage, consisting +of two closely packed hampers as large as +ordinary steamer trunks, was lifted lightly +to the heads of these feminine porters, and, +poised on little straw pads, carried easily +up the narrow trail, made doubly difficult +by low-hanging branches, to the camp, a +distance of three or four miles. From +among these women of Yasé, on account +of their remarkable physical development, +have been chosen frequently the nurses for +the imperial infants; an honor which the +Yasé villagers duly appreciate, and which +makes them bear themselves proudly among +their less favored neighbors.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span></p><p>In other parts of the country, in the +neighborhood of Nikkō, for instance, the +care of the horses, mild little pack-mares +that do much of the burden-bearing in +those mountains, is mainly in the hands of +the women. At Nikkō, when we would hire +ponies for a two days' expedition to Yumoto, +a little, elderly woman was the person +with whom our bargains were made; +and a close bargainer she proved to be, taking +every advantage that lay in her power. +When the caravan was ready to start, we +found that, though each saddle-horse had +a male groom in attendance, the pack-ponies +on which our baggage was carried +were led by pretty little country girls of +twelve or fourteen, their bright black eyes +and red cheeks contrasting pleasantly with +the blue handkerchiefs that adorned their +heads; their slender limbs encased in blue +cotton, and only their red sashes giving any +hint of the fact that they belonged to the +weaker sex. As we journeyed up the rough +mountain roads, the little girls kept along +easily with the rest of the party; leading +their meek, shock-headed beasts up the slippery +log steps, and passing an occasional +greeting with some returning pack-train,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span> +in which the soft black eyes and bits of +red about the costume of the little grooms +showed that they, too, were mountain maidens, +returning fresh and happy after a two +days' tramp through the rocky passes.</p> + +<p>In the districts where the silkworm is +raised, and the silk spun and woven, the +women play a most important part in this +productive industry. The care of the +worms and of the cocoons falls entirely +upon the women, as well as the spinning +of the silk and the weaving of the cloth. +It is almost safe to say that this largest +and most productive industry of Japan is +in the hands of the women; and it is to +their care and skill that the silk product +of the islands is due. In the silk districts +one finds the woman on terms of equality +with the man, for she is an important factor +in the wealth-producing power of the family, +and is thus able to make herself felt +as she cannot when her work is inferior to +that of the men. As a farmer, as a groom, +or as a porter, a woman is and must remain +an inferior, but in the care of the silkworms, +and all the tasks that belong to silk +culture, she is the equal of the stronger +sex.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span></p><p>Then, again, in the tea districts, the tea +plantations are filled with young girls and +old women, their long sleeves held back by +a band over the shoulder, and a blue towel +gracefully fastened over their heads to +keep off the sun and the dust. They pick +busily away at the green, tender leaves, +which will soon be heated and rolled by +strong men over the charcoal fire. The +occupation is an easy one, only requiring +care in the selection of leaves to be picked, +and can be performed by young girls and +old women, who gather the glossy leaves +in their big baskets, while chatting to +each other over the gossip and news of the +day.</p> + +<p>In the hotels, both in the country and +the city, women play an important part. +The attendants are usually sweet-faced, +prettily dressed girls, and frequently the +proprietor of the hotel is a woman. My +first experience of a Japanese hotel was at +Nara, anciently the capital of Japan, and +now a place of resort because of its fine old +temples, its Dai Butsu, and its beautiful +deer park. The day's ride in <i>jinrikisha</i> +from Ōsaka had brought our party in very +tired, only to find that the hotel to which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span> +we had telegraphed for rooms was already +filled to overflowing by a daimiō and his +suite. Not a room could be obtained, and +we were at last obliged to walk some distance, +for we had dismissed our tired <i>jinrikisha</i> +men, to a hotel in the village, of +which we knew nothing. What with fatigue +and disappointment, we were not prepared +to view the unknown hotel in a very +rosy light; and when our guide pointed to +a small gate leading into a minute, damp +courtyard, we were quite convinced that +the hardships of travel in Japan were now +about to begin; but disappointment gave +way to hope, when we were met at the +door by a buxom landlady, whose smile +was in itself a refreshment. Although we +had little in the way of language in common, +she made us feel at home at once, +took us to her best room, sent her blooming +and prettily dressed daughters to bring +us tea and whatever other refreshments +the mysterious appetite of a foreigner +might require, and altogether behaved toward +us in such motherly fashion that fatigue +and gloom departed forthwith, leaving +us refreshed and cheerful. Soon we +began to feel rested, and our kind friend,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span> +seeing this, took us upon a tour around the +house, in which room after room, spotless, +empty, with shining woodwork and softest +of mats, showed the good housekeeping of +our hostess. A little garden in the centre +of the house, with dwarf trees, moss-covered +stones, and running water, gave it an +air of coolness on the hot July day that was +almost deceptive; and the spotless wash-room, +with its great stone sink, its polished +brass basins, its stone well-curb, half in +and half out of the house, was cool and +clean and refreshing merely to look at. A +two days' stay in this hotel showed that the +landlady was the master of the house. Her +husband was about the house constantly, as +were one or two other men, but they all +worked under the direction of the energetic +head of affairs. She it was who managed +everything, from the cooking of the meals +in the kitchen to the filling and heating of +the great bath-tub into which the guests +were invited to enter every afternoon, one +after the other, in the order of their rank. +On the second night of my stay, at a late +hour, when I supposed that the whole +house had retired to rest, I crept softly out +of my room to try to soothe the plaintive<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span> +wails of my dog, who was complaining bitterly +that he was made to sleep in the +wood-cellar instead of in his mistress's +room, as his habit had always been. As I +stole quietly along, fearing lest I should +arouse the sleeping house, I heard the inquiring +voice of my landlady sound from +the bath-room, the door of which stood +wide open. Afraid that she would think +me in mischief if I did not show myself, I +went to the door, to find her, after her +family was safely stowed away for the night, +taking her ease in the great tub of hot +water, and so preparing herself for a sound, +if short, night's sleep. She accepted my +murmured <i>Inu</i> (dog) as an excuse, and +graciously dismissed me with a smile, and +I returned to my room feeling safe under +the vigilant care that seemed to guard +the house by night as well as by day. I +have seen many Japanese hotels and many +careful landladies since, but no one among +them all has made such an impression as +my pleasant hostess at Nara.</p> + +<p>Not only hotels, but little tea-houses all +through Japan, form openings for the business +abilities of women, both in country +and city. Wherever you go, no matter how<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span> +remote the district or how rough the road, +at every halting point you find a tea-house. +Sometimes it is quite an extensive restaurant, +with several rooms for the entertainment +of guests, and a regular kitchen +where fairly elaborate cooking can be done; +sometimes it is only a rough shelter, at one +end of which water is kept boiling over a +charcoal brazier, while at the other end a +couple of seats, covered with mats or a scarlet +blanket or two, serve as resting-places +for the patrons of the establishment. But +whatever the place is, there will be one +woman or more in attendance; and if you +sit down upon the mats, you will be served +at once with tea, and later, should you require +more, with whatever the establishment +can afford,—it may be only a slice of +watermelon, or a hard pear; it may be eels +on rice, vermicelli, egg soup, or a regular +dinner, should the tea-house be one of the +larger and more elaborately appointed ones. +When the feast is over, the refreshments +you have especially ordered are paid for in +the regular way; but for the tea and sweetmeats +offered, for which no especial charge +is made, you are expected to leave a small +sum as a present. In the less aristocratic<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span> +resting-places, a few cents for each person +is sufficient to leave on the waiter with the +empty cups of tea, for which loud and grateful +thanks will be shouted out to the retiring +party.</p> + +<p>In the regular inn, the <i>chadai</i><a name="FNanchor_41_41" id="FNanchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a> amounts +to several dollars, for a party remaining +any time, and it is supposed to pay for all +the extra services and attention bestowed +on guests by the polite host and hostess +and the servants in attendance. The <i>chadai</i>, +done up neatly in paper, with the words +<i>On chadai</i> written on it, is given with as +much formality as any present in Japan. +The guest claps his hands to summon the +maid. When it is heard, for the thin paper +walls of a Japanese house let through +every noise, voices from all sides will shout +out <i>Hē´-hē´</i>, or <i>Hai</i>, which means that you +have been heard, and understood. Presently +a maid will softly open your door, +and with head low down will ask what +you wish. You tell her to summon the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span> +landlord. In a few moments he appears, +and you push the <i>chadai</i> to him, making +some conventional self-depreciating +speech, as, "You have done a great deal +for our comfort, and we wish to give you +this <i>chadai</i>, though it is only a trifle." +The landlord, with every expression of surprise, +will bow down to the ground with +thanks, raising the small package to his +head in token of acceptance and gratitude, +and will murmur in low tones how little +he has done for the comfort of his guests; +and then, the self-depreciation and formal +words of thanks on his side being ended, +he will finally go down stairs to see how +much he has gotten. But, whether more +or less than he had expected, nothing but +extreme gratitude and politeness appears +on his face as he presents a fan, confectionery, +or some trifle, as a return for the +<i>chadai</i>, and speeds the parting guests with +his lowest bow and kindliest smile, after +having seen to every want that could be +attended to.</p> + +<p>Once, at Nikkō, I started with a friend +for a morning walk to a place described in +the guide-book. The day was hot and the +guide-book hazy, and we lost the road to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span> +the place for which we had set out, but +found ourselves at last in a beautiful garden, +with a pretty lake in its centre, a little +red-lacquered shrine reflected in the +lake, and a tea-house hospitably open at +one side. The teakettle was boiling over +the little charcoal fire; melons, eggs, and +various unknown comestibles were on the +little counter; but no voice bade us welcome +as we approached, and when we sat +down on the edge of the piazza, we could +see no one within the house. We waited, +however, for the day was hot, and time is +not worth much in rural Japan. Pretty +soon a small, wizened figure made its appearance +in the distance, hurrying and +talking excitedly as it came near enough +to see two foreign ladies seated upon the +piazza. Many bows and profuse apologies +were made by the little old woman, who +seemed to be the solitary occupant of the +pretty garden, and who had for the moment +deserted her post to do the day's marketing +in the neighboring village. The +apologies having been smilingly received, +the old lady set herself to the task of +making her guests comfortable. First she +brought two tumblers of water, cold as ice,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span> +from the spring that gushed out of a great +rock in the middle of the little lake. Then +she retired behind a screen and changed +her dress, returning speedily to bring us +tea. Then she retreated to her diminutive +kitchen, and presently came back smiling, +bearing eight large raw potatoes on a tray. +These she presented to us with a deep bow, +apparently satisfied that she had at last +brought us something we would be sure +to like. We left the potatoes behind us +when we went away, and undoubtedly the +old lady is wondering still over the mysterious +ways of the foreigners, as we are +over those of the Japanese tea-house keepers.</p> + +<p>One summer, when I was spending a +week at a Japanese hotel at quite a fashionable +seaside resort, I became interested +in a little old woman who visited the hotel +daily, carrying, suspended by a yoke from +her shoulders, two baskets of fruit, which +she sold to the guests of the hotel. As I +was on the ground floor, and my room was, +in the daytime, absolutely without walls +on two sides, she was my frequent visitor, +and, for the sake of her pleasant ways +and cheerful smiles, I bought enough hard<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span> +pears of her to have given the colic to an +elephant. One day, after her visit to me, +as I was sitting upon the matted and roofed +square that served me for a room, my eye +wandered idly toward the bathing beach, +and, under the slight shelter where the +bathers were in the habit of depositing +their sandals and towels, I spied the well-known +yoke and fruit baskets, as well as a +small heap of blue cotton garments that I +knew to be the clothing of the little fruit-vender. +She had evidently taken a moment +when trade was slack to enjoy a dip +in the soft, blue, summer sea. Hardly had +I made up my mind as to the meaning of +the fruit baskets and the clothing, when +our little friend herself emerged from the +sea and, sitting down on a bench, proceeded +to rub herself off with the small +but artistically decorated blue towel that +every peasant in Japan has always with +him, however lacking he may be in all +other appurtenances of the toilet. As she +sat there, placidly rubbing away, a friend +of the opposite sex made his appearance +on the scene. I watched to see what she +would do, for the Japanese code of etiquette +is quite different from ours in such<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span> +a predicament. She continued her employment +until he was quite close, showing +no unseemly haste, but continuing her polishing +off in the same leisurely manner in +which she had begun it; then at the proper +moment she rose from her seat, bowed +profoundly, and smilingly exchanged the +greetings proper for the occasion, both +parties apparently unconscious of any lack +in the toilet of the lady. The male friend +then passed on about his business; the little +woman completed her toilet without +further interruptions, shouldered her yoke, +and jogged cheerfully on to her home in +the little village, a couple of miles away.</p> + +<p>As one travels through rural Japan in +summer and sees the half-naked men, women, +and children that pour out from every +village on one's route and surround the +<i>kuruma</i> at every stopping place, one sometimes +wonders whether there is in the +country any real civilization, whether these +half-naked people are not more savage than +civilized; but when one finds everywhere +good hotels, scrupulous cleanliness in all +the appointments of toilet and table, polite +and careful service, honest and willing performance +of labor bargained for, together<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span> +with the gentlest and pleasantest of manners, +even on the part of the gaping crowd +that shut out light and air from the traveling +foreigner who rests for a moment at +the village inn, one is forced to reconsider +a judgment formed only upon one peculiarity +of the national life, and to conclude +that there is certainly a high type of civilization +in Japan, though differing in many +important particulars from our own. A +careful study of the Japanese ideas of decency, +and frequent conversation with refined +and intelligent Japanese ladies upon +this subject, has led me to the following +conclusion. According to the Japanese +standard, any exposure of the person that +is merely incidental to health, cleanliness, +or convenience in doing necessary work, +is perfectly modest and allowable; but an +exposure, no matter how slight, that is +simply for show, is in the highest degree +indelicate. In illustration of the first part +of this conclusion, I would refer to the +open bath-houses, the naked laborers, the +exposure of the lower limbs in wet weather +by the turning up of the <i>kimono</i>, the entirely +nude condition of the country children +in summer, and the very slight clothing +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span>that even adults regard as necessary +about the house or in the country during +the hot season. In illustration of the last +part, I would mention the horror with +which many Japanese ladies regard that +style of foreign dress which, while covering +the figure completely, reveals every detail +of the form above the waist, and, as we say, +shows off to advantage a pretty figure. To +the Japanese mind it is immodest to want +to show off a pretty figure. As for the +ball-room costumes, where neck and arms +are freely exposed to the gaze of multitudes, +the Japanese woman, who would +with entire composure take her bath in +the presence of others, would be in an +agony of shame at the thought of appearing +in public in a costume so indecent as +that worn by many respectable American +and European women. Our judgment +would indeed be a hasty one, should we +conclude that the sense of decency is wanting +in the Japanese as a race, or that the +women are at all lacking in the womanly +instinct of modesty. When the point of +view from which they regard these matters +is once obtained, the apparent inconsistencies +and incongruities are fully explained, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span>and we can do justice to our Japanese +sister in a matter in regard to which +she is too often cruelly misjudged.</p> + +<p>There seems no doubt at all that among +the peasantry of Japan one finds the women +who have the most freedom and independence. +Among this class, all through +the country, the women, though hard-worked +and possessing few comforts, lead +lives of intelligent, independent labor, and +have in the family positions as respected +and honored as those held by women in +America. Their lives are fuller and happier +than those of the women of the higher +classes, for they are themselves bread-winners, +contributing an important part of +the family revenue, and they are obeyed +and respected accordingly. The Japanese +lady, at her marriage, lays aside her independent +existence to become the subordinate +and servant of her husband and +parents-in-law, and her face, as the years +go by, shows how much she has given up, +how completely she has sacrificed herself +to those about her. The Japanese peasant +woman, when she marries, works side by +side with her husband, finds life full of +interest outside of the simple household<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span> +work, and, as the years go by, her face +shows more individuality, more pleasure in +life, less suffering and disappointment, than +that of her wealthier and less hard-working +sister.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3><span class="smcap">Footnotes:</span></h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_39_39" id="Footnote_39_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> The laws against the <i>éta</i> and <i>hinin</i>, making of them +a distinct, unclean class, and forbidding their intermarriage +with any of the higher classes, have recently been +abolished. There is now no rank distinction of any +practical value, except that between noble and common +people. Héimin and samurai are now indiscriminately +mingled.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_40_40" id="Footnote_40_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> Toyotomi Hidéyoshi, a peasant boy, rose from the +position of a groom to be the actual ruler of Japan during +the Middle Ages. He it was who in 1587 issued a +decree of banishment against the Christian missionaries +in Japan. He is called Faxiba in the writings of these +missionaries, and in Japan he is frequently spoken of as +Taiko Sama, a title, not a name; but a title that, used +alone, refers always to him. For further account of his +life, see Griffis, <cite>Mikado's Empire</cite>, book i., chap. xxiv.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_41_41" id="Footnote_41_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> <i>Chadai</i> is, literally, "money for tea," and is equivalent +to our tips to the waiters and porters at hotels. The +<i>chadai</i> varies with the wealth and rank of the guests, the +duration of the stay, and the attention which has been +bestowed. <i>On</i> is the honorific placed before the word in +writing.</p></div> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER X.<br /><br /> +<span class="sm">LIFE IN THE CITIES.</span></h2> + +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> great cities of Japan afford remarkable +opportunities for seeing the life of the +common people, for the little houses and +shops, with their open fronts, reveal the +<i>penetralia</i> in a way not known in our more +secluded homes. The employment of the +merchant being formerly the lowest of respectable +callings, one does not find even +yet in Japan many great stores or a very +high standard of business morality, for the +business of the country was left in the +hands of those who were too stupid or too +unambitious to raise themselves above that +social class. Hence English and American +merchants, who only see Japan from +the business side, continually speak of the +Japanese as dishonest, tricky, and altogether +unreliable, and greatly prefer to +deal with the Chinese, who have much of +the business virtue that is characteristic +of the English as a nation. Only within a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span> +few years have the samurai, or indeed any +one who was capable of figuring in any +higher occupation in life, been willing to +adopt the calling of the merchant; but +many of the abler Japanese of to-day have +begun to see that trade is one of the most +important factors of a nation's well-being, +and that the business of buying and selling, +if wisely and honestly done, is an employment +that nobody need be ashamed to +enter. There are in Japan a few great +merchants whose word may be trusted, and +whose obligations will be fulfilled with absolute +honesty; but a large part of the +buying and selling is still in the hands of +mercantile freebooters, who will take an +advantage wherever it is possible to get +one, in whose morality honesty has no +place, and who have not yet discovered the +efficacy of that virtue simply as a matter +of policy. Their trade, conducted in a +small way upon small means, is more of +the nature of a game, in which one person +is the winner and the other the loser, than +a fair exchange, in which both parties obtain +what they want. It is the mediæval, +not the modern idea of business, that is +still held among Japanese merchants. With<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span> +them, trade is a warfare between buyer +and seller, in which every man must take +all possible advantage for himself, and it +is the lookout of the other party if he is +cheated.</p> + +<p>In Tōkyō, the greatest and most modernized +of the cities of the empire, the shops +are not the large city stores that one sees +in European and American cities, but little +open-fronted rooms, on the edge of which +one sits to make one's purchases, while the +proprietor smiles and bows and dickers; +setting his price by the style of his customer's +dress, or her apparent ignorance +of the value of the desired article. Some +few large dry-goods stores there are, where +prices are set and dickering is unnecessary;<a name="APXanchor_264" id="APXanchor_264" href="#APX_264" class="apxanchor">[*]</a> +and in the <i>kwankoba</i>, or bazaars, one +may buy almost anything needed by Japanese +of all classes, from house furnishings +to foreign hats, at prices plainly marked +upon them, and from which there is no +variation. But one's impression of the +state of trade in Japan is, that it is still +in a very primitive and undeveloped condition, +and is surprisingly behind the other +parts of Japanese civilization.</p> + +<p>The shopping of the ladies of the large<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span> +<i>yashikis</i> and of wealthy families is done +mostly in the home; for all the stores are +willing at any time, on receiving an order, +to send up a clerk with a bale of crêpes, +silks, and cottons tied to his back, and frequently +towering high above his head as +he walks, making him look like the proverbial +ant with a grain of wheat. He +sets his great bundle carefully down on +the floor, opens the enormous <i>furushiki</i>, or +bundle handkerchief, in which it is enveloped, +and takes out roll after roll of silk or +chintz, neatly done up in paper or yellow +cotton. With infinite patience, he waits +while the merits of each piece are examined +and discussed, and if none of his +stock proves satisfactory, he is willing to +come again with a new set of wares, knowing +that in the end purchases will be made +sufficient to cover all his trouble.</p> + +<p>The less aristocratic people are content +to go to the stores themselves; and the +business streets of a Japanese city, such as +the Ginza in Tōkyō, are full of women, +young and old, as well as merry children, +who enjoy the life and bustle of the stores. +Like all things else in Japan, shopping +takes plenty of time. At Mitsui's, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span> +largest silk store in Tōkyō, one will see +crowds of clerks sitting upon the matted +floors, each with his <i>soroban</i>, or adding +machine, by his side; and innumerable +small boys, who rush to and fro, carrying +armfuls of fabrics to the different clerks, +or picking up the same fabrics after the +customer who has called for them has departed. +The store appears, to the foreign +eye, to be simply a roofed and matted platform +upon which both clerks and customers +sit. This platform is screened from the +street by dark blue cotton curtains or awnings +hung from the low projecting eaves +of the heavy roof. As the customers +take their seats, either on the edge of the +platform, or, if they have come on an extended +shopping bout, upon the straw mat +of the platform itself, a small boy appears +with tea for the party; an obsequious clerk +greets them with the customary salutations +of welcome, pushes the charcoal brazier +toward them, that they may smoke, +or warm their hands, before proceeding to +business, and then waits expectantly for +the name of the goods that his customers +desire to see. When this is given, the +work begins; the little boys are summoned,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span> +and are soon sent off to the great fire-proof +warehouse, which stands with heavy doors +thrown open, on the other side of the platform, +away from the street. Through the +doorway one can see endless piles of costly +stuffs stored safely away, and from these +piles the boys select the required fabric, +loading themselves down with them so that +they can barely stagger under the weights +that they carry. As the right goods are +not always brought the first time, and as, +moreover, there is an endless variety in the +colors and patterns in even one kind of +silk, there is always plenty of time for +watching the busy scene,—for sipping +tea, or smoking a few whiffs from the tiny +pipes that so many Japanese, both men and +women, carry always with them. When +the purchase is at last made, there is still +some time to be spent by the customer in +waiting until the clerk has made an abstruse +calculation upon his <i>soroban</i>, the +transaction has been entered in the books +of the firm, and a long bill has been written +and stamped, and handed to her with +the bundle. During her stay in the store, +the foreign customer, making her first +visit to the place, is frequently startled by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span> +loud shouts from the whole staff of clerks +and small boys,—outcries so sudden, so +simultaneous, and so stentorian, that she +cannot rid herself of the idea that something +terrible is happening every time that +they occur. She soon learns, however, that +these manifestations of energy are but +the way in which the Japanese merchant +speeds the departing purchaser, and that +the apparently inarticulate shouts are but +the formal phrase, "Thanks for your continued +favors," which is repeated in a loud +tone by every employee in the store whenever +a customer departs. When she herself +is at last ready to leave, a chorus of +yells arises, this time for her benefit; and as +she skips into the <i>jinrikisha</i> and is whirled +away, she hears continued the busy hum +of voices, the clattering of <i>sorobans</i>, the +thumping of the bare feet of the heavily +laden boys, and the loud shouts of thanks +with which departing guests are honored.</p> + +<p>There is less pomp and circumstance +about the smaller stores, for all the goods +are within easy reach, and the shops for +household utensils and chinaware seem to +have nearly the whole stock in trade piled +up in front, or even in the street itself.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span> +Many such little places are the homes of +the people who keep them. And at the +back are rooms, which serve for dwelling +rooms, opening upon well-kept gardens. +The whole work of the store is often attended +to by the proprietor, assisted by his +wife and family, and perhaps one or two +apprentices. Each of the workers, in turn, +takes an occasional holiday, for there is +no day in the Japanese calendar when the +shops are all closed; and even New Year's +Day, the great festival of the year, finds +most of the stores open. Yet the dwellers +in these little homes, living almost in the +street, and in the midst of the bustle and +crowd and dust of Tōkyō, have still time +to enjoy their holidays and their little gardens, +and have more pleasure and less hard +work than those under similar circumstances +in our own country.</p> + +<p>The stranger visiting any of the great +Japanese cities is surprised by the lack of +large stores and manufactories, and often +wonders where the beautiful lacquer work +and porcelains are made, and where the +gay silks and crêpes are woven. There +are no large establishments where such +things are turned out by wholesale. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span> +delicate vases, the bronzes, and the silks +are often made in humblest homes, the +work of one or two laborers with rudest +tools. There are no great manufactories +to be seen, and the bane of so many cities, +the polluting factory smoke, never rises +over the cities of Japan. The hard, confining +factory life, with its never-ceasing +roar of machinery, bewildering the minds +and intellects of the men who come under +its deadening influences, until they become +scarcely more than machines themselves, +is a thing as yet almost unknown in Japan. +The life of the <i>jinrikisha</i> man even, hard +and comfortless as it may seem to run all +day like a horse through the crowded city +streets, is one that keeps him in the fresh +air, under the open sky, and quickens his +powers both of body and mind. To the +poor in Japanese cities is never denied the +fresh air and sunshine, green trees and +grass; and the beautiful parks and gardens +are found everywhere, for the enjoyment of +even the meanest and lowest.</p> + +<p>On certain days in the month, in different +sections of the city, are held night festivals +near temples, and many shopkeepers +take the opportunity to erect temporary<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span> +booths, in which they so arrange their +wares as to tempt the passers-by as they +go to and fro. Very often there is a magnificent +display of young trees, potted +plants, and flowers, brought in from the +country and ranged on both sides of the +street. Here the gardeners make lively +sales, as the displays are often fine in +themselves, and show to a special advantage +in the flaring torchlight. The eager +venders, who do all they can to call the +attention of the crowd to their wares, make +many good bargains. The purchase requires +skill on both sides, for flower men +are proverbial in their high charges, asking +often five and ten times the real value +of a plant, but coming down in price almost +immediately on remonstrance. You +ask the price of a dwarf wistaria growing +in a pot. The man answers at once, "Two +dollars." "Two dollars!" you answer in +surprise, "it is not worth more than thirty +or forty cents." "Seventy-five, then," he +will respond; and thus the buyer and +seller approach nearer in price, until the +bargain is struck somewhere near the first +price offered. Price another plant and +there would be the same process to go over<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span> +again; but as the evening passes, prices go +lower and lower, for the distances that the +plants have been brought are great, and +the labor of loading up and carrying back +the heavy pots is a weary one, and when +the last customer has departed the merchants +must work late into the night to +get their wares safely home again.</p> + +<p>But beside the flower shows, there are +long rows of booths, which, with the many +visitors who throng the streets, make a gay +and lively scene. So dense is the crowd +that it is with difficulty one can push +through on foot or in <i>jinrikisha</i>. The +darkness is illuminated by torches, whose +weird flames flare and smoke in the wind, +and shine down upon the little sheds which +line both sides of the road, and contain +so tempting a display of cheap toys and +trinkets that not only the children, but +their elders, are attracted by them. Some +of the booths are devoted to dolls; others +to toys of various kinds; still others to +birds in cages, goldfish in globes, queer +chirping insects in wicker baskets, pretty +ornaments for the hair, fans, candies, and +cakes of all sorts, roasted beans and peanuts, +and other things too numerous to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span> +mention. The long line of stalls ends with +booths, or tents, in which shows of dancing, +jugglery, educated animals, and monstrosities, +natural or artificial, may be seen +for the moderate admission fee of two +sen. Each of these shows is well advertised +by the beating of drums, by the shouting +of doorkeepers, by wonderful pictures +on the outside to entice the passer-by, or +even by an occasional brief lifting of the +curtains which veil the scene from the +crowd without, just long enough to afford +a tantalizing glimpse of the wonders +within. Great is the fascination to the +children in all these things, and the little +feet are never weary until the last booth +is passed, and the quiet of neighboring +streets, lighted only by wandering lanterns, +strikes the home-returning party by +its contrast with the light and noise of the +festival. The supposed object of the expedition, +the visit to the temple, has occupied +but a small share of time and attention, +and the little hands are filled with the +amusing toys and trifles bought, and the +little minds with the merry sights seen. +Nor are those who remain at home forgotten, +but the pleasure-seekers who visit the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span> +fair carry away with them little gifts for +each member of the family, and the <i>O miagé</i>, +or present given on the return, is a +regular institution of Japanese home life.<a name="FNanchor_42_42" id="FNanchor_42_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a></p> + +<p>By ten o'clock, when the crowds have +dispersed and the purchasers have all gone +home and gone to bed, the busy booth-keepers +take down their stalls, pack up their +wares, and disappear, leaving no trace of the +night's gayeties to greet the morning sun.</p> + +<p>Beside these evening shows, which occur +monthly or oftener, there are also great +festivals of the various gods, some celebrated +annually, others at intervals of some +years. These <i>matsuri</i> last for several days, +and during that time the quarter of the +city in which they occur seems entirely +given over to festivity. The streets are +gayly decorated with flags, and bright lanterns—all +alike in design and color—are +hung in rows from the low eaves of the +houses. Young bamboo-trees set along the +street, and decorated with bits of bright-colored +tissue paper, are a frequent and effective +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span>accompaniment of these festivals, +and here and there throughout the district +are set up high stands, on the tops of +which musicians with squeaky flutes, and +drums of varying calibre, keep up a din +more festive than harmonious. It takes +a day or two for the rejoicings to get fully +under way, but by the second or third day +the fun is at its height, and the streets +are thronged with merrymakers. A great +deal of labor and strength, as well as ingenuity, +is spent in the construction of enormous +floats, or <i>dashi</i>, lofty platforms of +two stories, either set on wheels and drawn +by black bullocks or crowds of shouting +men, or carried by poles on men's shoulders. +Upon the first floor of these great +floats is usually a company of dancers, or +mummers, who dance, attitudinize, or make +faces for the amusement of the crowds +that gather along their route; while up +above, an effigy of some hero in Japanese +history, or the figure of some animal or +monster, looks down unmoved upon the absurdities +below. Each <i>dashi</i> is attended, +not only by the men who draw it, but by +companies of others in some uniform costume; +and sometimes graceful professional<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span> +dancing-girls are hired to march in the +<i>matsuri</i> procession, or to dance upon the +lofty <i>dashi</i>. At the time of the festivities +which accompanied the promulgation of +the Constitution, three days of jollification +were held in Tōkyō, days of such universal +fun and frolic that it will be known among +the common people, to all succeeding generations, +as the "Emperor's big <i>matsuri</i>." +Every quarter of the city vied with every +other in the production of gorgeous <i>dashi</i>, +and the streets were gay with every conceivable +variety of decoration, from the little +red-and-white paper lanterns, that even +the poorest hung before their houses, to +the great evergreen arches, set with electric +lights, with which the great business +streets were spanned thickly from end to +end. An evening walk through one of +these thoroughfares was a sight to be remembered +for a lifetime. The magnificent +<i>dashi</i> represented all manner of quaint +conceits. A great bivalve drawn by yelling +crowds—which halted occasionally—opened +and displayed between its shells +a group of beautifully dressed girls, who +danced one of the pantomimic dances of +the country, accompanied by the twanging<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span> +melodies of the <i>samisen</i>. Then slowly the +great shell closed, once more the shouting +crowds seized hold of the straining +ropes, and the great bivalve with its fair +freight was drawn slowly along through the +gayly illuminated streets. Jimmu Tenno +and other heroes of Japanese legend or history, +each upon its lofty platform, a white +elephant, and countless other subjects were +represented in the festival cars sent forth +by all the districts of the city to celebrate +the great event.</p> + +<p>Upon such festival occasions the shopkeeper +does not put up his shutters and +leave his place of business, but the open +shop-fronts add much to the gay appearance +of the street. There are no signs of +business about, but the floor of the shop is +covered with bright-red blankets; magnificent +gilded screens form an imposing background +to the little room; and seated on +the floor are the shopkeeper, his family, +and guests, eating, drinking tea, and smoking, +as cosily as if all the world and his +wife were not gazing upon the gay and +homelike interior. Sometimes companies +of dancers, or other entertainments furnished +by the wealthier shopkeepers, will<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span> +attract gaping crowds, who watch and block +the street until the advance guard of some +approaching <i>dashi</i> scatters them for a moment.</p> + +<p>In Japan, as in other parts of the world, +the country people are rather looked down +upon by the dwellers in the city for their +slowness of intellect, dowdiness of dress, +and boorishness of manners; while the +country people make fun of the fads and +fashions of the city, and rejoice that they +are not themselves the slaves of novelty, +and especially of the foreign innovations +that play so prominent a part in Japanese +city life to-day. "The frog in the well +knows not the great ocean," is the snub +with which the Japanese cockney sets down +Farmer Rice-Field's expressions of opinion; +while the conservative countryman laughs +at the foreign affectations of the Tōkyō man, +and returns to his village with tales of the +cookery of the capital: so extravagant is +it that sugar is used in everything; it is +even rumored that the Tōkyōites put sugar +in their tea.</p> + +<p>But while the country laughs and wonders +at the city, nevertheless, in Japan as +elsewhere, there is a constant crowding of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span> +the young life of the country into the livelier +and more entertaining city. Tōkyō especially +is the goal of every young countryman's +ambition, and thither he goes to +seek his fortune, finding, alas! too often, +only the hard lot of the <i>jinrikisha</i> man, +instead of the wealth and power that his +country dreams had shown him.</p> + +<p>The lower class women of the cities are +in many respects like their sisters of the +rural districts, except that they have less +freedom than the country women in what +the economists call "direct production." +The wells and water tanks that stand at +convenient distances along the streets of +Tōkyō are frequently surrounded by crowds +of women, drawing water, washing rice, +and chattering merrily over their occupations. +They meet and exchange ideas +freely with each other and with the men, +but they have not the diversity of labor +that country life affords, confining themselves +more closely to indoor and domestic +work, and leaving the bread-winning more +entirely to the men.</p> + +<p>There are, however, occupations in the +city for women, by which they may support +themselves or their families. A good hair-dresser +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span>may make a handsome living; indeed, +she does so well that it is proverbial +among the Japanese that a hair-dresser's +husband has nothing to do. Though professional +tailors are mostly men, many women +earn a small pittance in taking in +sewing and in giving sewing lessons; and +as instructors in the ceremonial tea, etiquette, +music, painting, and flower arrangement, +many women of the old school +are able to earn an independence, though +none of these occupations are confined to +the women alone.</p> + +<p>The business of hotel-keeping we have +referred to in a previous chapter, and it +is a well-known fact that unless a hotel-keeper +has a capable wife, his business will +not succeed. At present, all over Tōkyō, +small restaurants, where food is served in +the foreign style, are springing up, and +these are usually conducted by a man and +his wife who have at some time served as +cook and waitress in a foreign family, and +who conduct the business cöoperatively and +on terms of good-fellowship and equality. +In these little eating-houses, where a well-cooked +foreign dinner of from three to six +courses is served for the moderate sum of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[281]</a></span> +thirty or forty cents, the man usually does +the cooking, the woman the serving and +handling of the money, until the time arrives +when the profits of the business are +sufficient to justify the hiring of more help. +When this time comes, the labor is redistributed, +the woman frequently taking +upon herself the reception of the guests +and the keeping of the accounts, while the +hired help waits on the tables.</p> + +<p>One important calling, in the eyes of +many persons, especially those of the lower +classes, is that of fortune-telling; and +these guides in all matters of life, both +great and small, are to be found in every +section of the city. They are consulted on +every important step by believing ones of +all classes. An impending marriage, an +illness, the loss of any valuable article, a +journey about to be taken,—these are all +subjects for the fortune-teller. He tells the +right day of marriage, and says whether +the fates of the two parties will combine +well; gives clues to the causes of sudden +illness, and information as to what has +become of lost articles, and whether they +will be recovered or not. Warned thus by +the fortune-teller against evils that may<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[282]</a></span> +happen, many ingenious expedients are +resorted to, to avoid the ill foretold.</p> + +<p>A man and his family were about to +move from their residence to another part +of the city. They sent to know if the +fates were propitious to the change for all +the family. The day and year of birth of +each was told, and then the fortune-teller +hunted up the various signs, and sent word +that the direction of the new home was +excellent for the good luck of the family +as a whole, and the move a good one for +each member of it except one of the sons; +the next year the same move would be bad +for the father. As the family could not +wait two years before moving, it was decided +that the change of residence should +be made at once, but that the son should +live with his uncle until the next year. +The uncle's home was, however, inconveniently +remote, and so the young man +stayed as a visitor at his father's house for +the remaining months of the year, after +which he became once more a member of +the household. Thus the inconvenience +and the evil were both avoided.<a name="APXanchor_282" id="APXanchor_282" href="#APX_282" class="apxanchor">[*]</a></p> + +<p>Another story comes to my mind now of +a dear old lady, the Go Inkyo Sama of a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[283]</a></span> +house of high rank, who late in life came +to Tōkyō to live with her brother and his +young and somewhat foreignized wife. The +brother himself, while not a Christian, had +little belief in the old superstitions of his +people; his wife was a professing Christian. +Soon after the old lady's arrival in +Tōkyō, her sister-in-law fell ill, and before +she had recovered her strength the children, +one after another, came down with +various diseases, which, though in no case +fatal, kept the family in a state of anxiety +for more than a year. The old lady was +quite sure that there was some witchcraft +or art-magic at work among her dear ones, +and, after consulting the servants (for she +knew that she could expect no sympathy in +her plans from either her brother or his +wife), she betook herself to a fortune-teller +to discover through his means the causes +of the illness in the family. The fortune-teller +revealed to her the fact that two +occult forces were at work bringing evil +upon the house. One was the evil spirit +of a spring or well that had been choked +with stones, or otherwise obstructed in its +flow, and that chose this way of bringing +its afflictions to the attention of mortals.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[284]</a></span> +The other was the spirit of a horse that +had once belonged in the family, and that +after death revenged itself upon its former +masters for the hard service wherewith +it had been made to serve. The only way +in which these two powers could be appeased +would be by finding the well, and +removing the obstructions that choked it, +and by erecting an image of the horse and +offering to it cakes and other meat-offerings. +The fortune-teller hinted, moreover, +that for a consideration he might be able +to afford material aid in the search for the +well.</p> + +<p>At this information Go Inkyo Sama was +much perturbed, for further aid for her +afflicted family seemed to require the use +of money, and of that commodity she had +very little, being mainly dependent upon +her brother for support. She returned to +her home and consulted the servants upon +the matter; but though they quite agreed +with her that something should be done, +they had little capital to invest in the enterprises +suggested by the fortune-teller. +At last, the old lady went to her brother, +but he only laughed at her well-meant attempts +to help his family, and refused to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[285]</a></span> +give her money for such a purpose. She +retired discouraged, but, urged by the servants, +she decided to make a last appeal, +this time to her sister-in-law, who must +surely be moved by the evil that was threatening +herself and her children. Taking +some of the head servants with her, she +went to her sister and presented the case. +This was her last resort, and she clung to +her forlorn hope longer than many would +have done, the servants adding their arguments +to her impassioned appeals, only to +find out after all that the steadfast sister +could not be moved, and that she would +not propitiate the horse's spirit, or allow +money to be used for such a purpose. She +gave it up then, and sat down to await the +fate of her doomed house, doubtless wondering +much and sighing often over the +foolish skepticism of her near relatives, +and wishing that the rationalistic tendencies +of the time would take a less dangerous +form than the neglecting of the plainest +precautions for life and health. The fate +has not yet come, and now at last Go Inkyo +Sama seems to have resigned herself +to the belief that it has been averted from +the heads of the dear ones by a power unknown +to the fortune-teller.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[286]</a></span></p><p>Beside these callings, there are other +employments which are not regarded as +wholly respectable by either Japanese or +foreigners. The <i>géisha ya</i>, or establishments +where dancing-girls are trained, and +let out by the day or evening to tea-houses +or private parties, are usually managed by +women. At these establishments little +girls are taken, sometimes by contract with +their parents, sometimes adopted by the +proprietors of the house, and from very +early youth are trained not only in the art +of dancing, but are taught singing and +<i>samisen</i>-playing, all the etiquette of serving +and entertaining guests, and whatever +else goes to make a girl charming to the +opposite sex. When thoroughly taught, +they form a valuable investment, and well +repay the labor spent upon them, for a +popular géisha commands a good price +everywhere, and has her time overcrowded +with engagements. A Japanese entertainment +is hardly regarded as complete without +géishas in attendance, and their dancing, +music, and graceful service at supper +form a charming addition to an evening +of enjoyment at a tea-house. It is these +géishas, too, who at <i>matsuri</i> are hired to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[287]</a></span> +march in quaint uniforms in the procession, +or, borne aloft on great <i>dashi</i>, dance +for the benefit of the admiring crowds.</p> + +<p>The Japanese dances are charmingly +graceful and modest; the swaying of the +body and limbs, the artistic management +of the flowing draperies, the variety of +themes and costumes of the different +dances, all go to make an entertainment +by géishas one of the pleasantest of Japanese +enjoyments. Sometimes, in scarlet +and yellow robes, the dainty maidens imitate, +with their supple bodies, the dance of +the maple leaves as they are driven hither +and thither in the autumn wind; sometimes, +with tucked-up <i>kimonos</i> and jaunty +red petticoats, they play the part of little +country girls carrying their eggs to market +in the neighboring village. Again, clad in +armor, they simulate the warlike gestures +and martial stamp of some of the old-time +heroes; or, with whitened faces and hoary +locks, they perform with rake and broom +the dance of the good old man and old +woman who play so prominent a part in +Japanese pictures. And then, when the +dance is over, and all are bewitched with +their grace and beauty, they descend to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[288]</a></span> +the supper-room and ply their temporary +employers with the <i>saké</i> bottle, laughing +and jesting the while, until there is little +wonder if the young men at the entertainment +drink more than is good for them, +and leave the tea-house at last thoroughly +tipsy, and enslaved by the bright eyes and +merry wits of some of the Hebes who have +beguiled them through the evening.</p> + +<p>The géishas unfortunately, though fair, +are frail. In their system of education, +manners stand higher than morals, and +many a géisha gladly leaves the dancing in +the tea-houses to become the concubine of +some wealthy Japanese or foreigner, thinking +none the worse of herself for such a +business arrangement, and going cheerfully +back to her regular work, should +her contract be unexpectedly ended. The +géisha is not necessarily bad, but there is +in her life much temptation to evil, and +little stimulus to do right, so that, where +one lives blameless, many go wrong, and +drop below the margin of respectability altogether. +Yet so fascinating, bright, and +lively are these géishas that many of them +have been taken by men of good position +as wives, and are now the heads of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[289]</a></span> +the most respectable homes. Without +true education or morals, but trained +thoroughly in all the arts and accomplishments +that please,—witty, quick at repartee, +pretty, and always well dressed,—the +géisha has proved a formidable rival for +the demure, quiet maiden of good family, +who can only give her husband an unsullied +name, silent obedience, and faithful +service all her life. The freedom of the +present age, as shown in the chapter on +"Marriage and Divorce," and as seen in +the choice of such wives, has presented +this great problem to the thinking women +of Japan. If the wives of the leaders in +Japan are to come from among such a +class of women, something must be done, +and done quickly, for the sake of the future +of Japan; either to raise the standards of +the men in regard to women, or to change +the old system of education for girls. A +liberal education, and more freedom in +early life for women, has been suggested, +and is now being tried, but the problem of +the géisha and her fascination is a deep +one in Japan.</p> + +<p>Below the géisha in respectability stands +the jōrō, or licensed prostitute. Every<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[290]</a></span> +city in Japan has its disreputable quarter, +where the various <i>jōrōya</i>, or licensed houses +of prostitution, are situated. The supervision +that the government exercises over +these places is extremely rigid; the effort +is made, by licensing and regulating them, +to minimize the evils that must flow from +them. The proprietors of the <i>jōrōya</i> do +everything in their power to make their +houses, grounds, and employees attractive, +and, to the unsuspecting foreigner, this +portion of the city seems often the pleasantest +and most respectable. A jōrō need +never be taken for a respectable woman, +for her dress is distinctive, and a stay of +a short time in Japan is long enough to +teach even the most obtuse that the <i>obi</i>, or +sash, tied in front instead of behind, is one +of the badges of shame. But though the +occupation of the jōrō is altogether disreputable,—though +the prostitute quarter is +the spot to which the police turn for information +in regard to criminals and law-breakers, +a sort of a trap into which, sooner +or later, the offender against the law is +sure to fall,—Japanese public opinion, +though recognizing the evil as a great one, +does not look upon the professional prostitute +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[291]</a></span>with the loathing which she inspires +in Christian countries. The reason for this +lies, not solely in the lower moral standards +although it is true that sins of this +character are regarded much more leniently +in Japan than in England or America. +The reason lies very largely in the fact +that these women are seldom free agents. +Many of them are virtually slaves, sold in +childhood to the keepers of the houses in +which they work, and trained, amid the +surroundings of the <i>jōrōya</i>, for the life +which is the only life they have ever known. +A few may have sacrificed themselves +freely but reluctantly for those whom they +love, and by their revolting slavery may be +earning the means to keep their dear ones +from starvation or disgrace. Many are the +Japanese romances that are woven about +the virtuous jōrō, who is eventually rewarded +by finding, even in the <i>jōrōya</i>, a +lover who is willing to raise her again to a +life of respectability, and make her a happy +wife and the mother of children. Such +stories must necessarily lower the standard +of morals in regard to chastity, but in a +country in which innocent romance has +little room for development, the imagination +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[292]</a></span>must find its materials where it can. +These <i>jōrōya</i> give employment to thousands +of women throughout the country, +but in few cases do the women seek that +employment, and more openings in respectable +directions, together with a change in +public opinion securing to every woman +the right to her own person, would tend to +diminish the number of victims that these +institutions yearly draw into their devouring +current.</p> + +<p>Innocent and reputable amusements are +many and varied in the cities. We have +already mentioned incidentally the theatre +as one of the favorite diversions of the +people; and though it has never been regarded +as a very refined amusement, it has +done and is doing much for the education +of the lower classes in the history and +spirit of former times. Regular plays were +never performed in the presence of the +Emperor and his court, or the Shōgun and +his nobles, but the <i>No</i> dance was the only +dramatic amusement of the nobility. This +<i>No</i> is an ancient Japanese theatrical performance, +more, perhaps, like the Greek +drama than anything in our modern life. +All the movements of the actors are measured +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[293]</a></span>and conventionalized, speech is a poetical +recitative, the costumes are stiff and +antique, masks are much used, and a chorus +seated upon the stage chants audible comments +upon the various situations. This +alone, the most ancient and classical of +Japanese theatrical performances, is considered +worthy of the attention of the Emperor +and the nobility, and takes the place +with them of the more vulgar and realistic +plays which delight common people.</p> + +<p>The regular theatre preserves in many +ways the life and costumes of old Japan, +and the details of dress and scenery are +most carefully studied. The actors are usually +men, though there are "women theatres" +in which all the parts are performed +by women. In no case are the rôles taken +by both sexes upon one stage. As the performances +last all day, from ten or eleven +in the forenoon until eight or nine in the +evening, going to the theatre means much +more than a few hours of entertainment +after the day's work is over. A lunch and +dinner, with innumerable light edibles between, +go to make up the usual bill of fare +for a day at the play, and tea-houses in the +neighborhood of the theatre provide the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[294]</a></span> +necessary meals, a room to take them in, a +resting-place between the acts, and whatever +tea, cakes, and other refreshments +may be ordered. These latter eatables are +served by the attendants of the tea-house +in the theatre boxes while the play is in +progress, and the playgoers eat and smoke +all day long through roaring farce or goriest +tragedy.</p> + +<p>Similar to the theatre in many ways are +the public halls, where professional story-tellers, +the <i>hanashika</i>, night after night, +relate long stories to crowded audiences, as +powerfully and vividly as the best trained +elocutionist. Each gesture, and each modulation +of the voice, is studied as carefully +as are those of the actors. Many charming +tales are told of old Japan, and even +Western stories have found their way to +these assemblies. A long story is often +continued from night to night until finished. +Unfortunately, the class of people +who patronize these places is low, and the +moral tone of some of the stories is pitched +accordingly; but the best of the story-tellers—those +who have talent and reputation—are +often invited to come to entertainments +given at private houses, to amuse<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[295]</a></span> +a large company by their eloquence or mimicry.</p> + +<p>This is a very favorite entertainment, +and the <i>hanashika</i> has so perfected the art +of imitation that he can change in a moment +from the tones of a child to those of +an old woman. Solemn and sad subjects +are touched upon, as well as merry and +bright things, and he never fails to make +his audience weep or laugh, according to +his theme, and well merits the applause he +always receives at the end.</p> + +<p>The <i>hanami</i>, or picnic to famous places +to view certain flowers as they bloom in +their season, though not belonging strictly +to city life, forms one of the greatest of the +pleasures of city people. The river Sumida, +on which Tōkyō is situated, has lining +its eastern shore for some miles the +famous cherry-trees of Japan, with their +large, double pink blossoms, and when, in +April and May, these flowers are in their +perfection, great crowds of sightseers flock +to Mukōjima to enjoy the blossoms under +the trees. The river is crowded with picnic +parties in boats. Every tea-house along +the banks is full of guests, and the little +stalls and resting-places on the way find a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[296]</a></span> +quick sale for fruit, confectionery, and light +lunches. <i>Saké</i> is often too freely imbibed +by the merrymakers, whose flushed faces +show, when returning homeward, how their +day was spent. There is much quiet enjoyment, +too, of the lovely blossoms, the +broad, calm river, and the gayly dressed +crowds. Hundreds and thousands of visitors +crowd to the suburban places about +Tōkyō,—to Uyéno Park for its cherry and +peach blossoms, Kaméido for the plum and +wistaria, Oji for its famous maple-trees, +and many others, each noted for some special +beauty. Dango Zaka has its own peculiar +attraction, the famous chrysanthemum +dolls. These ingenious figures are +arranged so as to form tableaux,—scenes +from history or fiction well known to all +the people. They are of life size, and the +faces, hands, and feet are made of some +composition, and closely resemble life in +every detail. But the curious thing in +these tableaux is that the scenery, whether +it be the representation of a waterfall, rocks, +or bushes, the animals, and the dresses of +the figures are made entirely of chrysanthemum +twigs, leaves, and flowers, not cut +and woven in, as at the first glance they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[297]</a></span> +seem to be,—so closely are the leaves and +flowers bound together to make the flat +surface of different objects,—but alive and +growing on the plants. It is impossible +to tell where the roots and stems are hidden, +for nothing is visible but (for example) +the white spray and greenish shadows +of a waterfall, or the parti-colored figures +in a young girl's dress. But, should +it be the visitor's good fortune to watch the +repairing of one of these lifelike images, he +will find that the entire body is a frame +woven of split bamboo, within which the +plants are placed, their roots packed in +damp earth and bound about with straw, +while their leaves and flowers are pulled +through the basket frame and woven into +whatsoever pattern the artistic eye and +skillful fingers of the gardener may select. +A roof of matting shields each group from +the sun by day, and a slight sprinkling +every night serves to keep the plants fresh +for nearly a month, and the flowers continue +their blooming during that time, as +calmly as if in perfectly natural positions. +Each of the gardeners of the neighborhood +has his own little show, containing several +tableaux, the entrance to which is guarded<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[298]</a></span> +by an officious gate-keeper, who shouts out +the merits of his particular groups of figures, +and forces his show-bills upon the +passer-by, in the hope of securing the two +sen admission fee which is required for +each exhibit.</p> + +<p>And so, amid the shopping, the festivals, +the amusements of the great cities, the +women find their lives varied in many ways. +Their holidays from home duties are spent +amid these enjoyments; and if they have +not the out-of-door employments, the long +walks up the mountains, the days spent in +tea-picking, in harvesting, in all the varied +work that comes to the country woman, +the dwellers in the city have no lack of +sights and sounds to amuse and interest +them, and would not often care to exchange +their lot for the freer and hardier life of +the rustic.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3><span class="smcap">Footnotes:</span></h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_42_42" id="Footnote_42_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> <i>O miagé</i> must be given, not only on the return from +an evening of pleasure, but also on the return from a journey +or pleasure trip of any kind. As a rule, the longer +the absence, the finer and more costly must be the presents +given on returning.</p></div> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[299]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XI.<br /><br /> +<span class="sm">DOMESTIC SERVICE.</span></h2> + +<p><span class="smcap">To</span> the foreigner, upon his arrival in Japan, +the status of household servants is at +first a source of much perplexity. There +is a freedom in their relations with the +families that they serve, that in this country +would be regarded as impudence, and +an independence of action that, in many +cases, seems to take the form of direct disobedience +to orders. From the steward of +your household, who keeps your accounts, +makes your purchases, and manages your +affairs, to your <i>jinrikisha</i> man or groom, +every servant in your establishment does +what is right in his own eyes, and after the +manner that he thinks best. Mere blind +obedience to orders is not regarded as a +virtue in a Japanese servant; he must do +his own thinking, and, if he cannot grasp +the reason for your order, that order will +not be carried out. Housekeeping in Japan +is frequently the despair of the thrifty<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[300]</a></span> +American housewife, who has been accustomed +in her own country to be the head +of every detail of household work, leaving +to her servants only the mechanical labor +of the hands. She begins by showing her +Oriental help the work to be done, and +just the way in which she is accustomed to +having it done at home, and the chances +are about one in a hundred that her servant +will carry out her instructions. In the +ninety-nine other cases, he will accomplish +the desired result, but by means totally different +from those to which the American +housekeeper is accustomed. If the housewife +is one of the worrying kind, who cares +as much about the way in which the thing +is done as about the accomplished result, +the chances are that she will wear herself +out in a fruitless endeavor to make her +servants do things in her own way, and +will, when she returns to America, assure +you that Japanese servants are the most +idle, stupid, and altogether worthless lot +that it was ever her bad fortune to have +to do with. But on the other hand, if the +lady of the house is one who is willing to +give general orders, and then sit down and +wait until the work is done before criticising +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[301]</a></span>it, she will find that by some means or +other the work will be accomplished and +her desire will be carried out, provided only +that her servants see a reason for getting +the thing done. And as she finds that +her domestics will take responsibility upon +themselves, and will work, not only with +their hands, but with the will and intellect +in her service, she soon yields to their protecting +and thoughtful care for herself and +her interests, and, when she returns to +America, is loud in her praises of the competence +and devotion of her Japanese servants. +Even in the treaty ports, where +contact with foreigners has given to the +Japanese attendants the silent and repressed +air that we regard as the standard +manner for a servant, they have not resigned +their right of private judgment, but, +if faithful and honest, seek the best good +of their employer, even if his best good +involves disobedience of his orders. This +characteristic of the Japanese servant is +aggravated when he is in the employment +of foreigners, for the simple reason that he +is apt to regard the foreigner as a species +of imbecile, who must be cared for tenderly +because he is quite incompetent to care for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[302]</a></span> +himself, but whose fancies must not be +too much regarded. Of the relations of +foreign employers and Japanese servants +much might be said, but our business is +with the position of the servants in a Japanese +household.</p> + +<p>Under the old feudal system, the servants +of every family were its hereditary retainers, +and from generation to generation desired +no higher lot than personal service +in the family to which they belonged. The +principle of loyalty to the family interests +was the leading principle in the lives of the +servants, just as loyalty to the daimiō was +the highest duty of the samurai. Long +and intimate knowledge of the family history +and traits of character rendered it possible +for the retainer to work intelligently +for his master, and do independently for +him many things without orders. The servant +in many cases knew his master and +his master's interests as well as the master +himself, or even better, and must act by +the light of his own knowledge in cases +where his master was ignorant or misinformed. +One can easily see how ties of +good-fellowship and sympathy would arise +between masters and servants, how a community +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[303]</a></span>of interest would exist, so that the +good of the master and his family would be +the condition for the good of the servant +and his family. In America, where the +relation between servant and employer is +usually a simple business arrangement, each +giving certain specified considerations and +nothing more, the relation of servant to +master is shorn of all sentiment and affection; +the servant's interests are quite +apart from those of his employer, and his +main object is to get the specified work +done and obtain more time for himself, and +sooner or later to leave the despised occupation +of domestic service for some higher +and more independent calling. In Japan, +where faithful service of a master was regarded +as a calling worthy of absorbing +any one's highest abilities through a lifetime, +the position of a servant was not +menial or degrading, but might be higher +than that of the farmer, merchant, or artisan. +Whether the position was a high or a +low one depended, not so much on the work +done, as the person for whom it was done, +and the servant of a daimiō or high rank +samurai was worthy of more honor, and +might be of far better birth, than the independent +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[304]</a></span>merchant or artisan. As the former +feudal system is yet within the memory +of many of the present generation, +and its feelings still alive in Japan, much +of the old sentiment remains, even with +the merely hired domestics in a household +of the present day. The servant, by his +own master, is addressed by name, with no +title of respect, is treated as an inferior, +and spoken to in the language used toward +inferiors; but to all others he is a person +to be treated with respect,—to be bowed +to profoundly, addressed by the title San, +and spoken to in the politest of language. +You make a call upon a Japanese household, +and the servant who admits you will +expect to exchange the formal salutations +with you. When you are ushered into +the reception-room, should the lady of the +house be absent, the head servants will not +only serve you with tea and refreshments +and offer you hospitalities in their mistress's +name, but may, if no one else be there, sit +with you in the parlor, entertaining you +with conversation until the return of the +hostess. The servants of the household are +by no means ignored socially, as they are +with us, but are always recognized and saluted +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[305]</a></span>by visitors as they pass into and out +of the room, and are free to join in the conversation +of their betters, should they see +any place where it is possible that they may +shed light on the subject discussed. But +though given this liberty of speech, treated +with much consideration, and having sometimes +much responsibility, servants do not +forget their places in the household, and +do not seem to be bold or out of place. Indeed, +the manners of some of them would +seem, to any one but a Japanese, to denote +a lack of proper self-respect,—an excess of +humility, or an affectation of it.</p> + +<p>In explaining to my scholars, who were +reading "Little Lord Fauntleroy" in English, +a passage where a footman is spoken +of as having nearly disgraced himself by +laughing at some quaint saying of the young +lord, my little peeresses were amazed beyond +measure to learn that in Europe and America +a servant is expected never to show any +interest in, or knowledge of, the conversation +of his betters, never to speak unless +addressed, and never to smile under any +circumstances. Doubtless, in their shrewd +little brains, they formed their opinion of +a civilization imposing such barbarous restraints +upon one class of persons.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[306]</a></span></p><p>The women servants in a family are in +position more like the self-respecting, old-fashioned +New England "help" than they +are like the modern "girl." They do not +work all day while the mistress sits in the +parlor doing nothing, and then, when their +day's work is done, go out, anxious to forget, +in the society of their friends, the +drudgery which only the necessity for self-support +and the high wages to be earned +render tolerable. As has been explained +in a previous chapter, the mistress of the +house—be she princess or peasant—is +herself the head servant, and only gives up +to her helpers the part of the labor which +she has not the time or strength to perform. +Certain menial duties toward her +husband and children, every Japanese wife +and mother must do herself, and would +scorn to delegate to any other woman except +in case of absolute necessity. Thus +there is not that gap between mistress and +maid that exists in our days among the +women of this country. The servants work +with their mistress, helping her in every +possible way, and are treated as responsible +members of the household, if not of the +family itself.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[307]</a></span></p><p>At evening, when the wooden shutters +are slid into their places around the porch +and the lamps are lighted, the family +gather together in the sitting-room around +the <i>hibachi</i> to talk, free from interruption, +for no visitor comes at such an hour to +disturb the family circle. The mother will +have her sewing or work, the children will +study their lessons, and the others will +talk or amuse themselves in various ways. +Then, perhaps, the maidservants, having +finished their tasks about the house, will +join the circle,—always at a respectful distance,—will +do their sewing and listen +to the talk, and often join in the conversation, +but in the most humble manner. +Perhaps, at times, some one more ambitious +than the others will bring in a book, +and ask the meaning of a word or a phrase +she has met in studying, and little helps of +this kind are given most willingly.</p> + +<p>We have seen that the ladies-in-waiting +in the houses of the nobles are daughters +of samurai, who gladly serve in these positions +for the sake of the honor of such +service, and the training they receive in +noble houses. In a somewhat similar way, +places in the homes of those of distinction<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[308]</a></span> +or skill in any art or profession are held in +great demand among the Japanese; and a +prominent poet, scholar, physician, or professional +man of any kind is often asked by +anxious parents to take their sons under +his own roof, so that they may be under +his influence, and receive the benefits of +stay in such an honorable house. The parents +who thus send their children may +not be of low rank at all, but are usually +not sufficiently well-to-do to spend much +money in the education of their children. +The position that such boys occupy in +the household is a curious one. They are +called <i>Sho-séi</i>, meaning students, and students +they usually are, spending all their +leisure moments and their evenings in +study. They are never treated as inferiors, +except in age and experience; they +may or may not eat with the family, and +are always addressed with respect. On +the other hand, they always feel themselves +to be dependents, and must be willing +without wages to work in any capacity +about the house, for the sake of picking up +what crumbs of knowledge may fall to them +from their master's table. Service is not +absolutely demanded of them, but they are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[309]</a></span> +expected to do what will pay for their +board, and do not regard menial work as +below them, performing cheerfully all that +the master may require of them.</p> + +<p>In this way, a man of moderate means +can help along many poor young men in +whom he may feel interested, and in return +be saved expense about his household +work; and the students, while always considerately +treated, are able without great +expense to study,—often even to prepare +for college, or get a start in one of the +professions, for they have many leisure +moments to devote to their books. Many +prominent men of the present day have +been students of this class, and are now in +their turn helping the younger generation.</p> + +<p>The boys that one sees in shops, or, with +workmen of all kinds, helping in many +little ways, are not hirelings, but apprentices, +who hope some day to hold just as +good positions as their masters, and expect +to know as much, if not a great deal more. +At the shop or in the home, they not only +help in the trades or occupations they are +learning, but are willing to do any kind of +menial work for their master or his family +in return for what they receive from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[310]</a></span> +him; for they do not pay for their board +nor for what they are taught. Even when +the age of education is already past, grown +men and women are willing to leave quite +independent positions to shine with reflected +glory as servants of persons of high +rank or distinction. "The servant is not +greater than his master" in Japan; but if +the master is great, the servant is considerably +greater than the man without a +master.</p> + +<p>In a country like Japan, where one +finds but few wealthy people, there may be +cause for wonder at the large households, +where there are so many servants. There +will be often as many as ten or more servants +in a home where, in other ways, luxury +and wealth are not displayed. In the +<i>oku</i>, or the part of the house where the +lady of the house stays, are found her own +maid, and women who help in the work +about the house, sew in their leisure moments, +and are the higher servants of the +family; there are also the children's attendants, +often one for each child, as well +as the waiting women for the Go Inkyo +Sama. In the kitchen are the cooks and +their assistants, the lower servants, and usually +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[311]</a></span>one or more <i>jinrikisha</i> men, who belong +to the house, and, if this be the home +of an official who keeps horses, a <i>bettō</i> for +each animal. There are also gardeners, +errand-boys, and gate-keepers to guard the +large <i>yashikis</i>. Such a retinue would seem +a great deal to maintain; but servants' +wages are so low, and the cost of living is +so small, that in this matter Japanese can +afford to be luxurious. Three or four dollars +will cover the cost of food for a month +for one person, and women servants expect +only a few dollars in wages for that +time. The men receive much higher pay, +but at the most it is less than what a good +cook receives in many homes here. The +wages do not include occasional presents, +especially those given semi-annually,—a +small sum of money, or dress material of +some kind,—which servants expect, and +which, of course, are no small item in the +family expense.</p> + +<p>Homes which maintain a great deal of +style need many servants, for they expect +to work less than the American servant, +and are less able to hurry and rush through +their work; and they do not desire, if they +could, to take life so hard, even to earn<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[312]</a></span> +greater pay. The family, too, in many cases +are used to having plenty of hands to do +the work; the ladies are much less independent, +and life has more formalities and +red tape in Japan than in America. A +great deal of the shopping is done by servants, +who are sent out on errands and +often do important business. Maids accompany +their mistresses to make visits; +servants go with parties to the theatre, to +picnics, or on journeys, and these expeditions +are as heartily enjoyed by them as by +their masters. It is expected, especially of +ladies and persons of high rank, that the +details of the journey, the bargaining with +coolies, the hiring of vehicles, and paying +of bills, be left in charge of some manservant, +who is entirely responsible, and who +makes all the bargains, arranges the journey +for his employer, and takes charge of +everything,—even to the amount of fees +given along the way.</p> + +<p>Perhaps the highest positions of service +now—positions honorable anywhere in +Japan—are held by those who remain of +the old retainers of daimiōs, and who +regulate the households of the nobles. +Such men must have good education, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[313]</a></span> +good judgment; for much is left in their +hands, and they are usually gentlemen, +who would be known as such anywhere. +They are the stewards of the household, +the secretaries of their masters; keep all +accounts, for which they are responsible, +and attend to the minor affairs of etiquette,—the +latter no trifling duty in a noble's +home. It is they who accompany the nobles +on their journeys,—regulate, advise, +and attend to the little affairs of life, of +which the master may be ignorant and +cares not to learn. They are the last of +the crowds of feudal retainers, who once +filled castle and <i>yashiki</i>, and are now scattered +throughout the length and breadth +of the kingdom.</p> + +<p>The higher servants in the household +must be always more or less trained in etiquette, +and are expected to look neat and +tidy; to serve guests with tea and refreshments, +without any orders to that effect; +and to use their judgment in little household +affairs, and thus help the lady of the +house. They are usually clever with their +fingers, and can sew neatly. When their +mistress goes out they assist her to dress, +and only a few words from her will be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[314]</a></span> +necessary for them to have everything in +readiness, from her sash and dress to all +the little belongings of a lady's costume. +Many a bright, quick servant is found who +will understand and guess her mistress's +wants without being told each detail, and +these not only serve with their hands, but +think for their employers.</p> + +<p>Much less is expected of the lower servants, +who belong to the kitchen, and have +less to do with the family in general, and +little or no personal contact with their +masters. They perform their round of duties +with little responsibility, and are regarded +as much lower in the social scale +of servants, of which we have seen there +are many degrees.</p> + +<p>The little <i>gozen-taki</i>, or rice-cook, who +works all day in the kitchen, may be a fat, +red-cheeked, frowsy-haired country girl,—patient, +hard-working, and humble-minded,—willing +to pother about all day with her +kettles and pans, and sit up half the night +over her own sewing, or the study of the +often unfamiliar art of reading and writing; +but entirely unacquainted with the +details of etiquette, a knowledge of which +is a necessity to the higher servants,—sometimes +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[315]</a></span>even thrown into an agony of +diffidence should it become necessary to +appear before master or mistress.</p> + +<p>Some of the customs of the household, +in regard to servants, are quite striking to +a foreigner. When the master of the house +starts out each morning, besides the wife +and children who see him off, all the servants +who are not especially occupied—a +goodly number, sometimes—come to the +front door and bow down to bid him good-by. +On his return, also, when the noise +of the <i>kuruma</i> is heard, and the shout of +the men, who call out "<i>O kaeri!</i>" when +near the house, the servants go out to +greet him, and bowing low speak the customary +words of salutation. To a greater +or less degree, the same is done to every +member of the family, the younger members, +however, receiving a smaller share +of the attention than their elders.</p> + +<p>When, as very often happens, a guest +staying for any length of time in a family, +or a frequent visitor, gives a servant a present +of money or any trifle, the servant, after +thanking the donor, takes the white paper +bundle to the mistress of the house, and +shows it to her, expressing his gratitude<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[316]</a></span> +to her for the gift, and also asking her to +thank the giver. This, of course, is always +done, for a gift to a servant is as +much of a favor to the mistress as a present +to a child is to its mother.</p> + +<p>When a servant wishes to leave a family, +she rarely goes to her mistress and states +that she is dissatisfied with her position, +and that some better chance has been offered +her. Such a natural excuse never +occurs to the Japanese servant, unless he +be a <i>jinrikisha</i> man or <i>bettō</i>, who may not +know how to do better; for it is a very +rude way of leaving service. The high-minded +maid will proceed very differently.</p> + +<p>A few days' leave of absence to visit home +will be asked and usually granted, for Japanese +servants never have any settled time +to take holiday. At the end of the given +time the mistress will begin to wonder +what has become of the girl, who has failed +to return; and the lady will make up her +mind she will not let her go again so readily. +Just when she has a sharp reproof +ready, a messenger or letter will arrive, +with some good excuse, couched in most +polite and humble terms. Sometimes it +will be that she has found herself too weak<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[317]</a></span> +for service, or that work at home, or the +illness of some member of the family, detains +her, so that she is not able to come +back at present. The excuse is understood +and accepted as final, and another +servant is sought for and obtained. After +several weeks have passed, very likely after +entering a new place, the old servant will +turn up some day, express her thanks for +all past kindnesses and regrets at not returning +in time, will take her pay and her +bundles, and disappear forever.</p> + +<p>Even when servants come on trial for a +few days, they often go away nominally to +fetch their belongings, or make arrangements +to return, but the lady of the house +does not know whether the woman is satisfied +or not. If she is not, her refusal is +always brought by a third person. If the +mistress, on her side, does not wish to hire +the girl, she will not tell her so to her +face, but will send word at this time to prevent +her coming. Such is the etiquette in +these matters of mistress and maid.<a name="APXanchor_317" id="APXanchor_317" href="#APX_317" class="apxanchor">[*]</a></p> + +<p>Only by a multiplicity of details is it +possible to give much idea of the position +of servants in a Japanese house, and even +then the result arrived at is that the positions +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[318]</a></span>of what we would call domestic servants +vary so greatly in honor and responsibility +that it is almost impossible to draw +any general conclusions upon this subject. +We have seen that there is no distinct +servile class in Japan, and that a person's +social status is not altered by the fact that +he serves in a menial capacity, provided +that service be of one above him in rank +and not below him. This is largely the +result of the grading of society upon other +lines than those on which our social distinctions +are founded, and partly the result +of the fact that women, of whatever class, +are servants so far as persons of the opposite +sex in their own class are concerned. +The women of Japan to-day form the great +servile class, and, as they are also the +wives and mothers of those whom they +serve, they are treated, of course, with a +certain consideration and respect never +given to a mere servant; and through +them, all domestic service is elevated.<a name="APXanchor_318" id="APXanchor_318" href="#APX_318" class="apxanchor">[*]</a></p> + +<p>There are two employments which I +have mentioned among those of domestic +servants because they would be so classed +by us, but which in Japan rank among +the trades. The <i>jinrikisha</i> man and the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[319]</a></span> +groom belong, as a rule, to a certain class +at the bottom of the social ladder, and no +samurai would think of entering either of +these occupations, except under stress of +severest poverty. The <i>bettōs</i>, or grooms, +are a hereditary class and a regular guild, +and have a reputation, among both Japanese +and foreigners, as a betting, gambling, +cheating, good-for-nothing lot. An +honest <i>bettō</i> is a rare phenomenon. The +<i>jinrikisha</i> men are, many of them, sons of +peasants, who come to the cities for the +sake of earning more money, or leading a +livelier life than can be found in the little +thatched cottage among the rice-fields. +Few of them are married, or have homes +of their own. Many of them drink and +gamble, and sow their wild oats in all possible +ways; but they are a well-meaning, +fairly honest, happy-go-lucky set, who lead +hard lives of exhausting labor, and endure +long hours of exposure to heat and cold, +rain, snow, and blinding sunshine, not +only with little complaint or grumbling, +but with absolute cheerfulness and hilarity. +A strong, fast <i>jinrikisha</i> man takes +great pride in his strength and speed. It +is a point of honor with him to pull his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[320]</a></span> +passenger up the steepest and most slippery +of hills, and never to heed him if he +expresses a desire to walk in order to save +his man. I have had my <i>kurumaya</i> stoutly +refuse, again and again, my offers to walk +up a steep hill, even when the snow was +so soft and slippery under his bare feet +that he fell three times in making the +ascent. "<i>Dai jobu</i>" (safe) would be his +smiling response to all my protestations; +and, once in a <i>jinrikisha</i>, the passenger is +entirely at the mercy of his man in all +matters of getting into and out of the vehicle. +But though the <i>jinrikisha</i> man is, +for the time being, the autocrat and controlling +power over his passenger, and +though he will not obey the behests of his +employer, except so far as they seem reasonable +and in accordance with the best +interests of all concerned, he constitutes +himself the protector and assistant, the +adviser and counselor, of him whom he +serves, and gives his best thought and intelligence, +as well as his speed and strength, +to the service in which he is engaged. If +he thinks it safe, he will tear like an unbroken +colt through the business portions +of the city, knocking bundles out of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[321]</a></span> +hands of foot passengers, or even hitting +the wayfarers themselves in a fierce dash +through their midst, laughing gayly at +their protests, and at threats of wrath to +come from his helpless passenger; but +should hint of insult or injury against <i>kuruma</i>, +passenger, or passenger's dog fall +upon his ears, he will drop the <i>jinrikisha</i> +shafts, and administer condign punishment +to the offender, unchecked by thoughts of +the ever-present police, or by any terrors +that his employer may hold over his head. +In no other country in the world, perhaps, +can a lady place more entire confidence in +the honor and loyalty of her servant than +she can in Japan in her <i>kurumaya</i>, whether +he be her private servant, or one from a +respectable stand. He may not do what +she bids him, but that is quite a secondary +matter. He will study her interests; will +remember her likes and dislikes; will take +a mental inventory of the various accessories +or bundles that she carries with her, +and will never permit her to lose or forget +one of them; will run his legs off in her +service, and defend her and her property +valiantly in case of need. Of course, as +in all classes there are different grades,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[322]</a></span> +so there are <i>jinrikisha</i> men who seem to +have sunk so low in their calling that they +have lost all feeling of loyalty to their employer, +and only care selfishly for the pittance +they gain. Such men are often +found in the treaty ports, eagerly seeking +for the rich foreigner, from whom they +can get an extra fee, and whom they regard +as outside of their code of morals, +and hence as their natural prey. Travelers, +and even residents of Japan, have +often complained of such treatment; and +it is only after long stay in Japan, among +the Japanese themselves, that one can tell +what a <i>jinrikisha</i> man is capable of.<a name="APXanchor_322" id="APXanchor_322" href="#APX_322" class="apxanchor">[*]</a></p> + +<p>If you employ one <i>kurumaya</i> for any +length of time, you come to have a real +affection for him on account of his loyal, +faithful, cheerful service, such as we seldom +find in this country except when inspired +by personal feeling. When you have +ridden miles and miles, by night and by +day, through rain and sleet and hottest +sunshine, behind a man who has used +every power of body and mind in your service, +you cannot but have a strong feeling +of affection toward him, and of pride in +him as well. It is something the feeling<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[323]</a></span> +that one has for a good saddle-horse, but +more developed. You rejoice, not only in +his strength and speed, put forth so willingly +in your service; in his picturesque, +dark blue costume with your monogram +embroidered on the back; in his handsomely +turned ankles; in his black, wavy +hair; in his delicate hands and trim waist,—though +these are often a source of pride +to you,—but his skill in divining your +wants; his use of his tongue in your service; +his helping out of your faltering +Japanese with explanations which, if not +elegant, have the merit of being easily understood; +his combats with extortionate +shopkeepers in your behalf; his interest in +all your doings and concerns,—remain as +a pleasant memory, upon your return to a +land where no man would so far forget his +manhood as to give himself so completely +and without reserve to the service of any +master save Mammon.</p> + +<p>As old Japan, with its quaintness, its +mediæval flavor, its feudalism, its loyalty, +its sense of honor, and its transcendental +contempt for money and luxury, recedes +into the past, and as the memories of my +life there grow dim, two figures stand out<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[324]</a></span> +more and more boldly from the fading +background,—both, the figures of faithful +servants. One, Yasaku, the <i>kurumaya</i>, a +very Hercules, who could keep close to a +pair of coach horses through miles of city +streets, and who never suffered mortal <i>jinrikisha</i> +man to pass him. My champion +in all times of danger and alarm, but a +very autocrat in all minor matters,—his +cheery face, his broad shoulders with their +blue draperies, his jolly, boyish voice, and +his dainty, delicate hands come before me +as I write, and I wonder to what fortunate +person he is now giving the intelligent service +that he once gave so whole-heartedly +to me. The other, O Kaio, my maid, her +plain little face, with its upturned eyes, +growing, as the days went by, absolutely +beautiful in the light of pure goodness +that beamed from it. A Japanese Christian, +with all the Christian virtues well developed, +she became to me not only a good +servant, doing her work with conscientious +fidelity, but a sympathetic friend, to whom +I turned for help in time of need; and +whom I left, when I returned to America, +with a sincere sorrow in my heart at parting +with one who had grown to fill so large<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[325]</a></span> +a place in my thoughts. Her little, half-shy, +half-motherly ways toward her big foreign +mistress had a charm all their own. +Her pride and delight over my progress in +the language; her patient efforts to make +me understand new words, or to understand +my uncouth foreign idioms; her joy, +when at last I reached the point where a +story told by her lips could be comprehended +and enjoyed,—gave a continual encouragement +in a task too often completely +disheartening.</p> + +<p>During the last summer of my stay in +Japan, cutting loose from all foreigners +and foreign associations, I traveled alone +with her through the heart of the country, +stopping only at Japanese hotels, and carrying +with me no supplies to eke out the +simple Japanese fare. Through floods and +typhoons we journeyed. Long days of +scorching heat or driving rain in no way +abated her cheerfulness, or lessened her desire +to do all that she could for my aid and +comfort. Not one sad look nor impatient +word showed a flaw in her perfect temper; +and if she privately made up her mind +that I was crazy, she never by word or look +gave a hint of her thought. <i>Jinrikisha</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[326]</a></span> +men grumbled and gave out; hotel-keepers +resented the presence of my dog, or presented +extortionate bills; but O Kaio's +good temper and tact never failed her. +Difficulties were smoothed away; bills were +compromised and reduced; the dog slept +securely by my side on a red blanket in the +best rooms of the best hotels; and O Kaio +smiled, told her quaint stories, amused me +and ministered to me, as if I were her one +object in life, though husband and children +were far away in distant Tōkyō, and +her mother's heart yearned for her little +ones.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[327]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XII.<br /><br /> +<span class="sm">WITHIN THE HOME.</span></h2> + +<p><span class="smcap">Into</span> the life of a Japanese home enter +many customs and observances that +have not been dwelt upon in the preceding +pages, but without some understanding +of which our knowledge of the life of +Japanese women is by no means complete. +In Japan the woman's place is so +entirely in the home that all the ceremonies +and superstitions that gather +about the conduct of every-day affairs +are more to her than they are to the +freer and broader-minded man. The +household worship, the yearly round of +festivals, each with its special food to +be prepared, the observances connected +with birth and marriage and death; +what is to be done in time of illness, of +earthquake, of fire, or of the frequent +flittings that render life in Japan one +succession of packings and unpackings,—all +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[328]</a></span>these are matters of high importance +to the wife and mother, and their +proper observance is left largely in her +hands.</p> + +<p>Every well-ordered Japanese home of +the old-fashioned kind has its little +shrine, which is the centre of the religious +life of the house. If the household +is of the Shintō faith, this shrine is +called the <i>kami-dana</i>, or god shelf, and +contains the symbols of the gods, <i>gohei</i> in +vases, receptacles for food and drink, +and a primitive lamp,—only a saucer of +oil in which a bit of pith serves for a +wick. Daily offerings must be made before +this shrine, and reverence paid by +the clapping of hands; while on feast +days special offerings and invocations +are required. In Buddhist families, the +<i>Butsudan</i>, or Buddha shelf, takes the +place of the <i>kami-dana</i>, and the worship +is slightly more complicated. Greater +variety of food is offered, and the simple +clapping of the hands and bowing of the +head that is the form of prayer in the +Shintō religion is replaced by the burning +of incense and by actual verbal invocation +of Buddha. These religious ceremonies +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[329]</a></span>must be attended to by the +mother or wife. She it is who sets the +rice and wine before the ancestral tablets, +who lights the little lamp each +night, and who sees that at each feast +day and anniversary season the proper +food is prepared and set out for the +household gods.</p> + +<p>Upon the wife, and her attention to +minute and apparently trifling details, +depends much of the well-being of the +family. Each child, as it grows toward +maturity, gathers from various sources +a collection of amulets, which, while +worn always when the child is in full +dress, are frequently too precious for +ordinary play times and the risks and +perils of every-day life. These must be +kept carefully by the mother as a safeguard +against the many evils that beset +child-life. I have spoken of the amulets +given at the times of the <i>miya mairi</i>,—both +the first, when the name is given to +the baby, and the subsequent visits +made to the temple by the children as +they pass certain stated points in their +progress toward maturity. These amulets +are simply written papers or slips of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[330]</a></span> +wood with the seal of the temple from +which they are issued stamped upon +them. Visits to noted temples by relatives +and friends often result in additions +to the child's collection. One kind +of charm is good to keep the eyes strong; +another will help its possessor to that +much-prized accomplishment, a good +handwriting; another acts as an assurance +against accident and saves the child +from harm in case of a fall. All these +are put together by the careful mother +and preserved as jealously as Queen +Althea kept the charred stick that governed +the destiny of her son. As the +children arrive at years of discretion, +these treasures pass out of the mother's +faithful keeping into the hands of their +actual owners, and they are usually kept +stored away in some little-used drawer +or cabinet until death removes the necessity +for any further safeguards over life. +Perhaps of all the curious things that go +to make up these intimate personal belongings +of a Japanese man or woman, +there is none more curious than the +small white parcel containing a portion +of the umbilical cord,—saved at birth<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[331]</a></span> +and preserved until death that it may be +buried with its possessor and furnish +him the means of a new birth. These +little paper packages, each marked with +the name of the child to whom it belongs, +are kept by the mother.</p> + +<p>Upon the mother of the family rests +very largely the determining of lucky +and unlucky days for the beginning or +transaction of different kinds of business. +A fortune-teller is consulted for +important things, such as removals or +marriages, but in every-day life one cannot +be running to a fortune-teller about +everything; and yet there is bad luck +lurking in the background that may +baffle all our plans if we do not observe +the proper times and seasons for our +undertakings. Just as the Japanese calendar +divides time into cycles of twelve +years, each year named for a different +animal, so also the days and hours are +divided into twelves and bear the names +of the same twelve animals,—the Chinese +signs of the zodiac. These animals +are as follows: the rat, the bull, the +tiger, the hare, the dragon, the snake, +the horse, the goat, the monkey, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[332]</a></span> +cock, the dog, and the boar. Each animal +brings its own kind of good or bad +luck into the hour, day, or year over +which it presides, and only a skillful +balancer of pros and cons can read aright +the combinations, and understand what +the luck of any particular hour in any +particular day of any particular year +will be. For instance, the rat, which is +the companion of Daikoku, the money +god, is a lucky animal so far as money is +concerned. A person born in the year +of the rat will never need money, and +will be economical, possibly miserly; and +in one born on the day of the rat in the +year of the rat these chances and qualities +will be doubled. But the luck of the +rat may be very seriously interfered +with by the bad luck of the monkey or +of the proverbially unlucky dog, when +their days and hours occur in the rat +year. On the other hand, their bad luck +may be counteracted by the good luck +of the tiger or hare, for as a rule three +animals of different portent are presiding +over human prospects every hour. +This makes prophecy a ticklish business, +requiring a wise head, but it also leaves<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[333]</a></span> +much room for the subsequent explanation +of failures by the superior and unusual +influence of one or another of the +animals, as the case may require. Momentous +questions of this kind have +frequently to be settled by the Japanese +wife and mother, and she gains dignity +and value in her home and neighborhood +according to her skill in interpreting the +portents of the day and hour.</p> + +<p>For the greater events of family life +the home prophecies are felt to be too +uncertain, and the services of the fortune-teller +must be called in. No well-managed +family would think of building +a new house without finding in what +direction to face the front door. In an +American city this necessity would cause +considerable inconvenience, as the position +of the front door is usually determined +by the relation of the building-lot +to the street; but in a Japanese city, +where, in all but the business quarters, +every house is concealed by a high board +fence, and where the gate that admits +one within the fence is the only sign by +which any one in the street can judge of +the worldly condition of the dwellers<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[334]</a></span> +within, the houses are faced about any +and every way, and the position of each +is determined by the good luck that it +will bring its owner. After this matter +has been settled and the house is fairly +begun, there are occasional crises in its +construction upon which much depends. +Of these the most important is the day +when the roof is raised. The roof timbers, +which are unsquared logs, often +rather crooked, after being carefully +fitted and framed in some convenient +vacant lot, are brought on carts to the +site of the new building, and when all is +ready, the head carpenter sends word to +the house-owner that he is about to set +the roof in place. The house-owner then +decides whether the day set by the +builder is a lucky one for himself and his +family. If it is not, a delay in the building +is always preferable to any danger +of incurring the displeasure of the luck +gods. This crisis safely passed, and the +last of the roof beams secured in its +place, the men take a holiday, and are +feasted on <i>saké</i> and spaghetti by the +house-owner. A present of money to +each workman is also in order, and will<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[335]</a></span> +conduce to the rapid and faithful execution +of the job in hand. When, at last, +the house is finished, and carpenters and +plasterers are ready to leave it, the local +firemen, who have assisted all along in +the building as unskilled laborers, often +ascend to the roof, and from the ridge-pole +cast down cakes, for which the children +of the neighborhood scramble joyfully.</p> + +<p>When the builders have left, and the +house is ready for occupation, even to +the soft, thick mats on the floor and the +white paper windows, the family will +move in on the first day thereafter that +is both lucky and pleasant. So far as +possible, everything in the old house will +be packed and ready the day before, and +very early in the morning the relatives +and friends of the mover will begin to +rally around him. All come who can, +and those who cannot come send servants +or provisions. Every tradesman +or <i>kurumaya</i> who has had or who hopes +to have the patronage of the moving +household sends a representative to help +along the work, so that there is always a +sufficient force to carry the household<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[336]</a></span> +belongings into the new home and settle +them in place before the day is over. All +these visiting helpers must be fed and +provided with tea and cakes at proper +intervals, and the presents of cooked +food that pour in at such times are +highly acceptable and of great practical +usefulness. When the long day is ended +and the visitors return one by one to +their homes, it is the mistress of the +house who must see that every servant +and representative of a business firm +receives, neatly done up in white paper, +a present of money properly proportioned +to his services, and the style and +circumstances of the family he has been +aiding. And when all are gone, the +shutters closed, and the family left alone +in their new home, the little wife must +make a list of all who have helped in any +way during the day, and to all, within a +short time, make some acknowledgment +of their kindness by either a call or a +present. It is upon the wife, too, that +the duty falls of sending to each of the +near neighbors <i>soba</i>, a kind of macaroni, +as an announcement of the family's +arrival. The number of neighbors to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[337]</a></span> +whom this gift is sent is determined +differently according to circumstances. +If the house is one of several in a compound, +<i>soba</i> will be sent to all within the +gate; but if the compound is very large, +so that the sending to all would be too +great an expense, the five nearest houses +will be selected to receive the gift, or all +who draw water from the same well. A +very late fashion in Tōkyō, but one that +is gaining ground because of its convenience, +is to send, not the macaroni +itself, but an order on the nearest restaurant +at which that delicacy is sold.</p> + +<p>As I have already said, much of a +woman's time and thought must be given +to the proper distribution of presents +among friends and dependents. The +subject of what to give, when to give, to +whom to give, and how to do up the gift +acceptably, is one the thorough understanding +of which requires the study of +years. No foreigner can hope to do more +than dabble in the shallows of it. Presents +seem to be used more for the purpose +of keeping those persons whose +services you may need, or whose enmity +you dread, under a sense of obligation,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[338]</a></span> +than they are as expressions of sentiment. +Every housekeeper, for instance, +must need the occasional services of a +carpenter or a gardener, and in a large +city like Tōkyō the chances are that she +will some day need, and need very badly, +the services of a fireman. A wise +woman—one who is not penny wise and +pound foolish—will by timely presents +keep herself constantly in the minds of +such persons, so that when she sends for +them, they may feel under sufficient obligation +to her to come at once. So will +her house be quickly put in repair after +earthquake or other accident; her garden +show for only the briefest interval the +ravages of the typhoon which has gullied +out her lawn and leveled her choicest +trees; and when some night "the flower +of Yedo" blooms suddenly by her side, +she will have the speedy assistance of +the firemen, who will seal her storehouse +securely with clay, wet her roof and +walls thoroughly with water, and light +at her gates the great alarm lanterns to +tell her friends that her house is in +danger and summon them to her assistance. +No friend can disregard such a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[339]</a></span> +signal, but all will rally round her once +more to help in this less orderly and +cheerful moving,—will pack and cord +and carry out her goods, and if at last +the fire consumes her dwelling, will +gather her household and belongings +into their hospitable homes. But the +foolish woman, who neglects or forgets +her dependents when she does not need +them, finds some day that her roof is +leaking, but all the carpenters are too +busy to mend it, her garden is destroyed +because the gardener had an important +engagement elsewhere just when she +needed him, and her property is burned +up or ruined by water and smoke because +the firemen attended to her house +last when the fire swept over her compound.</p> + +<p>When death enters a house in Japan, +there are no undertakers to relieve the +family of the painful duty of caring for +the dead body and placing it in the coffin. +There are coffin-makers and funeral managers +who supply the great white bier +and lanterns and the bunches of paper +flowers that adorn every funeral procession, +but within the house the preparations +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[340]</a></span>are all made by the family and +friends, and the heaviest and most painful +part of the work falls, as usual, on +the women of the family. As soon as +the breath finally leaves the body, it is +wrapped in a quilt, laid with its head to +the north, and an inverted screen placed +around it. On one corner of the screen +is hung a sword or knife to keep off any +evil spirit that may wander into the +room in the shape of a cat and disturb +the dead.</p> + +<p>Etiquette requires that relatives and +intimate friends of the family call immediately +on learning of the death. To +receive these calls the mourners, in full +ceremonial dress, must sit in the death +chamber and remove for each guest the +covering from the face of the dead. The +visitors then offer the ceremonial bows +to the corpse, as if it were alive. During +this time, too, presents to the spirit of +the dead are pouring in. The proper +offerings are flowers, cake, vegetables, +candles, incense, or small gifts of money +for the purchase of incense. If the deceased +is a person of rank or distinction, +the house is flooded with cumbersome<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[341]</a></span> +and useless offerings. This custom has +become so great an addition to the trials +necessarily incident to a bereavement +that one occasionally sees in the newspaper +announcements of deaths a request +that no offerings to the dead be +sent.</p> + +<p>On the day after the death, often in +the evening, the body must be placed in +the cask-shaped coffin that until recently +was the style commonly in use in Japan. +Now, among the wealthier classes, the +long coffin has superseded the small +square or round one, but the smaller +expense connected with burial in the old +way makes the survival of the old type +a necessity for the majority of Japanese. +At an appointed time all the relatives +assemble in the death chamber, and +preparations are made for the bathing of +the corpse. Two of the <i>tatami</i>, or floor +mats, are turned over, and upon them +are placed a new tub, a new pail, and a +new dipper. These utensils must have +no metal of any kind about them. In +the washing of the body none but members +of the family must assist, and +respect for the dead absolutely requires<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[342]</a></span> +that all the relatives of the deceased who +are below him in rank must have a hand +in these final ablutions. In Japan, the +mourning for the dead is the duty of +inferiors, never of superiors. There is no +official, ceremonial mourning of parents +for their children, nor does custom require +them to perform any of the last +rites, or attend the funeral. Upon the +younger brothers and sisters falls the +duty of attending to all the last sad +ministrations. If the wife dies, her husband +does not mourn for her, though her +children do; but if the husband dies, the +wife must mourn the rest of her life, +cutting off her hair and placing it in the +coffin as a sign of her perpetual faithfulness.</p> + +<p>When the body has been washed, it is +dressed in white, in silk <i>habutai</i> whenever +the family can afford it. The dress, +which must be appropriate to the season, +in the making of which all the women of +the family must assist, is the plain, +straight kimono, but must be folded +from right to left, instead of from left to +right as in life. The body, to be placed +in the coffin, must be folded into a sitting +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[343]</a></span>posture, the chin resting upon the +knees,—the position of the mummies +found in many aboriginal American +tombs. This difficult, to us apparently +impossible feat, safely accomplished, +there are placed in the coffin a number of +small things that the dead takes with +him to the next world. Some of these +have been already mentioned, the others +are little keepsakes, or perhaps tokens of +the tastes and employments of the dead,—dice, +cards, <i>saké</i> bottles, the image of +a horse, toy weapons,—anything, provided +only that it be not of metal, may be +used for this purpose. The single exception +to this rule about metal is that +small copper coins may be put in, to fee +the old hag who guards the bank of the +river of death. Last of all, the vacant +spaces in the coffin are filled in with bags +of tea. Then the coffin is closed and +nailed up, wrapped with a white silk +cloth fastened with a white silk or cotton +cord, and placed on a high stand, and +food and incense are placed before it.</p> + +<p>So long as the coffin is in the house, it +must be watched over continually. To +aid in this protracted vigil, which must<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[344]</a></span> +be kept up day and night until the +burial, the relatives, friends, and retainers +of the dead assemble at the house in +large numbers. In the case of a person +of wealth and influence, there will often +be a hundred or more of these watchers, +who must be fed and cared for; and who +take turns in watching, eating, and sleeping. +It is their duty to see that the +incense burning before the coffin is never +allowed to go out, while the food for the +dead is renewed at regular intervals by +the mourners themselves.</p> + +<p>This somewhat detailed description of +the duties to be performed by the members +of a bereaved family in the house of +mourning is sufficient to show that the +presence of death in the home is made as +terrible as possible by the painful ceremonies, +the continual bustle and excitement, +and the strain upon the resources +and executive ability of the housekeeper +and her assistants. There are few enlightened +Japanese who will defend the +present system of cruelty to the afflicted, +or who do not long for some change, but +so great is the force of conservatism in +this regard, so haunting the fear that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[345]</a></span> +any change may indicate a lack of respect +for the dead, that reform advances +slowly.</p> + +<p>Individual instances occur in which +some of the worst features of these customs +are modified. A case in point is +that of the late Mr. Fukuzawa, a man +whose life was devoted to the advancement +of his countrymen in modern ways, +and who in his death continued his +teaching. In his will he provided that +his body was to be buried, without washing, +in the clothing in which he died. +This provision would seem in most countries +to be mere eccentricity, but when +one has seen or heard of the gruesome +ceremony that follows immediately after +death, and the burden of which falls, not +on the old and hardened, but on the +young and tender, suffering, in many +cases, under the weight of a first and +crushing affliction, one can see that only +through such means as this can the +burden ever be lifted from the shoulders +of those who mourn. There are young +and enlightened mothers in Japan to-day +who have felt, in minds awakened to +thought and action, the horrors of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[346]</a></span> +system, and who will not allow their +children to suffer for them what they +have suffered in paying respect to their +dead parents. Through this growing +feeling and the unselfishness of maternal +affection may come in time the release +from these mournful ceremonies.</p> + +<p>While the body remains in the house, +a priest comes from time to time to offer +prayers, longer or shorter according to +the wealth of the family employing him; +and when the funeral cortège sets out on +its way to the cemetery, the priests in +their professional robes form an imposing +part of the spectacle. The day of the +burial is selected with due respect to the +calendar, for, though there may be little +good luck about a funeral, there is a +chance of extremely bad luck growing +out of it unless every precaution is +taken. Just before the procession starts, +a religious ceremony is held at the +house, which is attended by the friends +of the deceased, and which is substantially +the same as that performed at the +cemetery. On the day of the burial, +great bunches of natural flowers are sent +to the dead, each bunch so large as to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[347]</a></span> +require the services of one man to carry +it. Sometimes with the gift a man is +sent to take part in the procession, but +if the giver feels too poor to hire a man, +this burden, too, falls upon the bereaved +household, for etiquette requires that all +flowers sent be borne to the grave by +uniformed coolies, who march in the +funeral train. Another favorite present +at this time, among Buddhists, is a cage +of living birds, to be borne to the grave +and released thereon. This act of mercy +is counted to the deceased for righteousness, +and is believed to aid in rendering +his next incarnation a happy one.</p> + +<p>A funeral procession is an imposing +spectacle, and, to the uninstructed foreigner, +a cheerful one; for there is nothing +sad or sombre in the white, or +bright-colored, robes of the priests, the +white, tinsel-decorated bier, the red and +white flags borne aloft, the enormous +bunches of gay-colored flowers;—the +very mourners in white silk, and with +faces apparently unmoved by grief, bring +no thought of the object of the procession +to the Western mind. It seems more +like a bridal than a burial. But if you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[348]</a></span> +follow the cortège to the cemetery and +there listen to the wailing of the wind +instruments, and the droning of the +priests as they perform the last rites, +and watch the silent company that one +by one go forward to bow before the +coffin and place upon it a branch of +<i>sakaki</i> or burn a bit of incense, the trappings +of woe in Japan will impress themselves +strongly upon your mind, and the +gayly appareled funeral processions will +seem to you ever afterward as mournful +and hopeless a spectacle as you can find +in any country.</p> + +<p>The house of death remains a place of +mourning for forty-nine days after the +funeral. During this period the spirit of +the deceased is supposed to be still inhabiting +the house, and a tablet or shrine is +set up in the death chamber before +which food and flowers are renewed +daily. Visitors are expected to make +obeisance to the dead. At the end of +this time, some acknowledgment must +be sent to every friend who has sent anything +to the house at the funeral. For a +time after death has come into the family +the relatives of the dead are regarded<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[349]</a></span> +as ceremonially unclean. The period of +defilement varies with the nearness of +relationship. In the old days, no one +thus defiled was allowed to go about his +regular business or to mingle with other +men; but busy modern Japan does not +find it convenient to pause long in its +work, so that government officials and +school-children are now sent written +papers excusing them for coming back +to their tasks even while ceremonially +unclean. Thus the old custom is passing +away. In the first year after death, certain +days are observed with special honors +before the memorial tablet, and later, +certain anniversaries of the death must +be kept, until, at last, at the end of fifty +or one hundred years, the personality of +the spirit seems to become merged with +that of the other ancestral spirits, and +no offerings are made to it except at the +general feasts of the dead.</p> + +<p>With the coming in of the last month +of the year begin the preparations +for the great New Year's festival, and +the housekeeper finds herself occupied +through every moment of the brief days. +A woman who is at the head of a large<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[350]</a></span> +household has upon her hands in the +month of December spring house-cleaning +and preparations for Christmas, New +Year's, Thanksgiving, and Easter, all at +once. The work of getting the family +wardrobe ready for the festival must +begin very early in the month, for every +man, woman, and child in the household +must be provided with new clothes, and +the thrifty housewife sends no sewing +out. In the old days, it was ordained +that the eighth day of the twelfth month +should be a needle festival,—a day on +which all women rest from their sewing +and amuse themselves by indulging their +own fancies instead of their husbands', +as is their duty on other days. This day +was supposed to mark the dividing line +between the old year's and the new +year's sewing, but, as a matter of fact, +the forehanded woman will finish up the +old and begin the new even earlier in the +month, so as to have this part of her +work well out of the way before the +house-cleaning, which should be begun +not later than the fifteenth.</p> + +<p>This house-cleaning, even with the +small amount of furniture found in a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[351]</a></span> +Japanese house, is an elaborate affair. +Every box and closet and rubbish-hole +in the house is turned out and put in +order, the <i>tatami</i> are taken up and +brushed and beaten, the woodwork from +ceiling to floor is carefully washed, the +plaster and paper walls flicked with the +paper flapper that takes the place in +Japan of our feather duster. All the +quilts and clothing must be sunned and +aired, the kakémonos and curios belonging +to the family unpacked, carefully +dusted, and put back into their wrappings +and boxes, and the house and +garden put into perfect repair. This +work, if thoroughly done, takes about a +week. When all is finished, even to the +final purification by beating everything +in the house with a fresh bamboo, games +and festivities and <i>soba</i> are in order. In +the old daimiō houses, where great numbers +of men and women were employed, +and where the women's quarters were in +a distinct part of the house, it was considered +a great joke to catch a man on +the women's side any time between the +close of the cleaning and the beginning +of the new year. The intruder was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[352]</a></span> +promptly seized and shouldered by the +women, who carried him about the house +in triumph, finally returning him to his +own quarters. If, by any chance, they +could catch the chief steward, they sang +as they carried him about:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i00">"This is the great pillar of the house!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">May he be happy till the stone foundations rot!"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The week following the house-cleaning +is devoted to the preparation of food for +the festival. Of this, the most characteristic +is <i>mochi</i>, a sort of dumpling made of +rice steamed and pounded, the preparation +of which is so difficult and protracted +a process that it is not lightly +undertaken. It is so distinctively the festival +food of Japan that if you find <i>mochi</i> +in a friend's house at any time except +the new year, you immediately ask what +has happened, and are pretty sure to be +told that it is a present received in celebration +of a birth or a marriage, or some +other domestic festival. It is, to Japanese +children, what turkey and cranberry +sauce are to American children, not only +a delight to the palate, but a dish the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[353]</a></span> +very smell of which brings back the most +cheerful occasions in the year.</p> + +<p>When the <i>mochi</i> is made and set away +to await the festal day, the matter of decoration +must be attended to. At every +gate is erected some token of the season, +if it be only a bit of pine stuck into the +ground, or a wisp of straw rope decorated +with white paper <i>gohei</i>. The great +black gates that indicate the homes of +the wealthier classes are almost concealed +by structures of pine and bamboo, +on which oranges, lobsters, straw rope, +straw fringe, white paper, and images of +the good luck gods are used as decorations. +All these things are either efficacious +in keeping off evil spirits, or are +symbols of good luck. Within the house, +in the <i>tokonoma</i>, or place of honor, in the +best room, great cakes of <i>mochi</i>, two, +three, five, or seven in number, are set +one upon another in a dish covered with +fern leaves, and the structure surrounded +by seaweed.</p> + +<p>Before the new year comes in the capable +housewife will have sent out presents +to every one who has during the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[354]</a></span> +year been of service to her husband, her +children, or herself in any way. Her +own servants will be remembered with +gifts of clothing, something will be sent +to the servants of friends at whose +houses any of the family have visited +often, and every dependent, poor relation, +employee, and employee's child +must be given a present, large or small, +according to the amount of obligation +felt by the giver. To persons of greater +wealth and importance, to whom the +family are grateful for past favors or +from whom they are hoping for something +in the future, gifts, often quite out +of proportion to the resources of the +givers, are sent,—a method of investing +capital that is a little risky, though it +sometimes yields prompt and bountiful +returns. On the other hand, all the merchants +and marketmen who supply the +house send presents to the mistress and +frequently to the head servants as well, +and <i>furushiki</i> (bundle handkerchiefs), +cooking utensils, packages of sugar, +boxes of eggs, dried fish, etc., flow in at +the kitchen; while crêpe, silk, cotton +cloth, money, toys, curios, and other valuables +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[355]</a></span>flow out of the parlor. All this +present-giving is a severe tax upon the +strength and resources of the housekeeper, +and adds heavily to the burden +that the last month of the year imposes +upon her.</p> + +<p>By the twenty-fifth or twenty-sixth of +the month the trades-people begin to +send in their bills, for every man expects +to square up all his accounts by the +last night of the old year, and early payments +are expected and made, so that all +may begin the new year out of debt. So +universal is this custom that the man +who finds at the eleventh hour that he +cannot clear off all his debts is likely to +offer his property at a heavy sacrifice in +order to secure the necessary cash. For +any one with ready money extraordinary +bargains are to be met with in Japanese +shops during the last week of the year. +In case this resource fails, suicide is still +a short and honorable way out of a +world that has become too difficult to +live in.</p> + +<p>The Japanese housewife must feel, +when December has been successfully +passed, like the Yankee who had noticed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[356]</a></span> +that if he lived through the month of +March he generally lived through the +rest of the year. The observances of +January, for which December has been +one long preparation, begin with the rising +of the New Year's sun, and continue +in one form or another for about two +weeks. Almost every day has its special +food and its special festival duty. For +the first three days the very best clothes +in the wardrobe are worn by everybody, +then till the seventh the second best, and +from the seventh to the end of the month +new clothes, though not the very best, +must be worn. Within the first seven +days every man in Japan is expected to +call on all his friends and acquaintances, +but the women, probably out of consideration +for the many duties that the +festival season puts upon them, are given +until March to finish up their New +Year's calls.</p> + +<p>The streets of the cities, and even of +the small villages, are full of life and +interest for a week or two. <i>Kurumayas</i> +in their new winter liveries trundle +around fathers and mothers and happy +children. All manner of mummers, musicians, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[357]</a></span>and dancers go from house to +house in search of custom. The <i>manzai</i>, +who, with dances and songs and strange +grimaces, undertake to drive out from +your house for the new year all the devils +who may have been residing there hitherto, +are a special feature of this season. +In every garden and in the public streets +little girls, their faces freshly covered +with white paint, their shining black +hair newly dressed, their wing-sleeved +kimonos gorgeous with many colors, play +battledore and shuttlecock, toss small +bags half filled with rice, or pat balls +wound with shining silk to the accompaniment +of a weird little chant. For +the boys there are kites of many shapes +and colors, or tops that they spin under +every one's feet, well knowing that no +one in Japan is too busy to turn aside for +a child's pleasure. The very horses—small, +shock-headed, evil-tempered +beasts, who drag tremendous loads with +many snorts and snaps at their masters—are +decked out with gay streamers +that reach nearly to the ground, at the +ends of which are tinkling bells. The +festival season closes on the fifteenth<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[358]</a></span> +and sixteenth with a visit to the temple +of Yemma, the god of hell, and with a +holiday for all the apprentices.</p> + +<p>Next to the New Year's holiday, perhaps +the most important festival of the +Japanese year is <i>O Bon</i>, the Feast of the +Dead. This is, in its present form, a +Buddhist institution, but in spirit it +fitted so exactly into the ancient Japanese +ideas of the tastes and habits of +departed spirits that it merely supplanted +the old Shintō feasts of the dead, +and it is a little difficult to-day to determine +whether its observance is more +Buddhist or Shintō in its character. To +find the O Bon ceremonies in their most +perfect form, it is necessary now to go +into the more remote country villages, +for though, even in Tōkyō, this feast is +still one of the most important in the +whole year, it seems to be more distinctly +itself in a small village, where all +the old forms are still kept up.</p> + +<p>In Tōkyō, the three days' festival is +kept by the new calendar, and occurs on +the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth +of July. At O Bon, as at New Year's +time, it is customary to square off all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[359]</a></span> +obligations by a general giving of presents. +This, while not quite as important +a matter as at the beginning of the year, +is still a severe tax upon the time, purse, +and memory of the wife and mother in +any large family. At this time, too, as +at New Year's, <i>mochi</i> or some other festival +dish must be provided, but at this +point the resemblance between the two +occasions ceases. In accordance with its +character as a feast of departed spirits, +the observance of O Bon is distinctively +religious. On the twelfth, the family go +to the graveyard and clean and put in +order the graves and tombstones, so that +the returning spirits may find all properly +cared for. Fresh water and flowers +are placed before each stone, and sometimes +rice and fresh vegetables. At +home, the ancestral tablets in the <i>Butsudan</i> +form the centre of the ceremonies. +Before the shrine are placed, on the thirteenth, +offerings of food of any kind that +can be made without fish or meat. Great +balls of <i>mochi</i>, <i>saké</i>, flowers, and choice +new varieties of vegetables are appropriate +offerings. All are tastefully arranged, +the lamps are carefully lighted<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[360]</a></span> +every night, and special services are held +before the shrine. For the three days of +the feast, the souls of the dead are believed +to be visiting their old haunts, and +to need light and food and all the conveniences +that their descendants can +spare them. Each house is decorated +with lanterns, that the spirits may be +able to find their way. It is from this +custom that the feast is often called by +foreigners the Feast of Lanterns.</p> + +<p>As I have already said, in Tōkyō and +other modernized places, this feast is not +seen at its best. Only the soft glow of +the lanterns swinging from every house, +and the decorations in the graveyards +and at the household shrines, indicate +to the traveler that anything unusual is +going on. But in the country regions it +is quite another matter, and the welcoming, +entertainment, and proper dismissal +of the visiting spirits form the entire +business of the community for three days. +Usually the middle of August is the time +for the country celebration. On the +twelfth, bands of children carrying red +lanterns march singing through the village +on their way to the graveyard,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[361]</a></span> +where the annual cleaning is taking +place. That night bonfires in the cemetery +and before the houses light the pathway +of the wanderers. Then for three +nights all the young people of the village +gather in the temple court in grotesque +disguises and with towels over their +faces, and dance all night long in the +moonlight, to primitive music produced +by a drum and the monotonous chant of +the dancers themselves. These three +dance-nights are the great occasion of +the year to the young peasants, for this +is the only time when persons of both +sexes meet together in a social way, and +it is long looked forward to and enjoyed +intensely. Of late years, the government, +fearing the abuses that grow out +of this exceptional social event, has +endeavored to suppress the dancing, but +it continues in full vigor throughout +most of rural Japan, though conducted +with more decorum than formerly on +account of the standing dread of police +interference. The object of the dance is +to amuse the spirits of the ancestors, +who must be imagined as hovering in the +background, viewing with approval the +antics of their descendants.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[362]</a></span></p><p>Other amusements are going on in the +village on the O Bon evenings. At a +summer resort every hotel-keeper will +have a professional story-teller, a company +of musicians, or some other entertainment +to which the guests of the hotel +are invited, and at which as many of the +villagers as can crowd to the open house +fronts stare until the dance drum in the +temple court draws their feet in that +direction. And then, on the last night of +the feast, bonfires are once more kindled +at every house, so that the spirits may +find their way safely back to the land +whence they came, and not stay to haunt +their descendants at improper seasons.</p> + +<p>No account of life in a Japanese home +would be complete without a little space +devoted to the special delights of the +small boy. Although this book deals +mainly with feminine concerns, the small +boy in Japan, as in America, is the life +and fun of the home, and one cannot fail +to notice his times of surpassing enjoyment. +He rules the house and his +mother and his grandmother and his sisters, +at all times, and his activity and +enterprise secure for him a good share in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[363]</a></span> +any fun that is going on; but there are +certain seasons that appeal to the boyish +heart with a special message and of +which he is the central figure.</p> + +<p>As the Feast of Dolls is to the girls, so +is the Feast of Flags to the boys,—their +own special day, set apart for them out of +the whole year. It comes on the fifth day +of the fifth month (now May fifth), and +for long before its arrival the shops are +gay with all manner of tempting toys, +while in every yard rises a great bamboo +pole, from which, when the time comes, +will float an enormous carp, its body inflated +by the strong spring wind, its +great mouth wide open, and its eyes glaring +hideously, as it fights its way against +the air currents. Sometimes there will +be half a dozen such poles in one yard,—signs +either that the household is blessed +with many boys, or that the way to its +heart is through gifts of toys to its son +and heir. When the great day at last +arrives, the feast within the home is conducted +in much the same way as the +Feast of Dolls. There are the same red-covered +shelves, the same offerings of +food and drink; but instead of the placid<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[364]</a></span> +images of the Emperor and Empress and +the five court musicians, the household +furnishings and toilet articles, there are +effigies of the heroes of history and folklore: +Jingo, the warrior Empress; Takenouchi, +her white-haired prime minister, +holding in his arms her son, the infant +war-god; Benkei, the giant retainer of +Yoshitsune; Yoshitsune himself, the marvelous +fencer and general; Kintaro, the +fat, hairy, red boy, who was born and +grew up in the mountains, and even in +his babyhood fought with bears; Shoki +Sama, the strong man who could conquer +<i>oni</i>;—these are some of the characters +to be found on the shelves at the +boys' feast. Behind each figure stands a +flag with the crest of the hero that it +represents, and before them are set all +manner of weapons in miniature. The +food offered is <i>mochi</i> wrapped in oak +leaves, because the oak is among trees +what the carp is among fishes, the emblem +of strength and endurance. The +flower of this day is the iris or flag, +because of its sword-shaped leaves,—hence +the name, <i>Shobu Matsuri</i>, feast of +iris or flag.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[365]</a></span></p><p>Another feast, which, while not +founded for the boys, seems to have +been adopted by them as a great occasion, +is what is known as Buddha's birthday, +celebrated on April eighth. On this +day in every Buddhist temple a temporary +platform is erected, the roof of +which is covered with flowers. Upon +this platform, in a great tub filled with +licorice tea, is set a small image of the +infant Buddha. Hither flock the small +boys with bamboo dippers, and spend +the day ladling up the tea and pouring it +over the image, and then ladling it out +into small bamboo buckets. This licorice +tea, through contact with the image, +acquires miraculous healing properties, +and the devout, after making offerings of +money twisted up in white paper, carry +away the little buckets. The tea is good +for the eyes and the throat, and if some +of it be used in mixing ink, and then, +with the ink thus mixed, a charm be +written and placed about the house, it +will keep away all vermin. It is not easy +to see exactly what the fascination of +this feast is to the boys, but I am told +that many of them like it even better<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[366]</a></span> +than their own specially appointed day.</p> + +<p>But of all the delights that come into +the year, there is nothing to compare for +joyous excitement with the great <i>matsuri</i> +of the parish temple. For at least a +week beforehand there are enough interesting +things going on in every house +and shop along the street to keep every +small boy in the parish agog from morning +till night. Here are lanterns being +made with the <i>mon</i> of the gods on one +side and the rising sun of the Japanese +flag on the other. There a dancing platform +is being erected, and at every stage +of its development it is swarming with +active youngsters, who shin up its poles, +turn somersaults on the platform, and +sit in rows on its edge, with bare legs +swinging high over the heads of the +passers-by; and when it is done, and the +drums installed, they take turns all day +and far into the night in keeping them +going. Then, too, there are the <i>dashi</i>, or +floats, on one of which each street in the +parish spends its money and its ingenuity. +How the boys haunt the shops in +which they are being made! How they +watch the wondrous changes of paper<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[367]</a></span> +into flowers, and of bamboo and cotton +cloth into sea waves, or castle walls, or +monsters of earth or sea or air! How +they chatter and wriggle and push and +squirm for front places, when at last the +great cars are built up in the open street, +the marvelous edifices erected upon +them, and at the top of all the heroic +figures of well-known mythological or +historical characters rise majestic in +flowing robes! Then, when the black bullocks, +resplendent in collars and halters +of red rope, are yoked to the triumphal +car, and the structure moves slowly +down the shouting street, how the boys +crawl into every joint and cranny of the +<i>dashi</i>, how they hang from every beam, +how they yell from before and behind in +sheer abandon of joy! And at last, when +the procession forms, and with fantastically +garbed men marching in front and +wild-eyed singers yelling just behind +them, with dancing-girls on moving platforms +and jugglers and tumblers on the +<i>dashi</i> themselves, the twenty or more +festal cars move, with frequent stops, +down to the temple, to escort the sacred +symbols on their annual pilgrimage<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[368]</a></span> +through the parish, who so noisy or so +ubiquitous as these same bullet-headed, +blue-gowned boys? They bob up at +every turn, ooze out at every pore of the +procession, and enjoy, as only boys can +enjoy, the noise and confusion, the barbaric +splendor, the dancing and tumbling, +the mumming and drumming, the excruciating +howls of the singers, the jingling +of the marshals' iron-ringed staves, the +clapping of the great wooden clappers +that time the movement and the stops of +the pageant.</p> + +<p>Better than all, perhaps, is the evening, +when the streets, lighted by many +lanterns, are filled with throngs of holiday-makers,—now +stopping to stare in +at some shop where the devout worshiper +has established a beautiful shrine, +has set out <i>mochi</i> and other offerings +before some image, or has arranged a +landscape garden in a box, or constructed +a <i>matsuri</i> procession just entering +the court of a miniature temple; now +haggling with the ever-present booth-keepers +for lanterns or cakes or hairpins +to take back to the friends left at home. +Suddenly there is a joyous, rhythmic<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[369]</a></span> +shout of many excited boyish voices, +there is a gleaming of square red lanterns, +a whirl and a rush through the +crowd. Now is the time to get out of the +way, for the boys move quickly and are +too excited to turn aside for anything. +On they come at a sharp trot, each little +round head bound about with a fillet of +blue and white toweling, each lithe, active +body more or less covered by a blue and +white gown, all shouting in unison and +bearing on their shoulders a miniature +<i>dashi</i>, made most often of a <i>saké</i> tub +mounted on a frame, and decorated with +lanterns and white paper. They charge +through the crowd, which makes way +quickly at their approach, until the pace, +the weight of their burden, and the frantic +shouting exhaust their breath. Then +they plunge down a side street, rest for a +few moments, gather themselves together, +and charge once more into the +crowd. There must be some pretty tired +little boys in the parish when the fun is +all over, for these performances are kept +up far into the night; but for absolute +and perfect enjoyment there is nothing I +have yet seen that seems to me to compare +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[370]</a></span>with the enjoyment that a Japanese +boy gets out of a <i>matsuri</i>. It is worth +being tired for!</p> + +<p>There is no space in this work for a +more detailed picture of life in a Japanese +home. Enough has been said in +this chapter to show that it is made up +of many little things,—of cares and sorrows +and pleasures,—just as is life in +any American home, and it is the little +things we care about that make the oneness +of the family, and the nation, and +the oneness, too, of humanity, if we can +only understand one another.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[371]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XIII.<br /><br /> +<span class="sm">TEN YEARS OF PROGRESS.</span></h2> + +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> woman question in Japan is at the +present moment a matter of much consideration. +There seems to be an uneasy +feeling in the minds of even the more +conservative men that some change in +the status of woman is inevitable, if the +nation wishes to keep the pace it has set +for itself. The Japanese women of the +past and of the present are exactly +suited to the position accorded them in +society, and any attempt to alter them +without changing their status only results +in making square pegs for round +holes. If the pegs hereafter are to be cut +square, the holes must be enlarged and +squared to fit them. The Japanese +woman stands in no need of alteration +unless her place in life is somehow enlarged, +nor, on the other hand, can she +fill a larger place without additional<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[372]</a></span> +training. The men of New Japan, to +whom the opinions and customs of the +Western world are becoming daily more +familiar, while they shrink aghast, in +many cases, at the thought that their +women may ever become like the +forward, self-assertive, half-masculine +women of the West, show a growing +tendency to dissatisfaction with the +smallness and narrowness of the lives of +their wives and daughters,—a growing +belief that better educated women would +make better homes, and that the ideal +home of Europe and America is the +product of a more advanced civilization +than that of Japan. Reluctantly in many +cases, but still almost universally, it is admitted +that in the interest of the homes +and for the sake of future generations, +something must be done to carry the +women forward into a position more in +harmony with what the nation is reaching +for in other directions. This desire +shows itself in individual efforts to +improve by more advanced education +daughters of exceptional promise, and in +general efforts for the improvement of +the condition of women. Well-to-do<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[373]</a></span> +fathers are willing to spend more money +on the education of their daughters, to +send them abroad, if possible, to complete +their studies, or to postpone the +time of marriage so that plans for higher +education may be carried through. +Where, ten years ago, the number of +women who had been abroad for study +might be counted on the fingers of one +hand, there are now three or four times +that number in Tōkyō alone. Another +sign of the times is the fact that husbands +going abroad on business or for +pleasure are more inclined to take their +wives with them, even if it be only for a +few months. There are now to be found, +in all the larger cities, women who have +spent a longer or shorter time in some +foreign country, whose minds have been +opened and whose horizons have been +enlarged by contact with new ideas. All +this cannot fail to have its effect, sooner +or later, upon the country at large.</p> + +<p>The efforts for the improvement of +women in general may be grouped into +four classes: by legislation, by education, +through the press, and by means of +societies for mutual improvement.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[374]</a></span></p><p>Of the recent legislation concerning +marriage and divorce and its effect on +the family, I have spoken in a preceding +chapter. The latest statistics show that, +while before the new laws were enacted +divorces were one to every three marriages, +they have now been reduced to +one in five. It must be said, however, that +the law is still somewhat in advance of +public opinion. While the chance of permanence +in marriage is better now than +it was before the new code came into +force, custom is still stronger than the +law, and marriage is too often a temporary +arrangement. In many cases the +wife knows little or nothing of her new +rights, and even when she does know, +she has seldom the self-assertion to make +a stand for them, but meekly submits to +the dictates of those whom she is bound +by custom, if not by law, to respect and +obey without question. But the fact that +the laws have actually been improved +means, in a country like Japan, in which +the government is the moulder of public +opinion, that the custom will some day +conform to the law.</p> + +<p>In the matter of property owning,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[375]</a></span> +women, under the new code, are fairly +independent. As I have already stated, +every woman in Japan is expected to become +a wife, and as a matter of fact, the +number of unmarried women is so small +that it is hardly necessary to mention +them. Wives, under Japanese law, are +divided into two classes: the wife who +enters her husband's family, and the wife +whose husband becomes a member of +her family. In the latter case the wife +is the head of the family, is responsible +for the debts of the family, and has the +right to use and profit by the husband's +property. In the former case (and as I +have already stated, the great majority +of wives enter their husband's families), +the husband is responsible, and has, consequently, +the right to use and profit by +his wife's property. In all cases, unless +the husband is physically or mentally unfit, +he has the management of his wife's +wealth. In case of the husband's disability +the woman takes care of her own. +A wife may, by application to a court, +cause the husband to furnish security +for the property that she has intrusted +to him; and she may, with her husband's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">[376]</a></span> +consent, engage in independent business. +The property that she thus acquires is +her own and not the husband's. Any +property in the family, the ownership of +which is not perfectly established, belongs +to the head of the family, whether +male or female. We thus see that the +law of Japan fully recognizes the right +of married women to hold property, +although only in exceptional cases are +they allowed the management of their +own holdings. The law also regards the +wife, in household matters, as her husband's +agent.</p> + +<p>In actual practice, it is not uncommon +for the wife to manage the entire income +of the family, receiving it from +her husband and acting as his treasurer. +The wife's own earnings are seldom +given to the husband, and her position +is one of entire independence in the disposal +of whatever she adds to the family +revenue. But should the wife bring into +the family at marriage property which +passes into the husband's management, +the chances are that, unless a divorce +should occur, she will never lay any +claim to the principal, or think of it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">[377]</a></span> +again as her own. While her husband +cannot actually dispose of it +without her consent, she is pretty certain +to give her consent should he ask +it, and he may do very nearly anything +that he chooses with it. We thus +see that the tendency is to give the management +of the income, as a part of the +management of the household, to the +woman, and leave the disposal of the +principal, as a part of the outside business, +to the care of the man. This system +of domestic finance seems not unlike +the common practice in thrifty and well-managed +homes in America, and shows +that a spirit of mutual confidence between +husband and wife belongs to +Japan as to Western nations. As the +result of my own observation in a number +of homes, I should say that the judgment +of the wife in money matters is +quite as much trusted in Japan as in +America, and that, in this one respect +at least, her place in the home is as responsible +a one as that of the Western +housekeeper. One instance may be cited +of a woman whose business ability is so +well known as to have a national reputation. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">[378]</a></span>By birth a member of a family +which is remarkable for its success +in all financial undertakings, she has +inherited a large share of the family +characteristic, and is credited with the +personal management of a large bank, +as well as other successful business +undertakings. Her husband's name and +not her own appears on the prospectuses +and in the newspapers, but unless report +is very far astray, she is the business +man of the family, and her sound sense +and good judgment have built up the +fortune which is their common possession.</p> + +<p>In the educational system of Japan, +schools for girls are provided by the +government, but no provision for studies +more advanced than those of the middle +schools for boys is included in the +scheme, with the single exception of the +Higher Normal School in Tōkyō, in +which a limited number of young women +are trained to take positions as teachers +in the ordinary normal schools for girls. +To quote from the Annual Report of the +Minister of Education for the year 1898, +the latest to which I have access,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">[379]</a></span> +"Higher female schools are institutions +designed to give instruction in such +higher subjects of general education as +are necessary for females." This shows +with considerable completeness the idea +that dominates all government and much +private effort for the education of +women in Japan. The schools are to +teach simply such subjects as are necessary +for females; anything more would +be superfluous, possibly dangerous. The +thought of women as individuals, with +minds and souls to be trained and developed +to their highest possibilities, is +still somewhat foreign to the mind of the +average Japanese man. In its stead is +the idea that females must be instructed +in such subjects as are necessary for a +proper understanding of their duties as +wives and mothers. But if Japan to-day +is where England and America were +in the first half of the nineteenth century, +the country is certainly moving forward, +as the statistics in regard to education +for the three successive years +1896, 1897, and 1898 show. Great efforts +are being made to increase the attendance +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">[380]</a></span>of girls at the common schools, and +with gratifying results.<a name="FNanchor_43_43" id="FNanchor_43_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a></p> + +<p>As we advance into the higher schools, +the discrepancy in numbers between the +two sexes grows greater. In the kindergartens +the attendance of girls is nearly +equal to that of boys; in the elementary +schools there are three boys to two girls; +in the higher elementary schools, seven +boys to two girls. The boys' middle +schools, which are equivalent in grade to +the girls' high schools, have fourteen +boys taking their courses to every two +girls in the high schools. In the apprentice +and technical schools, there are fifteen +men to every two women. Even the +normal schools, which in our own country +are almost given over to women, in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">[381]</a></span> +Japan have six male students to every +female. The "special schools," mainly +professional, have, to 11,069 men, 73 +women, all enrolled in private schools, +and presumably taking medical courses. +Beyond this point women have no opportunities +offered to them. In the higher +schools, equivalent to the college and +graduate courses given by universities in +America, 7,224 young men are given opportunities +that women must go abroad +to obtain.</p> + +<p>These figures are, as I have said, for +the year 1898. The year 1901 sees two +hopeful movements well begun. One of +these is the opening of an institution +bearing the title of "Female University," +endowed and supported by Japanese, +through the strenuous efforts of Mr. +Jinzo Naruse, a prominent Christian who +has spent some time in America. At its +opening, five hundred girls were glad to +enter, but of these very few are ready for +college work. Mr. Naruse, however, believes +that in time he will be able to enlarge +his college department and diminish +the preparatory, which is now almost +the whole of the school. He has the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">[382]</a></span> +support and encouragement of many +wealthy and influential Japanese, among +them Count Okuma, the well-known progressive +statesman. On the day of the +opening of the school, Count Okuma, in +a speech from the platform, said that +the nation would be twice as strong if +its women were well educated. This he +called "setting up a double standard." +He pointed out that Turkey, Egypt, +Persia, and China were countries which +had tried to get along with a "single +standard," and which had fallen conspicuously +behind. He called attention to +the fact that Japan's primitive religion +had for its central figure the Goddess of +Light, but that, unfortunately for the +well-being of the state, woman had been +gradually dethroned and thrust down +into a low place. After speaking of the +debt that Japan owed to China for the +civilization and the ethical system that +had stood her so long in good stead, the +veteran statesman went on to say that +society in Japan was disfigured by +abuses which were beyond any simple +remedy. The only effective medicine was +to be found in a radical reform of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">[383]</a></span> +ideals of family life, and this could only +be effected by an improvement in the +status of woman,—an improvement +which such institutions as the one that +day opened would greatly aid in bringing +about.</p> + +<p>These words from one of the most honored +leaders of Japanese thought voice +the feeling that is prevalent throughout +Japan in this thirty-fourth year of Méiji. +That it is actually moving both government +and people is shown by the words +of Mr. Kikuchi, Minister of Education, to +the Council of Provincial Governors held +in Tōkyō in June, 1901. In speaking of +the progress of education throughout the +country, he stated his intention to push +forward the work of secondary education +for girls, saying that a prefecture which +refused to make provision for such education +by 1903 might be compelled to do +so by the government.</p> + +<p>The other hopeful educational effort to +which I have alluded is a school started +on a small scale, but with a high standard, +by a Japanese woman whose name +is almost as well known in America as +in Japan, as an educator of great ability<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">[384]</a></span> +and earnestness of purpose. After many +years of work as a teacher in the Peeresses' +School, a place of great honor from +the Japanese standpoint, she has resigned +her position to carry out a long-cherished +plan. With the pecuniary aid +of friends in America, she has founded +a school for the preparation of young +women who have finished the courses +heretofore open to them, and who wish +to become teachers of English in the +Government schools. The examinations +for such positions have always been open +to women, but, because of the difficulty +in securing proper preparation, there are +few who pass them. Since its opening +in September, 1900, the school has been +crowded with promising pupils, and the +small accommodations with which it began, +although already once enlarged, are +stretched to the uttermost. The girls +come from the government high schools +and from the mission schools, and the +course offered to them of three years of +study in English literature, composition, +translation, and methods of teaching has +proved a strong attraction. In recognition, +perhaps, of this effort on behalf of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">[385]</a></span> +her countrywomen, certainly, of her position +at the head of her profession, this +same woman has this year been appointed +on the examining committee for +the government English examinations, +an honor never before given to one of her +sex,—in itself a sign of the change in +thought that the last few years have +wrought.</p> + +<p>There can be no doubt that the education +of women is moving forward, +pushed by the leading men of the country +and aided by the earnest work of the +women themselves. It is still far behind +the education offered to men, and the +ideal of most of its promoters is limited +to the purely utilitarian; but as long as +it moves forward and not backward, and +as long as the years of work show an +increased number of women fitted to +meet the changing conditions of the +time, we do well to approve rather than +criticise, remembering that the problem +is an exceedingly intricate one, and one +of which even the best-instructed foreigner +can see only a small part of the +difficulty.</p> + +<p>The year 1901 sees the printing-press<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">[386]</a></span> +almost as much of a power in Japan as +in the Western world, and it is interesting +to notice that among the innumerable +newspapers and magazines now published +in the country there are some +twenty or more devoted exclusively to +the interests of women. To be sure, +these women's magazines do not undertake +to furnish the loftiest intellectual +pabulum, the best of them covering, perhaps, +the same range of subjects that is +included in "Woman's Journals" in the +United States. They devote themselves +largely to lectures on morals and manners, +and instruction as to how best to +perform the duties of the home. These +magazines are for the most part written +and edited by men, many of them very +young men, and serve to show rather +what men desire that women should +think and do, than to give any insight +into the minds of the women themselves. +With a combined circulation of perhaps +40,000, they enter many homes, and do +something, at least, toward the general +enlightening and quickening of the feminine +mind that is so noticeable in the +Japan of to-day. In regard to the general +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">[387]</a></span>reading of Japanese women who +have had the new education, my own +observation leads me to believe that they +keep themselves well informed of what +is going on in their own country, and of +the outside world so far as it affects their +own country; but that their interest in +the world at large is less than that of +American women, and only in exceptional +cases do they care much for the +sayings or doings of foreigners. In this +respect they differ widely from the men, +whose minds are reaching continually +for new things to graft upon the old +civilization.</p> + +<p>In the whole list of publications on the +woman question, nothing has ever come +out in Japan that compares for outspokenness +and radical sentiments with +a book published within a year or two by +Mr. Fukuzawa, the most influential +teacher that Japan has seen in this era +of enlightenment. It is in two parts, the +first an attack, conducted with much +skill and humor, upon Kaibara's "Great +Learning of Woman," a book which for +nearly four hundred years has been supposed +to contain all that a woman should<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">[388]</a></span> +know. The last part of Mr. Fukuzawa's +work is a constructive essay upon the +"New Great Learning of Woman." So +revolutionary are the sentiments expressed +in the book that many Japanese +men hesitate about allowing their wives +and daughters to read it, and in at least +one modern Christian school it has been +ruled out from the school library as too +advanced for the reading of the girls. A +brief survey of the sentiments and ideas +thus boldly set forth will show how far +is the attitude of the Japanese from that +of the American public on the woman +question. We find in Mr. Fukuzawa's +book the lofty ideal that belongs to the +most advanced modern thought, but its +promulgation as a practical working +ideal in Japan was of the nature of a +thunderclap. Among less tolerant races, +men have been lynched, or burned at the +stake, for slighter departures from the +average code of thought and morals.</p> + +<p>Mr. Fukuzawa starts out with the +proposition that women are quite equal +to men, and should hold equal position +and influence. Although he allows that +woman's work in the world is quite distinct +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">[389]</a></span>from that of man, he holds that it +is as important, and that she should have +the same property-holding privileges and +rights. The greatest stress is laid on the +point that the same moral obligation for +purity of life rests on the husband as on +the wife. He goes into the details of the +unhappiness resulting from concubinage, +putting the duty of the husband in this +respect as equal to that of the wife to +preserve her chastity, and as this is, next +to obedience, the virtue of virtues for a +Japanese wife, his argument is as strong +as it could well be made. He insists that +women should demand as a right from +their husbands and families the same +privileges and opportunities that men +have in society.</p> + +<p>Such sentiments are a matter of course +in America, and they have been held by +a few advanced thinkers in Japan, but no +one hitherto has dared in so vigorous and +positive a way, and with arguments that +come so near home, to try to break the +chain of custom that holds women down +as inferior beings. Kaibara says that if +a woman finds her husband doing wrong, +she should gently plead with him, choosing +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">[390]</a></span>a time when he is most inclined to +listen. If he refuses, she should not +insist on his hearing her, but wait until +he is willing to listen, and though she +may try two or three times, she should +never anger or irritate him. Fukuzawa +says that if this applies to the woman, +it should also to the man,—that is to +say, if a man finds his wife unfaithful, +he is to wait for an opportunity when she +is in good humor before he remonstrates +with her. Fukuzawa also throws new +light on the duty of husbands and fathers +to their wives and children in another +respect. He says that no man should let +the sole responsibility for the happiness +of the home fall upon his wife; that a +man is responsible for the peace of the +home as well as the woman. This view +of the matter is entirely new in Japan, +as the responsibility for an unhappy +home is laid as a matter of course upon +the wife. The duty of a wife to her +parents-in-law is also treated after the +same revolutionary manner. Is it to be +wondered at that many men fear the influence +of such a book upon their gentle, +submissive wives? In this connection it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">[391]</a></span> +is interesting, however, to note that at a +recent Shintō wedding, after the religious +ceremony, which in itself marks a +great step forward in the Japanese ideal +of marriage, the priest who united the +couple presented to the bride a copy each +of the Kaibara and Fukuzawa books, +perhaps with a view to letting her take +her choice between the old style and the +new, perhaps that she might instruct her +husband out of the Fukuzawa book while +she put in practice herself the time-honored +precepts of Kaibara.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>One feature of the times in Tōkyō, that +is perhaps worthy of passing notice, is +the tendency of women to form themselves +into societies and clubs for the +attainment of some common object. Of +these women's clubs, the greater proportion +are perhaps educational, the members +meeting once a month or once a fortnight +to listen to a lecture upon some +subject that helps to keep them up with +the times. There is also a patriotic society, +that concerns itself with raising +money for sending supplies to soldiers in +the field, or for widows and orphans of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">[392]</a></span> +soldiers, or to help along some other +patriotic enterprise. There are societies, +too, for general benevolence, or to help +in carrying on the work of some one +institution. A glance at the membership +lists of these associations shows that the +motive power is, in almost all cases, the +same group of earnest, educated women, +who are, in this way and in countless +others, doing their utmost to broaden the +horizons of their countrywomen, and +lead them out into a larger life. This is +probably true in the other cities in which +a movement of women into clubs and +societies is noticeable.</p> + +<p>It is when the active women of the +new way of thinking, whose lives and +thoughts are devoted to work and endeavor +rather than to the passive submission +and self-abnegation of the old +days, find themselves suddenly placed +among the surroundings of thirty years +ago, that the change of conditions becomes +most evident. I cannot think of a +better way to illustrate this than to tell +the story of one of my Japanese friends +and her visit to her husband's relatives +in a distant provincial city. The lady<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">[393]</a></span> +who told me the story is a stirring, capable +young matron, educated after the +modern ways, who has spent most of her +happy married life of some fifteen or sixteen +years entirely in Tōkyō, except for +a visit of a year to America. She bears +a closer resemblance to many kind-hearted, +strong, energetic young American +women than to the old-time Japanese +lady portrayed in these pages. She rises +every morning at five, attends to every +detail of her housekeeping, watches carefully +and with educated common sense +over her family of young children, believes +in good food, fresh air, and exercise, +for boys and girls alike, and is a +helpful friend and good neighbor, filling +to the full the position of work and influence +in which she is placed. Her husband +is a successful business man, whom +frequent journeys across the Pacific have +made thoroughly cosmopolitan, and their +children are accustomed to a freedom +from conventional restraints and a +healthful diet and regimen such as old +Japan never knew.</p> + +<p>Last year the plan of spending the +summer with the husband's relatives,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">[394]</a></span> +which had been long projected, was actually +carried out, and the whole family +migrated to the provincial city from +which the husband had sprung. The +aged mother, a gentlewoman of the old +type, was delighted to meet and entertain +her daughter-in-law and grandchildren, +and did her best, with all old-fashioned +courtesy, to make the visit a pleasant +one. The house was clean and +spacious, the mats soft and white, the +bows of the lowest, the voices and speech +the politest that Japan could furnish, but +the healthy, restless children found the +conventional restraints irksome, and the +old-fashioned diet of rice and pickles, +with hardly a variation from morning till +night and from week to week, was quite +different from the bountiful table to +which they had been accustomed. The +younger woman could not criticise her +mother-in-law's arrangements, neither +could she bear to see her children growing +thin and pale before her eyes. She +consulted her husband, who, in accordance +with the antique ideas of propriety, +was served his meals at a different time +and in a different room from his wife and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">[395]</a></span> +family. To his food his mother had +always added various delicacies which +her old-time Spartan spirit would not +allow her to set before her daughter-in-law +and grandchildren. It would have +been quite contrary to her ideas of rank +and etiquette for her to make any modification +of her ordinary fare for them. +As the son was already supplying the +funds for carrying on his mother's establishment, +it occurred to him that he +might increase her allowance on the plea +that her summer expenses must be heavy +with so large an addition to her household. +But the old lady was sure that +nothing more was necessary, and would +not think of burdening her son with any +larger expenses, and could not be induced +to accept the offered increase.</p> + +<p>Another effort was made to get along +upon the meagre fare, but the youngest +boy fell ill and had to be taken to a hospital, +and the mother decided that something +must be done if all the family did +not wish to follow him. The happy +thought occurred to her of buying something +that would be an addition to their +scanty menu, and giving it as a present<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">[396]</a></span> +to her mother-in-law. Now a present in +Japan can never be refused, so it seemed +to the younger woman that she must +have found a way of escape from her +difficulties. Of course, the present was +accepted with many thanks and expressions +of unworthiness, and when the +meal-hour arrived, each member of the +family found an infinitesimal quantity of +the delicacy in a small plate at his side. +But as soon as the meal was over, the +dear old lady, who had by strict economy +managed to leave the greater part of the +gift untouched, sent out to all the neighbors +presents from what had been intended +to feed the hungry children at +home. The experiment was tried again +and again, but always with the same +result. No present could be kept for +family use alone. Of everything but the +barest necessaries, the greater part must +be sent out in gifts to others.</p> + +<p>At last the husband and wife put their +heads together to decide on some course +of action that, without hurting the feelings +of the older lady, would secure sufficient +nourishment for the children, and +forthwith began a series of all-day picnics +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397">[397]</a></span>to the noted places in the vicinity,—picnics +that included always a good meal +at some well-kept restaurant before the +return to the old-fashioned fare of the +grandmother's house. In this way the +summer was passed without further illness, +though the poor mother on her +return to Tōkyō spent several weeks in +bed,—what with starvation and worry +and the effort to bear heroically, and +with a smiling face, the hard life and +scanty fare that were the life and fare of +most of Japan only a few years ago.</p> + +<p>In the changes that the past few years +have wrought, perhaps nothing is more +striking than the new openings for work +that Japan now offers to women. The +growth of the public school system has +made a demand for women as teachers +that is steadily increasing. Although in +the normal schools the proportion of +women to men is still only one to six, and +while teaching, even in the primary +schools, is not yet mainly in feminine +hands as it is with us, there is still a +good showing of women employed as +teachers. From the figures of the school +report of 1898, we find over 10,000<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_398" id="Page_398">[398]</a></span> +women as teachers and assistants in the +public and private schools. The profession +of nursing, too, which ten years ago +was just opening, has already drawn +many women into its ranks. In the Red +Cross hospitals alone there are this year +nearly a thousand nurses taking the +course, and a thousand graduates scattered +throughout the country hold themselves +ready to answer the call of the +society in the time of need, in the mean +time practicing their profession wherever +they may chance to be. The quality +of the Red Cross graduates has been +tested now in two wars, and they show +the soldierly virtues of their nation, as +well as the more womanly qualities of +tenderness and gentleness; and a self-respect +that has kept them pure and free +from stain in the midst of severe temptation. +It is impossible for me to gather +statistics of the work done by other institutions +for the training of nurses, but +the figures given above may, I think, be +doubled with absolute safety in making +an estimate of the total number of +nurses trained and in training throughout +the empire.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_399" id="Page_399">[399]</a></span></p><p>The growth of commerce and industry +has greatly increased the demand for +feminine labor outside the home. In the +old days the two most important industries +of the country, tea and silk, were +mainly carried on by women in their +homes, but the use of modern machinery +is rapidly taking the weaving industries +out of the homes and making factory +hands of the women and children.<a name="FNanchor_44_44" id="FNanchor_44_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a></p> + +<p>One of the most noticeable effects of +this new demand for female labor is the +extreme scarcity of servants. Although +wages are nearly double what they were +ten years ago, it is extremely difficult for +Japanese housekeepers now to find servants +to replace the old ones as they +drop out of the ranks, and the women +who apply for positions are apt to be far +inferior to those who came to the same<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_400" id="Page_400">[400]</a></span> +families to do the same work ten years +ago.</p> + +<p>In other ways, too, women are learning +to fill new places in the world. The +telephone, which now connects towns +and cities and villages in Japan, employs +girls in large numbers. In the printing-offices +we find women at work, not as +compositors, but as compositors' assistants, +darting from case to case about the +room and selecting for the compositor +the ideographs that he needs in his work. +Inasmuch as a small printing-office cannot +get along with less than four thousand +characters, and as larger ones may +have several times that number, the need +of quick-witted and quick-footed assistants +to each compositor may be easily +recognized. As the schools turn out each +year more girls fitted by education to do +this kind of work, and as the number of +newspapers and other printed matter is +continually on the increase, the demand +for and supply of this special variety of +labor are likely to increase proportionately +for some time to come.</p> + +<p>A few women are now making their +way as reporters on the daily papers, a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_401" id="Page_401">[401]</a></span> +few more are engaged in literary work. +One of the best of modern Japanese novelists +was a woman, but she died several +years ago at so early an age that her +work was a promise rather than a fulfillment. +Artists, too, there are, who are +making names for themselves, as well as +a living, in a country where art is so +common that success in that line means +hard work and special talent. A few +young women support themselves by +stenography, a few more as clerks and +secretaries in business offices. Until a +writing-machine has been invented that +will write four thousand characters, +there will not be much demand for typewriter +girls in Japan outside of the +treaty ports, where a few are now employed. +The Japanese government has +found, as Uncle Sam discovered some +time ago, that for the counting of paper +money women's fingers are more deft +than those of men, and it consequently +gives employment to a few women in +that work. One railroad has recently +begun to employ women as ticket-sellers, +and three medical schools have already +graduated some women physicians,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_402" id="Page_402">[402]</a></span> +though it is still doubtful whether there +is any great opening for them in the +country. These are some of the ways in +which women now find themselves able +to gain a little more independence of life. +The whole matter is so new that no statistics +are available that will show the +exact extent of the demand for labor in +these directions, but from my own observation +I am inclined to think that there +is little change in the employments of +women except in the neighborhood of +the larger cities, and that the new occupations +as yet have a very slight effect +upon the conditions in this country at +large.</p> + +<p>It is not possible to understand the +actual progress made in Japan in improving +the condition of women, without +some consideration of the effect that +Christian thought and Christian lives +have had on the thought and lives of the +modern Japanese. If Japanese women +are ever to be raised to the measure of +opportunity accorded to women in Christian +countries, it can only be through the +growth of Christianity in their own country, +and for that reason a study of that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_403" id="Page_403">[403]</a></span> +growth is pertinent to a study of their +condition.</p> + +<p>The past ten years in Japan have been +discouraging to the missionaries in many +ways, and it is not unusual to hear from +the less hopeful of them the statement +that their work has been at a standstill, +or even going backward, during that time. +The statistics of missionary effort show +a steady, though slight, increase in the +number of professing Christians, but if +the sum total of the results of missionary +effort were the number of converts +made, it might, perhaps, be doubtful +whether the money spent on missions in +Japan might not be better turned to +other purposes. There are now in Japan, +of Christians of all sects, Protestant, and +Roman and Greek Catholic, 121,000, or +about one half of one per cent. of the +total population of the country; but the +influence of these Christians as leaders +of thought is out of all proportion to +their number. Christian men are found +in the Diet, in the army and navy, in the +universities and colleges, and in the +newspaper offices, in a proportion far +beyond their ratio to the total population, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_404" id="Page_404">[404]</a></span>exerting their influence in many +ways for the uplifting of the nation to +loftier moral ideals. The proportion of +Christian men and women in the government +schools with which I have been +connected is rather surprising. In the +Higher Normal School, training young +women to go out into the whole country +as teachers, the proportion of professing +Christians upon the teaching staff is +striking; and in the Peeresses' School, +which is as conservative and anti-foreign +as any educational institution in Japan, +there are five professing Christians +among the thirty-five teachers. While, +on the one hand, the Japanese Christians +are not all models of all the virtues, +while there is with many of them a tendency +to modify their Christianity so as +to accommodate a considerable amount +of worldly wisdom, it is true, on the +other hand, that the most active workers +in the cause of philanthropy are men +who have accepted the Christian faith, +and who are striving in all earnestness +to model their lives after the life of Jesus +of Nazareth. The Christian Church in +Japan to-day has its heroes and its back-sliders, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_405" id="Page_405">[405]</a></span>and has between these two extremes +a rank and file of every-day, commonplace +men and women, who amidst +frequent failures and in the midst of +many temptations are making the name +of Christian stand for a certain kind of +life and a certain standard of virtue +quite above and beyond the lives and +standards of their countrymen. It is +largely because of them that a Christian +public opinion is growing up among non-Christian +Japanese. Men to-day who +have no special leanings toward Christianity +shake their heads over vices and +sins which a few years ago were not even +thought of as wrong. There is a great +deal of talk about the growth of moral +depravity in the country, but as a matter +of fact, the standards of virtue have +never been so high since Japan was +opened as they are to-day: it is only that +Christian thought has held up a mirror +to an un-Christian society, in which it +views all too clearly its own defects. +There is, to my mind, no more hopeful +sign of the times than the growing discouragement +over the present condition +of morals. When there is added to this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_406" id="Page_406">[406]</a></span> +a steadily increasing respect for the honesty +and strength of character of Christian +men and women, it must mean that +a great and lasting impression has been +made. To-day banks, business offices, +and other places requiring trustworthy +clerks and employees, prefer, other +things being equal, Christian young men, +for it is generally known that they are +more worthy of confidence than the majority +of applicants for such places.</p> + +<p>One instance of this increased moral +sensitiveness may be cited in the recent +successful efforts to limit the power of +the brothel-keepers over their victims +and virtual slaves, the <i>jōrō</i> or licensed +prostitutes. As I have stated in a previous +chapter, the women who carry on +this business in Japan are, many of them, +unwilling victims of a system which +allows parents to sell their children to a +life of shame; and they enter upon that +life so young that they can hardly be +regarded as morally responsible for their +condition. Even after the actual sale of +girls was forbidden by an imperial ordinance +in 1872, the purchase price was +called a loan to the parents of the girl,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_407" id="Page_407">[407]</a></span> +and subsequent loans for clothing entered +upon the books of the establishment +kept the unfortunates so continually +in debt to their masters that they +could never escape from the bondage in +which they were held except through +death, or by purchase by some infatuated +admirer. Public opinion, while it +indulged in some sentimental pity for +the hard lot of the <i>jōrō</i>, did little or nothing +to aid any one who desired to help +them, regarding the profession as a necessary +one, and caring not at all for the +injustice to which the girls were subjected. +Ten or twelve years ago, a movement +started by some prominent Japanese +Christians against the <i>jōroya</i> fell flat +for want of a public opinion behind it. +Speeches on the subject were hissed +down by audiences of young men, and +nothing could be done to help even the +most innocent and unhappy of the girls +to a better life. In the new code, perhaps +as an effect of this movement, a new +law provided that the <i>jōrō</i> might leave +her calling by giving notice to the police. +A police regulation, however, forbade +any girl to cease her employment, or to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_408" id="Page_408">[408]</a></span> +leave the house in which she was kept, +unless her official notice of cessation was +countersigned by the keeper of the +<i>jōroya</i>, so that by her own effort she +could not free herself.</p> + +<p>In the year 1900, one of these girls in +a provincial city appealed to an American +missionary for help in getting her +liberty. Through his aid, and that of his +Japanese helpers, her case came before +the court, which decided that the contract +under which she was held was +opposed to the public welfare and good +morals, and that the keeper must affix +his seal to her notice without regard to +her debt. Although the local police refused +to act in the matter, and although +the missionary and his helpers were subjected +to personal violence by the employees +of the <i>jōroya</i>, an appeal to the +authorities at Tōkyō resulted in an enforcement +of the court's decision, and the +girl was freed.</p> + +<p>At this juncture the Salvation Army, +which has a valiant contingent in Tōkyō, +and which was actually spoiling for a +good fight with the world, the flesh, and +the Devil, in any form, took up the cause<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_409" id="Page_409">[409]</a></span> +of the oppressed <i>jōrō</i>. A special edition +of the "War Cry" containing appeals to +the girls to leave their lives of shame, +and offering aid to any one who might +apply to the Army, was published and +hawked through the Yoshiwara. When +the keepers and their employees found +out what the strangely costumed news-venders +were about, they charged down +upon them, and after a street fight, +drove them out of the quarter. Thus the +war began, but the Tōkyō police took up +the matter, the Tōkyō press joined hands +with the Salvationists, and in the end the +whole country was stirred to aid in the +attack. In return, the brothel-keepers +and their employees, feeling that the +profits of their business were at stake, +made it extremely warm for any Salvationists +or newspaper reporters who +dared set foot in the disreputable quarters, +and in their zeal sometimes made +mistakes and drove out their would-be +patrons. The office of one newspaper +was wrecked by sympathetic roughs, and +it took a squad of fifty or sixty police to +escort Army officers when they had occasion +to visit any of the houses to secure<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_410" id="Page_410">[410]</a></span> +the release of a girl. No lives were lost, +though some hard knocks were received, +and the work was kept up with unabated +noise on both sides, until every girl held +in unwilling bondage knew how she +might escape and to whom she could go +for aid.</p> + +<p>During the month of September, 1900, +as a direct result of the attacks of and +upon the Army, the number of visitors +to these houses in Tōkyō was decreased +by about 2,000 a night. On October 2, a +government ordinance was issued that at +one stroke removed all obstacles in the +way of a girl's securing her freedom at +any moment when she wanted to leave +the business. The new regulations made +the descent to Avernus as difficult as possible, +and the return to the upper world +a mere step. In Tōkyō alone, in the first +four months after the promulgation of +this order, 1,100 out of the 6,335 girls +who were licensed as prostitutes left the +houses in which they were employed, +most of them returning to their homes +and families, and as many as applied +being cared for in the Rescue Home of +the Salvation Army. The places thus<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_411" id="Page_411">[411]</a></span> +vacated are not easy to fill, because the +keepers will not advance money to the +parents of a girl, now that they can no +longer hold her as security for the debt. +In consequence, too, of the revelations of +the evils of the system, the business has +fallen off alarmingly. Thus many of the +houses have been obliged to close, owing +to lack of custom and to inability to pay +the heavy taxes.</p> + +<p>We have here the story of a successful +attack on a system which has existed in +Japan for three hundred years, by a +Christian agency acting with the support +of so strong a public opinion that police +and government have felt bound to obey +its behests. There has been no more +striking example of the effect of Christian +thought upon public sentiment in +any country than this crusade against +the brothels in Japan. When we remember +that ten years ago it was not possible +for a speaker to attack the institution +before an audience of students without +being silenced by hisses, it is interesting +to note that this year, the students of +that same school greeted with applause +and respectful attention an address on +this very subject.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_412" id="Page_412">[412]</a></span></p><p>It seems to me rather striking that in +the year 1900 fifty thousand copies of the +Bible were sold in Japan—more than of +any other book. Although the present +translation is regarded as far from perfect, +and much of it is unintelligible to +the average Japanese without instruction, +whether directly or indirectly, by +mission workers, it is still sought after +and read for the sake of its literature, +and because of the reputation that has +been gained for it throughout the country. +There are few missionaries of any +experience in Japan who cannot tell +stories of men coming to them from +country villages, who, through the reading +of a copy of the Bible in some way +fallen into their hands, have been +brought by the beauty and nobility of +the parts that they could understand to +seek additional explanation from some +teacher or preacher. One case that is +amusing, but at the same time striking, +I have heard vouched for from a number +of sources:—</p> + +<p>Two thieves, one night, broke into the +dormitory of a girls' school in search of +booty, and by chance awakened two of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_413" id="Page_413">[413]</a></span> +the girls. As they sat up in their beds, +wondering what was best to do under +the circumstances, one zealous damsel +reached for the Bible in which she had +been reading before she went to sleep, +and handed it to one of the thieves, saying, +"If you read this book, you will not +want to steal any more." The other girl +followed her companion's example and +gave her Bible to the other thief. That +was all, so far as the girls knew, and it +was some years before the sequel came +to light.</p> + +<p>There is one place in Japan to which +released convicts who are trying to get +back to respectability again drift from +all parts of the empire. It is a prisoners' +home in Tōkyō, where one man, aided by +his capable and devoted wife, receives +into his own family and gives aid and +succor to hundreds of society's outcasts. +To this place came one day an ex-convict +who told a remarkable story of his conversion, +and of his desire to lead a new +life. He had received a Bible from a little +girl one night in a house that he was +robbing, but was too full of professional +engagements at the time to follow her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_414" id="Page_414">[414]</a></span> +advice and read it. Later, however, as +he was resting from his labors in the +enforced seclusion of a prison, he began +to read, and spelled out enough to make +up his mind that he did not want to steal +any more. Accordingly, as soon as his +term was ended, he made his way to the +prisoners' refuge, and by the aid of its +founder and head, and his good wife, +settled down to steady habits of industry. +Later, when the prison look had +worn off from his face and the prison +gait from his walk, he returned to his +family and friends, where he is now a +respectable member of the society upon +which he formerly preyed.</p> + +<p>There are other stories showing as deep +impressions made on men of culture and +respectability, not so striking and amusing +as this one, but meaning as much, or +even more, for the future of Japan. Such +things are hardly possible in Christian +countries to-day, for there is little or no +novelty in the message that the old book +brings to us; but to the Japanese mind +the thoughts are absolutely new in many +ways, and the reading alone will often +change the whole life, because it lifts up +the nature to a higher set of ideals.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_415" id="Page_415">[415]</a></span></p><p>As a direct effect of Christian thought +upon the thought of the Japanese nation, +it is interesting to notice the change +in meaning of one word. In the teachings +of Confucius the highest virtue is +benevolence, rendered into Japanese by +the word <i>jin</i>; in the teachings of Buddhism +the highest virtue is mercy, or +<i>jishi</i>. When the Christian missionaries +first came to Japan, there was no term in +the language that covered the thought of +love as it is taught by Christ. For lack +of anything better, the word <i>ai</i>, which +indicated the love of a superior for an +inferior, was made to do duty for the +greater thought; and now the old word +<i>ai</i>, throughout the length and breadth of +Japan, is accepted and understood in its +new meaning, a continual witness to the +effect of Christianity upon the national +mind. Is this a little thing in the education +of a race that has shown in the past +so great a capacity for living up to its +ideals?</p> + +<p>One more direct effect of Christian +teaching upon Japanese society is the +great quickening of philanthropic and +benevolent effort. Scattered throughout<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_416" id="Page_416">[416]</a></span> +the country are benevolent or educational +societies, orphanages, hospitals, +free kindergartens, reform schools, and +other evidences of a desire on the part +of the more fortunate to help the unfortunate +by some means or other; and if +you study into the history of any of these +efforts, you will usually find that some +Japanese Christian, or some man who +has come home impressed with the +philanthropies of Christian countries, +has started the scheme, and has created +a society, and a public opinion behind +the society, which carries on the work. +Even in the government institutions +there is no difficulty in tracing the influence +of Christians and Christianity. The +Red Cross Society, with its seven thousand +members, and its hospitals in every +prefecture of the empire, bears the sign +of Christendom upon all its property and +employees. It seems to me quite safe to +say that but for the Christian influences +of the past forty years, there would be +very little altruistic work done in Japan +to-day; but by means of the Christians +and their teachings, the latest and best +thought of the world is working its way<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_417" id="Page_417">[417]</a></span> +out in practical service for humanity in +Japan, and this service is ascribed by +enlightened Buddhist and Shintō believers +alike to the spirit of Christianity, +which will not let the fortunate rest +while their less fortunate brothers are in +want or sin.</p> + +<p>No one who studies the religious question +in Japan at all can fail to notice the +extraordinary revivifying of Buddhism +for what it feels to be a life and death +struggle with an alien faith. The disestablishment +of the Buddhist church by +the government at the time of the restoration +must be credited with its share of +the awakening process; for the priests, +finding their own support and that of the +temples dependent upon the voluntary +contributions of worshipers, were forced +to bestir themselves as they had not done +since the old missionary days, when they +were working for a foothold in the country. +But without the competition of +Christianity, it is extremely doubtful +whether their efforts would have been +turned so largely along educational and +philanthropic lines, whether the standard +of intelligence among the priesthood<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_418" id="Page_418">[418]</a></span> +would have been so quickly raised, +whether they would have sent young +men abroad to study Sanskrit and history +with a view to a better understanding +of their own scriptures, or whether +they would not rather have relied on less +radical methods of quickening the religious +life within their body. Certain it +is that Buddhism, which upon its introduction +into Japan actually lowered the +status of women, is now making a bid for +public favor by holding meetings and +founding societies especially for women, +and is doing its best to increase their +self-respect and the respect in which they +are held by society.</p> + +<p>An interesting story which throws +some light upon the new influence that is +at work among the Buddhists came to +me not long ago through a Japanese +friend. There were two brothers living +in a poor little village on the northern +coast of Japan, who were joint heirs to a +small piece of property. As the land was +not enough for the support of two families, +the elder brother, a gentle, thoughtful +youth, gave up all title to his share of +the inheritance and entered a Buddhist<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_419" id="Page_419">[419]</a></span> +monastery. In the quiet of this retreat, +amid the beautiful surroundings, the +daily services, the chanting of priests, +and the mellow booming of the great +monastery bell, his thoughts went out to +the poor and the sinful among his own +people. He began to feel that a life +which seeks merely spiritual uplift for +itself is not the highest life, and that only +as spiritual gain is shared with others +is it real and lasting. Forthwith he +began a life of helpfulness to the poor +about him,—of teaching and preaching +and good deeds that won him many +humble friends. Within the monastery, +however, his work was not approved. +His ideas and actions were not in harmony +with the teachings of the sect. He +was first disciplined and then expelled, +and found his way back at last, penniless, +to his native village.</p> + +<p>Now, in northern Japan the winters +are long and hard, and the most industrious +of farmers and fisher-folk can wring +only a bare subsistence from the conditions +of their toil. It is from these villages, +perhaps, more than from any other +sources, that the girls are obtained to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_420" id="Page_420">[420]</a></span> +supply the <i>jōroya</i> of the great cities. At +any rate, in this particular village, the +only hope that any girl possessed of +escaping from the hard home toil was by +the sale of her person, and the thought +of seeing the great cities, of wearing +beautiful dresses, of being admired and +petted, and perhaps at last of marrying +some rich lover and becoming a great +lady, was a tempting bait to these poor +peasant girls. To this young man, whose +soul had been awakened to a new sensitiveness +during his absence, the full horror +of the conditions that could so warp +and dwarf the souls of women appealed +as it had never done before. He must do +something to help them, but what to do +his previous experience did not help him +to know. He sought for aid and sympathy +in his native place, among his +friends and co-religionists; but the state +of affairs was too old and too familiar to +excite interest, and at last he worked his +way to the capital, feeling that somewhere +in that great city he would find +light on the question that perplexed him. +It was a mere question of ways and +means—how to begin a work which he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_421" id="Page_421">[421]</a></span> +felt driven from within to do. In Tōkyō, +as he inquired among his friends, he was +told that Christians knew all about the +kind of work that he wished to begin, +that he must go to them and study their +methods, if he would help the people of +his native village. So the devout young +Buddhist, who had found in his own +faith the divine impulse, turned to the +study of what Christians had done and +were doing for the unfortunate. The +story is not finished yet. We cannot tell +whether in the end it will result in another +addition to the ranks of the Japanese +Christians, or whether it will aid +in the quickening that has come to +Buddhism, but, whatever way it ends, it +shows in a concrete example what Christianity +is now doing for Japan, and especially +for the women of the country.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3><span class="smcap">Footnotes:</span></h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_43_43" id="Footnote_43_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> The following in the report for 1898 may be of +interest:—</p> + +<p>Percentage of pupils of school age receiving instruction:—</p> + +<table border="0" cellspacing="5" summary=""> +<tr><th class="pad-r3">Year.</th> <th>Girls.</th> <th>Boys.</th></tr> +<tr align="center"><td class="pad-r3">1896</td> <td>47.54</td> <td>79.00</td></tr> +<tr align="center"><td class="pad-r3">1897</td> <td>50.86</td> <td>80.67</td></tr> +<tr align="center"><td class="pad-r3">1898</td> <td>53.73</td> <td>82.42</td></tr> +</table> + +<p>The total number of girls of school age not receiving instruction +is 1,552,601; of boys, 662,985; while the total +number of girls of school age is 3,642,263, and of boys, +4,067,161.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_44_44" id="Footnote_44_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> In the Japan <cite>Mail</cite> of July 8, 1901, the following statistics +of women employees in factories in Japan were +given:— +</p> + +<table border="0" cellspacing="3" summary=""> +<tr><th>Manufacture.</th> <th>No. of Women.</th> <th>No. to 100 Men.</th></tr> +<tr align="right"><td align="left">Raw Silk</td> <td class="pad-r2">107,348</td> <td class="pad-r3">93</td></tr> +<tr align="right"><td align="left">Cotton Spinning</td> <td class="pad-r2">53,053</td> <td class="pad-r3">79</td></tr> +<tr align="right"><td align="left">Matches</td> <td class="pad-r2">11,385</td> <td class="pad-r3">69</td></tr> +<tr align="right"><td align="left">Cotton Fabrics</td> <td class="pad-r2">10,656</td> <td class="pad-r3">86</td></tr> +<tr align="right"><td align="left">Tobacco</td> <td class="pad-r2">7,874</td> <td class="pad-r3">72</td></tr> +<tr align="right"><td align="left">Matting</td> <td class="pad-r2">1,641</td> <td class="pad-r3">59</td></tr> +</table> + +</div> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_422" id="Page_422">[422]</a></span></p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_423" id="Page_423"><br />[423]</a></span></p> + +<h2>APPENDIX.</h2> + +<p class="center"><i>The following Notes refer to passages marked by asterisks +in the foregoing pages.</i></p> + +<h3><a href="#APXanchor_3" name="APX_3" id="APX_3"> +<i>Page</i> 3.</a></h3> + +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> father, or the head of the family, usually +names the children, but some friend or patron +may be asked to do it. As, until recently, the +name given a child in infancy was not the one +that he was expected to bear through life, the +choice of a name was not a matter of as much +importance as it is with us. In some families +the boys are called by names indicating their +position in the family, the words <i>Taro</i>, "Big +one," <i>Jiro</i>, "Second one," <i>Saburo</i>, "Third one," +<i>Shiro</i>, "Fourth one," <i>Goro</i>, "Fifth one," etc., +being used alone, or placed after adjectives indicating +some quality that it is hoped the child +may possess. Such combinations are, <i>Eitaro</i>, +"Glorious big one," <i>Seijiro</i>, "Pure second one," +<i>Tomisaburo</i>, "Rich third one," and so on.</p> + +<h3><a href="#APXanchor_4" name="APX_4" id="APX_4"> +<i>Page</i> 4.</a></h3> + +<p>To speak with greater exactness, the <i>miya +mairi</i> of a boy is on the thirty-first day of his life,—of +a girl, on the thirty-third.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_424" id="Page_424">[424]</a></span></p> + +<h3><a href="#APXanchor_8" name="APX_8" id="APX_8"> +<i>Page</i> 8.</a></h3> + +<p>Tōkyō just now shows a tendency to change +this national custom. Gayly painted wicker +baby carriages with cotton awnings are seen in +large quantities in the shops, and one meets +mothers and little sisters of the lower classes, +propelling the baby in a little four-wheeled wagon +instead of wearing it on the back, as formerly. +These carriages are, of course, the exception, and +may prove to be but a passing Tōkyō fashion, +but they seem to me to mark another step in the +modernizing of Japan, and may prove of value +in the physical development of the common +people.</p> + +<h3><a href="#APXanchor_11" name="APX_11" id="APX_11"> +<i>Page</i> 11.</a></h3> + +<p>In the Tōkyō of 1891 butchers and milkmen +were very little in evidence, as the demand for +their wares came mainly from the few foreigners +and foreign restaurants in the city. In 1901 a +walk of half a mile or so in the neighborhood of +Kojimachi, one of the principal business streets +in a purely Japanese section of the city, shows +five meat shops; and milkmen, in westernized +shirts and knickerbockers, with golf-stockings +and straw sandals, draw their gay-colored carts +everywhere through the city, and call at a large +proportion of the houses. Condensed milk, too,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_425" id="Page_425">[425]</a></span> +is to be found on the shelves of every provision +store, together with canned and dried meats, and +the restaurants where foreign food is served are +distributed throughout the entire city, and do a +thriving business on Japanese patronage. The +less extravagant country people declare that Tōkyō +is "eating itself up," but so far no terrible +increase of indebtedness seems to follow the +change in the standard of living. It is interesting +to note that the scalp troubles referred to on +page 11 seem to have greatly lessened in the last +ten years, whether because of the change in the +food or for other reasons, I cannot determine.</p> + +<h3><a href="#APXanchor_24" name="APX_24" id="APX_24"> +<i>Page</i> 24.</a></h3> + +<p>Twice, after the <i>miya mairi</i> of her babyhood, +does our little maid repair to the temple to seek +the blessing of her patron god upon a step forward +in her short life: once, when at the age +of three, the hair on her small head, which until +then has been shaved in fancy patterns, is allowed +to begin its growth toward the coiffure of womanhood; +and once, when she has attained her seventh +year, and exchanges the soft, narrow sash +of infancy for the stiff, wide <i>obi</i> which is the +pride of every well-dressed Japanese woman. +Her little brother, too, though now no longer +destined to wear the hammer-shaped queue of +the old-time Japanese warrior, and whose fuzzy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_426" id="Page_426">[426]</a></span> +black head is now usually left unshaven in his +babyhood, still goes to the temple at the age of +three to give thanks, and when he comes to be +five years old, the little boy again goes up to the +temple, this time wearing for the first time the +manly <i>hakama</i>, or kilt-pleated trousers, and +makes offerings to the god who has protected +him thus far.</p> + +<p>The day set for these ceremonies is the 15th +of November, and there is no prettier sight in all +Japan than a popular temple on that day. All the +streets that converge on the shrine are crowded +with gayly dressed children hurrying along to +make their offerings, accompanied by parents +brimming with pride and pleasure.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i00">"Small feet are pattering, wooden shoes clattering,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Little hands clapping, and little tongues chattering:"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>three-year-old tots of both sexes trudging sturdily +along on their clogs: square little red-cheeked +boys, their black eyes shining with pride in their +rustling new silk <i>hakama</i>, feeling that they are +big boys and no longer to be confused with the +babies that they were yesterday: here, too, are +the graceful seven-year-old maidens, their many-colored +garments and their gorgeous new <i>obi</i> +setting off to advantage their shining black hair +and sparkling eyes. The children are so many, +so happy, and so impressed with the fun that it +is to be older than they were, that the grown<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_427" id="Page_427">[427]</a></span> +folks who accompany them seem like shadows; +the only real thing is the children.</p> + +<p>Within the temple precincts all the candy-sellers +and toy-merchants who can find standing-room +for a stall are doing a brisk trade. Flags +are flying, drums are beating, a <i>kagura</i> dance is +going on in the pavilion, about which stands a +crowd of youngsters twittering like sparrows, and +the steps that lead to the temple itself are as +thronged as Jacob's ladder with little ones ascending +and descending. Within the shrine the +white-robed priests are hard at work from morning +to night. A little company forms in the +vestibule, goes to the priest in the first room, +where they bow and make their offerings, and +wait until there is space for them in the inner +sanctuary. From within comes the sound of a +droning chant, which ends at last, and then a +party that has finished its worship issues forth, +and those who have been waiting without go in; +and when the few minutes of worship are over, +and the amulet that rewards the due observance +of the day has been received, there are the dances +to be seen, and the <i>o miyagé</i> to be purchased, +and at last the happy party returns, feeling that +one more milestone on the journey of life has +been passed propitiously.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_428" id="Page_428">[428]</a></span></p> + +<h3><a href="#APXanchor_30" name="APX_30" id="APX_30"> +<i>Page</i> 30.</a></h3> + +<p>The <i>shirōzaké</i> (white <i>saké</i>) used for this occasion +is a curious drink, thick and white, made +from pounded rice, and brewed especially for +this feast. Some antiquarians believe that it is +simply the earliest form of <i>saké</i>, the national +beverage, which has been preserved in this ancient +observance as the fly is preserved in +amber.</p> + +<h3><a href="#APXanchor_31" name="APX_31" id="APX_31"> +<i>Page</i> 31.</a></h3> + +<p>The keeping of a feast on the third day of the +third month is a custom that has come down +from very ancient times. At first the day was +set apart for the purification of the people, and a +part of the ceremony was the rubbing of the body +with bits of white paper, roughly cut into the +semblance of a white-robed priest. These paper +dolls were believed to take away the sins of the +year. When they had been used for purification, +they were inscribed with the sex and birth-year +of the user and thrown into the river. The +third month was also, in early times, the season +for cock-fighting among the men, and for doll-playing +among the women. The special name +by which the dolls of the Doll Feast are called is +<i>O Hina Sama</i>. Now <i>hina</i> in modern Japanese +means a chicken or other young bird, and is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_429" id="Page_429">[429]</a></span> +never used to mean anything else except the +dolls; thus the dolls are shown to be associated +with the ancient cock-fighting, an amusement +which has now almost gone out, except in the +province of Tosa on the island of Shikoku.</p> + +<p>The oldest dolls did not represent the Emperor +and Empress, but simply a man and a woman, +and were modeled closely after the old white paper +dolls of the religious ceremony. When the +Tokugawa Shōguns had firmly established their +splendid court at Yedo, a decree was issued +designating the five feast days upon which the +daimiōs were to present themselves at the Shōgun's +palace and offer their congratulations. +One of the days thus appointed was the third +day of the third month. It is believed that the +giving of the chief place at the feast to effigies +of the Emperor and Empress was a part of the +policy of the Shōgunate,—a policy which aimed +to keep alive the spirit of loyalty to the throne, +while at the same time the occupant of the throne +remained a puppet in the hands of his vice-gerent.</p> + +<p>Each girl born into a family has a pair of <i>O +Hina Sama</i> placed for her upon the red-covered +shelf, on the first Feast of Dolls that comes after +her birth. When, as a bride, she goes to her +husband's house, she carries the dolls with her, +and the first feast after her marriage she observes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_430" id="Page_430">[430]</a></span> +with special ceremonies. Until she has a daughter +old enough to carry out the observance, she +must keep up the ceremony. The feast, as it +exists to-day, is said by the Japanese to serve +three purposes: it makes the children of both +sexes loyal to the imperial family, it interests the +girls in housekeeping, and it trains them in ceremonial +etiquette.</p> + +<h3><a href="#APXanchor_40" name="APX_40" id="APX_40"> +<i>Page</i> 40.</a></h3> + +<p>Because of the complexity of the Chinese language +and the time needed for its mastery, there +has been a movement to lessen the study of pure +Chinese in the government schools, or abolish it +altogether, and with this to simplify the use of +the ideographs in the Sinico-Japanese. The educational +department is requiring that text-books +be limited in their use of ideographs; that those +used be written in only one way and that the +simplest, and that the <i>kana</i> (the Japanese syllabary) +be substituted wherever possible. Several +plans for reform in this matter are being agitated, +one of which is to limit the use of ideographs to +nouns and verbs only.</p> + +<h3><a href="#APXanchor_41" name="APX_41" id="APX_41"> +<i>Page</i> 41.</a></h3> + +<p>No one who has been in Japan can have failed to +notice the peculiarly strident quality of the Japanese +voice in singing, a quality that is gained by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_431" id="Page_431">[431]</a></span> +professional singers through much labor and +actual physical suffering. That this is not a natural +characteristic of the Japanese voice is shown by +the fact that in speaking, the voices, both of children +and adults, are low and sweet. It seems to +me to be brought about by the pursuit of a wrong +musical ideal, or at least, of a musical ideal quite +distinct from that of the Western world. In Japan +one seldom finds singing birds kept in cages, but +instead crickets, grasshoppers, katydids, and other +noisy members of the insect family may be seen +exposed for sale in the daintiest of cages any +summer night in the Tōkyō streets. These insects +delight the ears of the Japanese with their +melody, and it seems to me that the voices of +singers throughout the empire are modeled after +the shrill, rattling chirp of the insect, rather than +after the fuller notes of the bird's song.</p> + +<p>The introduction of European music by the +schools and churches has already begun to show in +the songs of the children in the streets, and where +ten years ago one might live in Tōkyō for a year, +and never hear a note of music except the semi-musical +cries of the workmen, when they are +pulling or striking in concert, now there are few +days when some strain of song from some passing +school-child does not come in at the window of +one's house in any quarter of the city. The progress +made in catching foreign ideas of time and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_432" id="Page_432">[432]</a></span> +tune is quite surprising, but the singing will never +be acceptable to the foreign ear until the voice +is modulated according to the foreign standards.</p> + +<h3><a href="#APXanchor_45" name="APX_45" id="APX_45"> +<i>Page</i> 45.</a></h3> + +<p>It is said by Japanese versed in the most refined +ways that a woman who has learned the tea +ceremony thoroughly is easily known by her superior +bearing and manner on all occasions.</p> + +<h3><a href="#APXanchor_49" name="APX_49" id="APX_49"> +<i>Page</i> 49.</a></h3> + +<p>Whatever plant she begins with is taken up in +a series of studies,—leaves, flowers, roots, and +stalks being shown in every possible position and +combination,—until not only the stroke is mastered, +but the plant is thoroughly known. In the +book that lies before me as I write, a book used +as a copy-book by a young lady beginning the +practice of the art, the teacher has devoted six +large pages to studies of one small and simple +flower and the pupil has covered hundreds of +sheets of paper with efforts to imitate the designs. +She has now finished that part of the course, and +can, at a moment's notice, reproduce with just the +right strokes any of the designs or any part of +the plant. The next step forward will be a similar +series of bamboo.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_433" id="Page_433">[433]</a></span></p> + +<h3><a href="#APXanchor_52" name="APX_52" id="APX_52"> +<i>Page</i> 52.</a></h3> + +<p>In the government schools for girls, much attention +is paid just now to physical culture. The +gymnastic exercises rank with the Chinese and +English and mathematics as important parts of +the course, and the girls are encouraged to spend +their recesses out-of-doors, engaging in all kinds +of athletic sports. Races, ball games, tugs-of-war, +marches, and quadrilles are entered into +with zest and enjoyment, and the girls in their +dark red <i>hakama</i> are as well able to move quickly +and freely as girls of the same age in America. +If it were not for the queer pigeon-toed gait, acquired +by years of walking in narrow <i>kimono</i> +and on high clogs, the Japanese girls would be +fully abreast of the American in all these sports. +So strongly has the idea of the necessity for physical +strength seized upon the nation, that a girl +of delicate physique has less chance of marriage +than one who is robust and strong.</p> + +<h3><a href="#APXanchor_55" name="APX_55" id="APX_55"> +<i>Page</i> 55.</a></h3> + +<p>It is in the mistakes and failures made in +adapting the education given in the schools to the +exact conditions that present themselves in the +constantly changing Japan of to-day, that the +opponents of all alteration in the education of +women find their strongest arguments. The conservatives +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_434" id="Page_434">[434]</a></span>point with scorn to this girl whose new +ideas have led her into folly or trouble, or to that +one whose health has been broken down by the +adverse conditions surrounding her student life, +and say, "This will be the case with all our women +if we continue this insane practice of educating +them along new lines." Advance in female +education, as in all other lines of progress in +Japan, is a series of violent actions and reactions. +In 1889, partly through ill-advised conduct on +the part of supporters of the cause, one of the +most serious reverses that has come in the progress +of Western education for women began to +show itself. The reaction was helped along by a +paper read before some of the most influential +men of Japan, and subsequently reported and +discussed in the newspapers, by a German professor +in the medical department of the imperial +University in Tōkyō. The paper was a serious +warning to the men of the country that no women +could be good wives, mothers, and housekeepers +and at the same time have undergone a thorough +literary education. The arguments were reinforced +by statistics showing that American college +women either did not marry, or that if they married +they had very few children. All Japan took +fright at this alarming showing, and for several +years the education of girls in anything more +than the primary studies was not encouraged by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_435" id="Page_435">[435]</a></span> +the government. The lowest depth of this reaction +was reached during or soon after the Japan-China +war, when the growth of national vanity +resulted in a temporary disdain for all foreign +ideas. The tide has turned again now, girls' +schools that have been closed for years are being +reopened, young men who are thinking of marrying +are looking for educated wives, and among +the women themselves there is a strong desire +for self-improvement. Under this impulse a new +generation of educated women will be added to +those already exerting an influence in the country, +and it is to be hoped that the forward movement +will be more difficult to set back when the next +reactionary wave strikes the Japanese coast.</p> + +<h3><a href="#APXanchor_60" name="APX_60" id="APX_60"> +<i>Page</i> 60.</a></h3> + +<p>The <i>obi</i> is supposed to express by its length +the hope that the marriage may be an enduring +one. Among the more modernized Japanese a +ring is now often given in place of, or, in the +wealthier classes, in addition to the <i>obi</i>.</p> + +<h3><a href="#APXanchor_61a" name="APX_61a" id="APX_61a"> +<i>Page</i> 61, <i>line</i> 6.</a></h3> + +<p>It is interesting, however, as a sign of the +times, to notice that for the wedding of the +Crown Prince, in May, 1900, the Shinto high +priest, who is master of ceremonies at the Imperial +Court, instituted a solemn religious ceremony<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_436" id="Page_436">[436]</a></span> +within the sanctuary of the palace. Following +the example set in so high a quarter, a number +of couples, during the winter of 1900-1901, have +repaired to Shinto temples in various parts of the +empire, to secure the sanction of the ancient national +faith upon their union. But still, for the +great majority of the Japanese, the wedding +ceremony is what it has always been.</p> + +<h3><a href="#APXanchor_61b" name="APX_61b" id="APX_61b"> +<i>Page</i> 61, <i>line</i> 15.</a></h3> + +<p>Although new methods of transportation have +come into use now in most of the Japanese cities, +and wheeled carts drawn by men or horses are +used for carrying all other kinds of luggage, the +wedding outfit, wrapped in great cloths on which +the crest of the bride's family is conspicuous, is +borne on men's shoulders to the bridegroom's +home, the length of the baggage train and the +number and size of the burdens showing the +wealth and importance of the bride's family. +The bride who goes to her husband's house well +provided by her own family, will carry, not only +a full wardrobe and the house-furnishings already +mentioned, but will be supplied, so far as +foresight can manage it, with all the little things +that she can need for months in advance. Paper, +pens, ink, postage stamps, needles, thread, and +sewing materials of all kinds, a store of dress +materials and other things to be given as presents<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_437" id="Page_437">[437]</a></span> +to any and all who may do her favors, and +pocket money with which she may make good +any deficiencies, or meet any unforeseen emergency. +When she goes from her father's house, +she should be so thoroughly fitted out that she +will not have to ask her husband for the smallest +thing for a number of months. The parents of +the bride, in giving up their daughter, as they +do when she marries, show the estimation in +which they have held her by the beauty and completeness +of the trousseau with which they provide +her. The expense of this wedding outfit is +often very great, persons even in the most moderate +circumstances spending as much as one thousand +yen upon the necessary purchases, and among +the wealthy, four thousand to five thousand yen +is not extravagant. As material wealth increases +in Japan, there is a marked tendency to increase +the style and cost of the trousseau, and the marriage +of a daughter has come to be, in many +cases, a severe strain on the family finances. +But this outfit is of the nature of a dowry, for it +is her very own; and in the event of a divorce, +she brings back with her to her father's house the +clothing and household goods that she carried +away as a bride.</p> + +<h3><a href="#APXanchor_64" name="APX_64" id="APX_64"> +<i>Page</i> 64.</a></h3> + +<p>For this visit the bride wears for the first time +a dress made for her by her husband's family and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_438" id="Page_438">[438]</a></span> +bearing its crest, as a sign that she is now a +member of that family and only a guest in her +father's house.</p> + +<h3><a href="#APXanchor_76" name="APX_76" id="APX_76"> +<i>Page</i> 76.</a></h3> + +<p>Since the adoption of the new code, the conditions +of marriage and of divorce have been altered +for the better. At present no divorce is +possible except through the courts or through +mutual consent; the simple change of registration +by one party or the other does not constitute +a legal divorce. Even a divorce by mutual consent +cannot be arranged without the consent of +the parents or head of the family of a married +person who is under twenty-five years of age. +The grounds upon which judicial divorce may be +granted seem very trivial measured by European +standards, but, on the other hand, they are a distinct +gain over the former practice. The wife is +no longer dependent for her position simply upon +the whim of her husband, but, unless he can secure +her consent to the separation, he must formulate +charges of immorality or conviction of +crime, or of cruel treatment or grave insult on +the part of the wife or of her relatives, or of +desertion, or of disappearance for a period of +three years or more. Only when some such +charge has been made and proved before a court +can a husband send away his wife. In the case<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_439" id="Page_439">[439]</a></span> +of a separation by mutual consent, though the +law still gives the care of the children to the father +in case no previous agreement has been made, +if a woman sees her way clear to supporting them, +she may stipulate for the custody of one or more +of them as a condition of her consent to the divorce. +In a judicial divorce, the judge may, in +the interests of the children, take them away from +their father and assign them to the care of some +other person.</p> + +<p>In these changes we can see a distinct advance +toward permanence of the family tie; and we +can see, too, that the wife has gained a new +power to hold her own against injustice and +wrong. That when the people have become used +to these changes, other and more binding laws +will be enacted, we can feel pretty sure, for the +drift of enlightened public opinion seems to be in +favor of securing better and more firmly established +homes just as fast as "the hardness of their +hearts" will permit.</p> + +<h3><a href="#APXanchor_84" name="APX_84" id="APX_84"> +<i>Page</i> 84.</a></h3> + +<p>It is difficult for us in America, who live under +customs and laws in which the individual is the +social unit and the family a union of individuals, +to understand a system of society in which the +individual is little or nothing and the family the +social unit recognized both by law and custom.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_440" id="Page_440">[440]</a></span> +In Japan, a man is simply a member of some +family, and his daily affairs, his marrying and +giving in marriage, are more or less under the +control of the head of his family, or of the family +council. Only in case he is the head of the family +is he able to marry without securing some one's +consent, and then his responsibilities in regard to +the headship may in themselves hamper him. If +this is the case with the more independent man, +it may be imagined how completely the woman +is submerged under family influence. She may, +under exceptional circumstances, become the +head of a family, but this is usually only a temporary +expedient, and even then she must subordinate +herself more completely to the family +and its interests than when she occupies a lowlier +place.</p> + +<p>The headship of an unmarried woman lasts +only until a husband has been selected for her, +and the headship of a widow lasts during her +guardianship of the rightful heir to the position. +By Japanese law a widow is always the guardian +of her minor children.</p> + +<p>The only way in which individuality before +the law can be obtained by man or woman in +Japan is through cutting the tie that binds to the +family, and starting out in life afresh as the head +of a new family. This new family must always +be <i>héimin</i>, or plebeian, no matter how high in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_441" id="Page_441">[441]</a></span> +rank may have been the family from which the +founder has gone out, but there is a continually +increasing number of young men and women who +prefer the freedom that comes from the headship +of a small and new family, even if of low rank, +to the state of tutelage or of hampering responsibility +which must accompany connection with a +larger and older social group. It seems likely +that through this means an evolution from the +family to the individual system will be effected, +as the nation grows more and more modernized +in its way of looking at things.</p> + +<p>For the Japanese woman, as I have already +said, marriage is in most cases the entrance into +a new family. She is cut off from the old ways +and interests, in which she has until now had her +part, and she has begun life anew as the latest +addition to and therefore the lowest and most +ignorant member of another social group. It is +her duty simply to learn the ways and obey the +will of those above her, and it is the duty of +those above her, and especially of her husband's +mother, to fit her by training and discipline for +her new surroundings. The physical strength of +the young wife, her sweetness of temper, her +manners, her morals, her way of looking at life, +are all put to the test by this sharp-eyed guardian +of the family interests, and woe to the +younger woman if she fail to come up to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_442" id="Page_442">[442]</a></span> +standard set. She may be a good woman and +a faithful wife, but if, under the training given +her, she does not adapt herself readily to the +traditions and customs of the family she enters, +it is more than likely, even under the new laws, +that she may be sent back to her father's house +as <i>persona non grata</i>, and even her husband's +love cannot save her. It is because of this predominance +of the family over the individual that +the young wife, when she enters her husband's +home, is not, as in our own country, entering +upon a new life as mistress of a house, with absolute +control over all of her little domain.</p> + +<h3><a href="#APXanchor_115" name="APX_115" id="APX_115"> +<i>Page</i> 115.</a></h3> + +<p>At the time of the celebration of his silver +wedding, in 1895, the Emperor came into the +Audience Room with the Empress on his arm, +an example which was followed by the Imperial +Princes.</p> + +<p>With the engagement and marriage of the +Crown Prince, in May, 1900, an entirely new +precedent was established in the relations of the +Imperial couple. The Western idea of marriage +between equals has never existed in the Japanese +mind in its thought of the union between their +Emperor and Empress. The Empress, though +of noble family, was chosen from among the subjects +of the Emperor, and the marriage was of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_443" id="Page_443">[443]</a></span> +the nature of an appointment by the Emperor +to the position of Imperial Consort, just as any +other appointment might have been made of a +subject to fill an important position in the government. +In the marriage of the Crown Prince +a very different course was pursued. While no +departure was made from the old precedents in +the selection of a Princess from one of the five +families that trace their descent from Jimmu +Tenno, the whole manner of obtaining the bride +was different from anything that Japan had before +known. The Prince asked the father of the +young lady to give her to him just as a common +man might have done, and everything in the preliminary +arrangements was carried out with the +idea that by the marriage she was to be raised to +his rank and position. Reference has already +been made to the religious ceremony that was +devised for the occasion, an act that in itself +altered the meaning of marriage for the whole +nation.</p> + +<p>Since the wedding, rumors have floated to the +world outside of the palace gates, of the kindness +and consideration with which the young wife is +treated by her husband. To the scandal of some +of the more old-fashioned of the Prince's attendants, +the heir to the throne insists on observing +toward his wife, in private as well as in public, +all the minutiæ of Western etiquette. She enters +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_444" id="Page_444">[444]</a></span>the carriage ahead of him when they drive +together, they habitually take their meals together, +and he finds in her a cheerful companion +and friend, and not simply a devoted and humble +servant. In this way, by the highest example +that can be set to them, the Japanese people +are learning a new lesson.</p> + +<p>All these things have a deep significance in +showing that the sacredness of the marriage tie +is gradually being recognized.</p> + +<h3><a href="#APXanchor_137" name="APX_137" id="APX_137"> +<i>Page</i> 137.</a></h3> + +<p>Something, indeed, may be said on the other +side in regard to this system, which I seem to +have painted as ideal. If in America we find +the burden of expensive grown-up sons and +daughters sometimes too heavy upon parents +whose powers are on the wane, we must remember +that in Japan a young man is often seriously +handicapped at the beginning of his active life +by the early retirement of his father from self-supporting +labor, and that the young wife entering +the home of her parents-in-law often finds a +happy married life rendered impossible by the +fact that she must please an elderly couple thoroughly +fixed in their ways,—the rulers of the +household and with little to do but rule. With +this custom, as with all human customs, everything +in the long run depends upon how it is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_445" id="Page_445">[445]</a></span> +used, and without deep affection between parents +and children there seems to be as much +danger from the serious handicapping of the rising +generation by selfish and inconsiderate parents +in Japan, as there is in America of the +wearing out of the older people's lives and +strength in the service of ungrateful and lazy +children.</p> + +<h3><a href="#APXanchor_152" name="APX_152" id="APX_152"> +<i>Page</i> 152.</a></h3> + +<p>The bed on which the Empress sleeps is made +of heavy <i>futons</i>, or quilts, of white <i>habutai</i> +wadded with silk wadding. The bedclothing +consists of as many similar <i>futons</i> as the state +of the weather may require. Every month new +<i>futons</i> are provided for Her Majesty, and the discarded +ones are given to one of her attendants. +The happy recipient is thus provided with wadding +enough for all her winter dresses for the rest +of her life, as well as with a good supply of dress +material.</p> + +<h3><a href="#APXanchor_157" name="APX_157" id="APX_157"> +<i>Page</i> 157.</a></h3> + +<p>Only those who have seen the inner life of the +court can realize the difficulties which have attended +every step of the Empress Haru's way, for +the court has been the scene of great struggles +between the conservative and radical elements. +Mean and petty jealousies have moved those +surrounding the throne. The slightest word or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_446" id="Page_446">[446]</a></span> +token from the Empress would be used as a +weapon for private ends. To move among these +varied and discordant factions, and to move for +progress, without causing undue friction, has +been a task more difficult than the conquest of +armies, and to do so successfully has required +almost infinite patience, sympathy, and love.</p> + +<h3><a href="#APXanchor_168" name="APX_168" id="APX_168"> +<i>Page</i> 168.</a></h3> + +<p>And now, after thirty-three years of the enlightened +rule of the present Emperor, and of +the beneficent life and example of the Empress +Haru, is there any assurance that the progress +made during their occupation of the throne will +be continued in the lives of Japan's future rulers?</p> + +<p>Prince Haru, or Yoshihito, is now a man +twenty-two years of age, with character sufficiently +developed to be used as the basis for a +guess at what his qualities as a sovereign may +prove to be. "As far as the East is from the +West" have his life and education been from the +life and education of his illustrious father. Instead +of the curtained seclusion, the quiet and +calm of the old palace in the old capital, the present +Crown Prince has known from babyhood the +sights and sounds of the stirring city of Tōkyō. +He has driven in an open carriage or walked +through its streets; he has been to school with +boys of his own age, taking the school work and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_447" id="Page_447">[447]</a></span> +the drill and the games with the other boys, +learning to know men and things and himself +too, in a way in which none of his ancestors, +since the days when they were simply savage +chiefs, have had opportunity of knowing. As he +grew toward manhood, his delicate health required +that he leave the school and pursue his +studies as his strength permitted, under masters; +but he has retained his love for all athletic exercises, +for dogs and horses and guns and bicycles, +and he is as expert in outdoor sports as any youth +of Western training. His mind is quick and +eager, interested especially in foreign ways and +thoughts, and seeking most of all to understand +how other people think and feel and live. Though +he has been emancipated to a wonderful degree +from the state and ceremony that surrounded his +ancestors, he is nevertheless impatient of what +remains, and would gladly dispense with many +forms that his conservative guardians regard as +necessary; and these same guardians at times +find their young eaglet difficult to manage. He +has views and ideas of his own, and acts occasionally +upon his own initiative in a way that +fairly scandalizes his advisers. He wishes to +visit his future subjects upon something like +equal terms. The rôle of Son of Heaven seems +to him less interesting at times than some smaller +and more human part. When he walks, he wants<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_448" id="Page_448">[448]</a></span> +to lead his own dog, not have him led by some +one else; to stop in the street and watch the common +people at their work; to drop in on his +friends in a neighborly way and see how they +live when they are not expecting a visit from +royalty. Provided he does not go too fast or too +far, when his turn comes to ascend the throne, he +cannot but make a better emperor for the intimate +personal knowledge that he is seeking and +gaining of the lives and feelings of his people.</p> + +<p>The Crown Princess Sada, who has now been +for one year in the line of succession to the present +beloved Empress, shows in her training and +character the influence of the new impulse that is +driving Japan forward. The circumstances that +led to her selection as the bride of the Prince are +in themselves curious enough to be worth recording. +The Kujo family is one of the five families +from which alone can the wife of the Crown +Prince be chosen, and the present Prince Kujo +is blessed with many daughters. Of these, the +oldest is about the age of Prince Haru, and at +one time it was hoped that she might be selected +as his consort, but at last that hope was given up, +and she was married to another prince. The second +daughter was as bright and charming as the +first, but she was just enough younger than the +Prince to make her marriage with him so dangerous +a matter according to all the rules that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_449" id="Page_449">[449]</a></span> +govern good and bad luck in Japan, that no hope +was entertained for her, and she was married, +when her time came, with no reference to the +greatest match that any Japanese princess can +make. The third daughter was six years younger +than the Prince, so much younger that it was +thought that he would be married long before she +grew up, so no special care or attention was given +to her. In her babyhood, like most Japanese +babies of high rank, she was sent out into the +country to be nursed. Her foster parents were +plain farmer folk, who loved her and cared for +her as their own child. She played bareheaded +and barefooted in the sun and wind, tumbled +about, jolly and happy, with the village children, +and lived and grew like a kitten or a puppy rather +than like a future empress until she was old +enough for the kindergarten. Then she came +back to Tōkyō, to her father's house, and from +there she attended the Peeresses' School, going +backward and forward every day with her bundle +of books, and taking her share of the work +and play with the other children. In her school-days +she was noticeable for her great physical +activity and her hearty enjoyment of the outdoor +sports which form so important a part of the +training in Japanese schools for girls at present; +and for her strength of will and character among +a class of students upon whom self-repression<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_450" id="Page_450">[450]</a></span> +amounting almost to self-abnegation has been inculcated +from earliest childhood.</p> + +<p>When this little princess reached the age of +fifteen, the Crown Prince's marriage, which had +been somewhat deferred on account of his ill-health, +was pressed forward, and to the extreme +surprise of her own family, and of many others +as well, the Princess Sada was chosen, largely on +account of her great physical vigor. Then began +a great change in her life. From being one of +the lowest and least considered in her family, she +was suddenly raised high above all the rest, even +her father addressing her as a superior. The +merry, romping school-girl was transformed in a +few days into the great lady, too grand to associate +on equal terms with any but the imperial +family. Small cause was there for wonder if she +shrank from the change and begged that the +honor might be bestowed on some one else. The +old free life was gone forever, and she dreaded +the heavy responsibility that was to fall upon her +slender shoulders.</p> + +<p>The choice was made in August, 1899, and +from the moment that the engagement was entered +into, the Princess Sada became an honored +guest in her father's house. She could no longer +play with her brothers and sisters, or take a meal +with any member of her own family. A new +and handsome suite of rooms was built for her,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_451" id="Page_451">[451]</a></span> +her old wardrobe was discarded and an entirely +new one provided for her, all her table service +was new and distinct from that of the rest of the +family, and she was addressed by all as if she +were already Empress. Her studies were not +given up, but masters were chosen for her who +came to her and instructed her, with due deference +to her high station, in the subjects that she +had been studying at school. So passed the nine +months of her engagement, and on May 8, 1900, +she became one of the principals in a state wedding +such as Japan had never before seen. +Through all the show and ceremony she acquitted +herself decorously and bravely, and since her +marriage no word save of approval of the young +wife has come out from the palace gates. Her +little sisters-in-law, the four small daughters of +the Emperor, enjoy nothing so much as to go and +spend the day with her, for she is so amusing, +and her life has been such a busy and happy one, +that she comes like a breath of fresh air into the +seclusion of the Court. Her young husband, too, +finds in her congenial society, and his frail health +seems to be daily strengthening with the brightness +that has come into his home.</p> + +<p>Great was the joy in the empire when, on +April 29, 1901, this happy union was rendered +still happier by the birth of a strong little prince +to carry on the ancient line. By an auspicious<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_452" id="Page_452">[452]</a></span> +coincidence, his birth came just at the time of +the annual boys' feast, or Feast of Flags, and his +naming day was appointed for May 5, the great +day of the feast, when all Japan is decorated with +giant carp swinging from tall poles outside of +every house, and swimming vigorously at the +ends of their tethers in the strong spring wind. +The carp is to the Japanese mind the emblem +of courage and perseverance, for he swims up the +strongest current, leaping the waterfalls that oppose +his progress. The baby was named by his +grandfather, and will have the personal name of +Hirohito, and the title Prince Michi. With this +new little prince there are no polite fictions to +maintain, nor conventional relationships to be established. +He is the son of his father's lawful +wife, as well as of his father. There is to be no +breaking off of natural ties, and his own mother +will nurse and care for him, a fortune that never +falls to the lot of the imperial son of a <i>mékaké</i>. +If he lives, he will be a standing argument in favor +of monogamy, even in noble families, and his +birth bodes well for family life throughout the +country.</p> + +<h3><a href="#APXanchor_182" name="APX_182" id="APX_182"> +<i>Page</i> 182.</a></h3> + +<p>A pretty, but most shocking sight, if seen +through the eyes of some of these old-fashioned +attendants, is the semi-annual <i>undo kai</i>, or exercise +day of the Peeresses' School. The large<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_453" id="Page_453">[453]</a></span> +playground is, for this occasion, surrounded by +seats divided off to accommodate invited guests of +various ranks, who spend the day watching the +entertainment. In the most honorable place, surrounded +by her ladies-in-waiting, sits the Empress +herself, for the education of the daughters of the +nobles is a matter of the liveliest interest to her; +and the parents and friends and teachers of the +girls fill up all available seats after the school itself +has been accommodated.</p> + +<p>The programme is usually a long one, occupying +the greater part of the morning and afternoon, +with an interval for lunch. Most of the ordinary +English field games—tennis, basket-ball, etc.—are +played with skill and vigor, and in addition to +these there are races of various kinds, devised to +show, not simply fleetness of foot, but quickness +of hand and wit as well. These races vary from +year to year, as the ingenuity of the directors of +the sports may be able to devise new forms of exercise. +One extremely pretty contest is as follows: +On the playground between the starting-point and +the goal are set at equal distances four upright +sticks for each runner. Four branches of cherry +blossoms and four bright-colored ribbons for each +contestant are laid on the ground at the starting-point. +At the signal, each girl picks up a cherry +branch and a ribbon, and runs to one of the upright +sticks, tying the flowers firmly thereto;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_454" id="Page_454">[454]</a></span> +then she runs back for a second branch, and so +on until all four have been fastened in place. +The race is won by the child who first reaches +the goal leaving behind her four blooming trees +where before there were bare poles. This seems +to be the æsthetic Japanese equivalent for our +prosaic potato race. Another contest is after +this manner: Along the course of each runner +are laid at certain intervals bright-colored balls,—a +different color for each contestant. The +object of the race is, within a certain time, to +pick up all the balls and throw them into the +nearly closed mouth of a great net at the far end +of the grounds. The contest is not decided +until the balls have been counted, when the girl +who has succeeded in getting the greatest number +of balls of her color into the net is declared the +winner. Another and extremely pretty race, +calling for great steadiness of hand and body, is +the running from one end of the ground to the +other with a ball balanced on a battledore. The +Japanese battledore is made of light but hard +wood, and is long and narrow in shape. If one +had not seen it done, it would be well-nigh impossible +to believe that any child could carry a +ball upon it for more than a few slow steps: but +these children run at a smart trot, keeping the +ball immovable upon its small and smooth surface.</p> + +<p>Beside the games and races, there are calisthenic +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_455" id="Page_455">[455]</a></span>exhibitions, in which great precision of +motion and flexibility of body are manifested. +One of the most graceful and attractive of these +is the fan drill shown on this occasion, when +some twenty or thirty girls, with their bright-colored +dresses, long, waving sleeves, and red +<i>hakama</i>, posture in perfect rhythm, with fans +opened or closed, waving above the head, held +before the face, changed from position to position, +with the performers' changes of attitude, +each new figure seemingly more graceful than the +last.</p> + +<p>In these and many other ways the nobility of +new Japan are being fitted for the new part that +they have to play in the world. No wonder that +the education now given, awakening the mind, +toughening the body, arousing ambition and individuality, +is regarded by many of the ultra-conservatives +as a dangerous innovation, and one +likely to bring the nobility down to the level of +the common people. Whether this new education +is better or worse than the old, we can hardly +tell as yet, but there are no signs of the immediate +breakdown of the old spirit of the nobility, +and the better health and stronger characters of +the young women who have received the modern +training promise much for the next generation.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_456" id="Page_456">[456]</a></span></p> + +<h3><a href="#APXanchor_192" name="APX_192" id="APX_192"> +<i>Page</i> 192.</a></h3> + +<p>While this was entirely true in 1890, it is interesting +to observe that after ten years of commercial +and industrial progress there are signs +that the embroidered kimono is coming back into +fashion. With the growth of large fortunes +and of luxury that has marked the past decade, +has come the custom of providing wedding garments +as magnificently embroidered as were the +robes of the daimiōs' ladies, and even the <i>montsuki</i> +or ceremonial dress, which was severely +plain in 1890, now has little delicate embroidery +about the bottom. It will not be surprising +if some day, when the present growing commercial +and industrial enterprise has reaped a more +abundant harvest, Japan blooms forth again in +the beautiful garments that went out of fashion +when the great political upheaval cut off the revenues +of the old nobility.</p> + +<h3><a href="#APXanchor_209" name="APX_209" id="APX_209"> +<i>Page</i> 209.</a></h3> + +<p>At each encroachment of the enemy those of +the population who could not find refuge at once +within the inner defenses were driven to choose +between surrender and self-inflicted death. The +unconquerable samurai spirit flamed out in the +choice of hundreds of women and children as +well as men, and whole families were wiped out<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_457" id="Page_457">[457]</a></span> +of existence at once, the little ones, who were too +young to understand the proper method of <i>hara-kiri</i>, +kneeling calmly with bowed heads for the +death-stroke from father or brother which should +free them from the disgrace of defeat.</p> + +<h3><a href="#APXanchor_223" name="APX_223" id="APX_223"> +<i>Page</i> 223.</a></h3> + +<p>That the spirit of the samurai women is still +a living force in Japan, no one can doubt who listens +to the stories of what the women did and +bore in the Japan-China war of 1895. The old +self-sacrifice and devotion showed itself throughout +the country in deeds of real, if sometimes mistaken, +heroism. Husbands, sons, and brothers +were sent out to danger and death with smiles +and cheerful words, by women dependent upon +them for everything in a way that can hardly be +understood by Americans. Even tears of grief +for the dear ones offered in the country's cause +were suppressed as disloyal, and women learned +with unmoved countenances of the death of those +they loved best, and found the courage to express, +in the first shock of bereavement, their sense of +the honor conferred on the family by the death +of one of its members in the cause of his country.</p> + +<p>A few incidents quoted from an article by Miss +Umé Tsuda that appeared in the New York +"Independent" in 1895 will give my readers an +idea of the forms that this devotion assumed:—</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_458" id="Page_458">[458]</a></span></p><p>"One instance comes into my mind of an old +lady who sent out cheerfully and with a smiling +face her young and only son, the sole stay of her +old age. Left a widow while young, she had +lived a life of much sorrow and trouble, and had +with almost superhuman efforts managed to give +her son an education that would start him in life. +It was only a few years ago that the son had begun +to help in the family support, and to be able +to repay to the mother her tender care of him. +Her pride in her son and his young wife was a +pleasure to see, and the little home they had together +seemed a safe haven for the coming years +of old age. Now, in a moment all this was +changed,—the son must start off for the wars. +Yet not for one instant was a cloud seen on the +mother's face, as, smilingly and cheerfully, she +assisted in the preparations for his departure. +Not in public or in secret did one sigh or regret +escape her; not even to the son did a word of +anxiety pass her lips. Her face, beaming with +joy, looked with pride on the manly strength of +the young soldier as he started to fight for his +country and win honor for himself,—honor +which would surely come to him whether he +lived or died.</p> + +<p>"Another woman who is well on in years, and +whose eldest son is a naval officer, furnishes an +interesting example of mother love. Though<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_459" id="Page_459">[459]</a></span> +never showing her anxiety on his account, or +grief at his danger, she has taken upon herself, +in spite of her old age and by no means vigorous +health, to go on foot every morning to one of +the temples and worship there before daylight, in +order to propitiate the gods, that they may protect +her son. She arises at four o'clock in the +morning on the coldest of cold days, washes and +purifies herself with ice-cold water, and then +starts out before daylight for her three-mile walk +to the temple. Thus through wind and storm +and cold have the faith and love of this old woman +upheld her, and one is happy to add that so +far her prayers have been heard and no harm +has come to the one she has called on her gods +to protect.</p> + +<p>"A touching story is told of the aged mother +of Sakamoto, commander of the warship Akagi, +who was killed in the thickest of the fight during +the great naval battle of the Yellow Sea. Commander +Sakamoto left an aged mother, a wife, +and three children. As soon as his death was +officially ascertained, a messenger was dispatched +from the naval department to convey the sad tidings +to his family. The communication was made +duly to his wife, and before the messenger had +left the house it reached the ears of the old mother, +who, tottering into the room where the officer +was, saluted and greeted him duly, and then,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_460" id="Page_460">[460]</a></span> +with dry eyes and a clear voice, said, 'So it +seems by your tidings that my son has been of +some service this time.'</p> + +<p>"One reads pathetic stories in the newspapers +daily in connection with the war. Not long ago +a sad account was given of a young woman, just +past her twentieth year, and only recently married +to an army officer. She had belonged by +birth to a military family, and, as befitted the +wife and daughter of a soldier, she resolved, on +hearing of the death of her husband, that she +would not survive him, but would follow him to +the great unknown. Sending away her servant +on some excuse, she remained alone in her home, +which she put into perfect order. Then she arranged +all her papers, wrote a number of letters, +and made her last preparations for death. She +dressed herself in full ceremonial dress as she +had been dressed for her bridal, and seated herself +before a large portrait of her husband. Then, +with a short dirk, such as is owned by every samurai +woman, she stabbed herself. In her last +letters she gives as the reason for her death that, +having no ties in the world, she would not survive +her husband, but wished to remain faithful to +him in death as she had been in life.</p> + +<p>"Many such stories might be cited, but enough +has been given to show the spirit that exists in +Japan. With such women and such teachings<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_461" id="Page_461">[461]</a></span> +in their homes, can it be wondered at that Japan +is a brave nation, and that her soldiers are winning +battles? Certainly some of the honor and +credit must be given to these wives and mothers +scattered throughout Japan, who are surely, in +some cases, the inspirers of that courage and +spirit which is just now surprising the world."</p> + +<h3><a href="#APXanchor_239" name="APX_239" id="APX_239"> +<i>Page</i> 239.</a></h3> + +<p>Much surprise is evinced by foreigners visiting +Japan at the lack of taste shown by the Japanese +in the imitation of foreign styles. And yet, for +these same foreigners, who condemn so patronizingly +the Japanese lack of taste in foreign things, +the Japanese manufacture pottery, fans, scrolls, +screens, etc., that are most excruciating to their +sense of beauty, and export them to markets in +which they find a ready sale, their manufacturers +wondering, the while, why foreigners want such +ugly things. The fact is that neither civilization +has as yet come into any understanding of the +other's æsthetic side, and the sense of beauty of +the one is a sealed book to the other. The Japanese +nation, in its efforts to adopt foreign ways, +has been, up to the present time, blindly imitating, +with little or no comprehension of underlying +principles. As a result there is an absolute +crudeness in foreign things as attempted in Japan +that grates on the nerves of travelers fresh from +the best to be found in Europe or America.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_462" id="Page_462">[462]</a></span></p><p>There are signs, however, that the stage of +imitation is past and that adaptation has begun. +Here and there in Tōkyō may be seen buildings +in which the solidity of foreign architecture has +been grafted upon the Japanese type. Ten years +ago, Japanese men who adopted foreign dress +went about in misfitting garments, soiled linen, +untidy shoes, and hats that had been discarded +by the civilization for which they were made +many seasons before they reached Japan. They +wore Turkish towels about their necks and red +blankets over their shoulders at the desire of unscrupulous +importers, who persuaded them that +towels for neck-cloths and blankets for overcoats +were the latest styles of London and Paris. To-day +one sees no such eccentricities of costume in +the purely Japanese city of Tōkyō. Men who +wear foreign dress wear it made correctly in +every particular by Japanese tailors, shoemakers, +and hatters. The standard has been attained, for +men at least, and in foreign dress as well as in +Japanese, the natural good taste of the people has +begun to assert itself. So it will be in time with +other new things adopted. As no single element +of the Chinese civilization secured a permanent +footing in Japan except such as could be adapted, +not only to the national life, but to the national +taste as well, so it will be with European things. +All things that are adopted will be adapted, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_463" id="Page_463">[463]</a></span> +whatever is adapted is likely in time to be improved +and made more beautiful by the national +instinct for beauty. During the transition, enormities +are omitted and monstrosities are constructed, +but when the standard is at last attained, +we may expect that the genius of the race will +triumph over the difficulties that it is now encountering. +Individual Japanese who have lived +long in Europe or America show the same nice +discrimination in regard to foreign things that +they do in their Japanese surroundings, and are +rarely at fault in their taste. What is true of +the individual now will be true of the nation when +European standards have become common property.</p> + +<h3><a href="#APXanchor_242" name="APX_242" id="APX_242"> +<i>Page</i> 242.</a></h3> + +<p>In the remote mountain regions, where the +majesty and uncertainty of the great natural +forces impress themselves constantly upon the +minds of the peasantry, one finds a simple nature +worship, and a desire to propitiate all the unseen +powers, that is not so evident in the daily life of +the dwellers in more populous and progressive +parts of the country. As the mountains close in +about the road that runs up from the plains below, +a great stone, on which is deeply carved +"To the God of the Mountains," calls the attention +of the traveler to the fact that the supernatural +is a recognized power among the mountaineers. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_464" id="Page_464">[464]</a></span>In such regions one finds the stated offerings +at the shrines which stand near the wayside +kept constantly renewed. Nearly every house is +protected by some slip of paper pasted above the +door, a charm obtained by toilsome pilgrimage to +some noted temple. Behind or near the village +temple one may see rude wigwams of straw, each +sheltering a <i>gohei</i>,<a name="FNanchor_45_45" id="FNanchor_45_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a>—witnesses to the vows of +devotees who hope, sooner or later, to erect small +wooden shrines and so win favor from the unknown +rulers of human destinies. In places where +pack-horses form a large part of the wealth of the +people, stones to the horses' spirits are erected, +and the halters of all the horses that die are left +upon these stones. Prayers, too, are offered to +the guardian spirits of the living horses, before +stones on which are carved sometimes the image +of a horse bearing a <i>gohei</i> on his back, sometimes +a rough figure of the horse-headed Kwannon. To +such stones or shrines are brought horses suffering +from sickness of any kind, and the hand is rubbed +first on the stone and then on the part of the animal +supposed to be affected. In one district, when +a horse epidemic broke out, its rapid spread was +attributed by the authorities to this custom, and +all persons were warned of the danger, with what<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_465" id="Page_465">[465]</a></span> +effect in breaking up the ancient habit the newspaper +reports failed to say. It is in such regions +as this that the <i>oni</i> and the <i>tengu</i><a name="FNanchor_46_46" id="FNanchor_46_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a> still live in +the every-day thought of the people; it is here, +too, that the old custom of offering flowers and +fruit to the spirits of the dead at the midsummer +festival is most conscientiously kept up. All possible +spirits are included in these offerings, so +that even by the roadside one finds bunches of +flowers set up in the clefts of the rock, to the +spirits of travelers who have died on the way.</p> + +<p>In one little mountain resort, far from the railroad +but in touch with the outside world through +the hundreds of visitors that seek its hot baths +during the summer, it was my good fortune to +spend a few weeks recently. Our walks were +rather limited in variety, as the village lay in an +almost inaccessible mountain valley through +which a carefully engineered road ran along the +edge of the river gorge. About half a mile out +of the village, close to the road and overhanging +the waters of the river at a spot where the rocks +were so worn and carved by the rushing torrent<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_466" id="Page_466">[466]</a></span> +as to have gained the appropriate title of the +"Screen Rocks," was a little shop and a tea-house. +It was a pleasant resting-place after a warm and +dusty walk, and almost daily we would halt there +for a cup of tea and a slice of <i>yokan</i>, or bean marmalade, +before returning to our rooms in the +hotel. The managers of the place were an old +man and his wife, who divided their labor between +the shop and the tea-house. The old man +was an artist in roots. His life was devoted to +searching out grotesquely shaped roots on the +forest-covered hills, and whittling, turning, and +trimming them into the semblance of animal or +human forms. <i>Tengu</i> and goblins, long-legged +birds and short-legged beasts, all manner of +weird products of his imagination and his handiwork, +peopled the interior of the little shop, and +he was always ready to welcome us and show us +his latest work, with the pride of an artist in his +masterpiece.</p> + +<p>His wife, a cheery old woman, attended to the +tea-house, and as soon as we had seated ourselves, +bustled about to bring us cool water from the +spring that bubbled out of the rocks across the +road, and to set before us the tiny cups of straw-colored +tea and the delicious slices of <i>yokan</i> which +we soon learned was the specialty of the place. +She was glad to have a little gossip as we sipped +and nibbled, telling us many interesting bits of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_467" id="Page_467">[467]</a></span> +folklore about the immediate locality. It was from +her that we learned that the pinnacle of rock that +dominated the village was built by <i>tengu</i> long ago, +though now they were all gone from the woods, +for she had looked for them often at night when +she went out to shut the house, but she had never +seen one,—and even the monkeys were becoming +scarce. She it was, too, who sent us to look for +the mysterious draught of cold air that crossed +the road near the base of the great rock, colder +on hot days than on cool ones, and at all times astonishing,—the +"Tengu's Wind Hole." We +learned through her about the snakes to be found +in the woods, and of the wonderful tonic virtues +of the <i>mamushi</i> (the one poisonous snake of +Japan), if caught and bottled with a sufficient +quantity of <i>saké</i>. The <i>saké</i> may be renewed +again and again, and the longer the snake has +been bottled the more medicinal does it become, +so that one <i>mamushi</i> may, if used perseveringly, +medicate several casks of <i>saké</i>. We had opportunity +later to verify her statements, for we found +at a small grocery store, where we stopped to add +a few delicacies to our somewhat scanty bill of +fare, two snakes, neatly coiled in quart bottles +and pickled in <i>saké</i>, one of which could be obtained +for the sum of seventy-five sen, though the +other, who in his rage at being bottled had buried +his fangs in his own body, commanded a higher<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_468" id="Page_468">[468]</a></span> +price because of his courage. We did not feel in +need of a tonic that day, so left the <i>mamushi</i> on +the grocery shelves, but it is probable that their +disintegrating remains are being industriously +quaffed to-day by some elderly Japanese whose +failing strength demands an unfailing remedy.</p> + +<p>When our little friend had learned of our interest +in snakes, she was on the lookout for snake +stories of all kinds. One day she stopped us as +we came by rather later than usual, hurrying +home before a threatening shower, to tell us that +we ought to have come a little sooner, for the +great black snake who was the messenger of the +god that lived on the mountain had just been by, +and we might have been interested to see him. +She had seen him before, herself, so he was no +novelty to her, but she was sure that the matter +would interest us. Poor little old lady, with her +kindly face and pleasant ways, and her friendly +cracked voice. Her firm belief in all the uncanny +and supernatural things that wiser people +have outgrown brought us face to face with the +childhood of our race, and drew us into sympathy +with a phase of culture in which all nature is +wrapped in inscrutable mystery.</p> + +<h3><a href="#APXanchor_264" name="APX_264" id="APX_264"> +<i>Page</i> 264.</a></h3> + +<p>Each year that passes sees a few more stores +adopting the habit of fixed prices, not to be altered +by haggling.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_469" id="Page_469">[469]</a></span></p> + +<h3><a href="#APXanchor_282" name="APX_282" id="APX_282"> +<i>Page</i> 282.</a></h3> + +<p>On another occasion the good offices of the +fortune-teller were sought concerning a marriage, +and the powerful arranger of human destinies +discovered that though everything else was favorable, +the bride contracted for was to come +from a quarter quite opposed to the luck of the +bridegroom. This was no laughing matter, as +the bride was of a noble family and the breaking +of the engagement would be attended with much +talk and trouble on both sides; but, on the other +hand, the family of the bridegroom dared not face +the danger so mysteriously prophesied by the +fortune-teller. In this predicament, there was +nothing to do but to pull the wool over the eyes +of the gods as best they might. For this purpose +the bride with all her belongings was sent the day +before the wedding from her father's house to that +of an uncle living in another part of the city, and +on the morning of the wedding-day she came to +her husband from a quarter quite favorable to his +fortunes. It seems quite probable that the gods +were taken in by this somewhat transparent subterfuge, +for no serious evil has befallen the young +couple in three years of married life.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_470" id="Page_470">[470]</a></span></p> + +<h3><a href="#APXanchor_317" name="APX_317" id="APX_317"> +<i>Page</i> 317.</a></h3> + +<p>To the American mind this method of terminating +relations is always irritating and frequently +embarrassing, but in Japan any discomfort is to +be endured rather than the slightest suspicion of +bad manners. If the foreign visitor is trying to +learn to be a good Japanese, she must submit +patiently when the servant solemnly engaged +fails to appear at the appointed hour, sending a +letter instead to say that she is ill; or when the +woman upon whom she is depending to travel +with her the next day to the country receives a +telegram calling her to the bedside of a mythical +son, and departs, bag and baggage, at a moment's +notice, leaving her quondam mistress to +shift for herself as best she may.</p> + +<h3><a href="#APXanchor_318" name="APX_318" id="APX_318"> +<i>Page</i> 318.</a></h3> + +<p>Among the many changes that have come over +Japan in the transition from feudalism to the conditions +of modern life, there is none that Japanese +ladies regard with greater regret than the change +in the servant question. As the years go by and +new employments open to women, it becomes increasingly +difficult to engage and keep servants +of the old-time, faithful, intelligent sort. Notwithstanding +increased pay, and the still existing +conditions of considerate treatment, comfortable<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_471" id="Page_471">[471]</a></span> +homes, and light work, it is hard to fill places +vacated, even in noble households: and there is +almost as much shaking of heads and despondent +talk over the servant question in Japan to-day as +there is in America.</p> + +<h3><a href="#APXanchor_322" name="APX_322" id="APX_322"> +<i>Page</i> 322.</a></h3> + +<p>It is interesting to note that it is to the quickness +and courage of a jinrikisha man who interposed +between him and his would-be assassin that +the present Czar of Russia owes his escape from +death at Otsu, near Kyōtō, in 1891.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3><span class="smcap">Footnotes:</span></h3> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_45_45" id="Footnote_45_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> <i>Gohei</i>, a piece of white paper, cut and folded in a peculiar +manner, one of the sacred symbols of the Shintō +faith.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_46_46" id="Footnote_46_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_46"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> <i>Tengu</i>, a winged, long-nosed or beak-mouthed monster, +supposed to inhabit the mountain regions of Japan. +It was from a <i>tengu</i> that Yoshitsune, one of the greatest +of Japanese heroes, learned to fence, and so became a +swordsman of almost miraculous expertness. <i>Oni</i>, a demon +or goblin.</p></div> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_472" id="Page_472">[472]</a></span></p> + +<h2>EPILOGUE.</h2> + +<p><span class="smcap">My</span> task is ended. One half of Japan, +with its virtues and its frailties, its privileges +and its wrongs, has been brought, +so far as my pen can bring it, within the +knowledge of the American public. If, +through this work, one person setting forth +for the Land of the Rising Sun goes better +prepared to comprehend the thoughts, +the needs, and the virtues of the noble, +gentle, self-sacrificing women who make +up one half the population of the Island +Empire, my labor will not have been in +vain.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_473" id="Page_473">[473]</a></span></p> + +<h2>INDEX.</h2> + +<div class="decoline" style="width: 45px;"> +<img src="images/short-line.png" width="45" height="2" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<ul> +<li>Adoption, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>.</li> + +<li>Agility of Japanese, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>.</li> + +<li>Ai, love, <a href="#Page_415">415</a>.</li> + +<li>Amado, sliding wooden shutters used to inclose a Japanese house at night, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>.</li> + +<li>Amulets, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>.</li> + +<li>Andon, a standing lamp inclosed in a paper case, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>.</li> + +<li><a name="Ane_San" id="Ane_San"></a>Ané San, or Né San, elder sister (<i>San</i> the honorific), a title used by the younger children in a family in speaking to their eldest sister, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>.</li> + +<li>Aoyama, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>.</li> + +<li>Apprentices, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>.</li> + +<li>Art in common things, <a href="#Page_237">237-239</a>, <a href="#Page_462">462</a>, <a href="#Page_463">463</a>.</li> + +<li>Artisans, <a href="#Page_235">235-239</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>.</li> +</ul> + +<ul> +<li>Babies, <a href="#Page_1">1-17</a>; +<ul> +<li> bathing, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>;</li> +<li> conditions of life, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>;</li> +<li> dress, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>;</li> +<li> food, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>;</li> +<li> imperial babies, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>;</li> +<li> learning to talk, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>;</li> +<li> learning to walk, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>;</li> +<li> of lower classes, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>;</li> +<li> of middle classes, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>;</li> +<li> of nobility, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>;</li> +<li> skin troubles, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>;</li> +<li> teething, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>;</li> +<li> tied to the back, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>.</li> +</ul></li> + +<li>Baby carriages, <a href="#Page_424">424</a>.</li> + +<li>Baths, public, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>.</li> + +<li>Beauty, Japanese standard of, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>; +<ul><li> early loss of, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>.</li></ul> +</li> + +<li>Bé bé, a child's word for dress, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>.</li> + +<li>Bed, the Empress's, <a href="#Page_446">446</a>.</li> + +<li>Betrothal, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>.</li> + +<li>Bettō, a groom or footman who cares for the horse in the stable and runs +ahead of it on the road, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>.</li> + +<li>Bible, circulation of, in Japan, <a href="#Page_412">412-414</a>.</li> + +<li>Birth, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>.</li> + +<li>Boys, amusements of, <a href="#Page_362">362-370</a>.</li> + +<li>Breakfast, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>.</li> + +<li>Brothels. <a href="#Joroya"><i>See</i> Jōroya.</a></li> + +<li>Buddha's birthday, <a href="#Page_365">365</a>.</li> + +<li>Buddhism, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>; +<ul><li> affected by Christianity, <a href="#Page_417">417-421</a>;</li> +<li> introduction of, <a href="#Page_143">143-145</a>.</li></ul> +</li> + +<li>Buddhist funerals, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a>.</li> + +<li>Buddhist nuns, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>.</li> + +<li>Buddhist priest, story of a, <a href="#Page_418">418-421</a>.</li> + +<li>Building, <a href="#Page_333">333-335</a>.</li> + +<li>Butsudan, the household shrine used by Buddhists, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>.</li> +</ul> + +<ul> +<li>Castles, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>.</li> + +<li>Chadai, literally "tea money," the fee given at an inn, <a href="#Page_251">251-253</a>.</li> + +<li>Cherry blossoms, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>.</li> + +<li>Childhood. <a href="#Girlhood"><i>See</i> Girlhood.</a></li> + +<li>Children, intellectual characteristics of Japanese, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>; +<ul><li> Japanese compared with American, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>.</li></ul> +</li> + +<li>Chinese characters, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>.</li> + +<li>Chinese civilization introduced, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>.</li> + +<li>Chinese code of morals, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>.</li> + +<li>Christian ideas, progress of, <a href="#Page_402">402-421</a>.</li> + +<li>Christianity, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>.</li> + +<li>Christians, Japanese, <a href="#Page_404">404</a>.</li> + +<li>Chrysanthemum, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296-298</a>.</li> + +<li>Civilization, new, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>.</li> + +<li>Clubs, women's, <a href="#Page_391">391</a>.</li> + +<li>Concubinage, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>.</li> + +<li>Confectionery, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>.</li> + +<li>Confucius, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>.</li> + +<li>Constitution, promulgation of the, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>.</li> + +<li>Corea, conquest of, <a href="#Page_139">139-143</a>.</li> + +<li>Country and city, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>.</li> + +<li>Court, after conquest of Corea, <a href="#Page_143">143-146</a>; +<ul><li><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_474" id="Page_474">[474]</a></span> + amusements of, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>;</li> +<li> costumes, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>;</li> +<li> in early times, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>;</li> +<li> ladies, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152-154</a>;</li> +<li> life, <a href="#Page_138">138-168</a>;</li> +<li> of daimiō, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>;</li> +<li> of Shōgun, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>;</li> +<li> removal to Tōkyō, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>.</li></ul> +</li> + +<li>Courtship, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>.</li> + +<li>Crown Prince's wedding, the, <a href="#Page_434">434</a>, <a href="#Page_442">442</a>-<a href="#Page_445">445</a>, <a href="#Page_449">449-453</a>.</li> + +<li>Crucifixion, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>.</li> +</ul> + +<ul> +<li>Daikoku, the money god, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>.</li> + +<li>Dai jobu, "Safe," "All right," <a href="#Page_320">320</a>.</li> + +<li>Daimiō, a member of the landed nobility under the feudal system, <a href="#Page_169">169-195</a>; +<ul><li> his castles, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>;</li> +<li> his courts, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>;</li> +<li> his daughters, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>-<a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192-195</a>;</li> +<li> his journeys to Yedo, <a href="#Page_171">171-173</a>;</li> +<li> his retainers, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177-179</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>;</li> +<li> his wife, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192-195</a>;</li> +<li> seclusion of, <a href="#Page_172">172-174</a>.</li></ul> +</li> + +<li>Dancing, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>.</li> + +<li>Dancing girls. <a href="#Geisha"><i>See</i> Géisha.</a></li> + +<li>Dango Zaka, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>.</li> + +<li>Dashi, a float used in festival processions, <a href="#Page_275">275-278</a>, <a href="#Page_366">366-369</a>.</li> + +<li>Days, lucky and unlucky, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>.</li> + +<li>Decency, Japanese standard of, <a href="#Page_255">255-260</a>.</li> + +<li>Deformity, caused by position in sitting, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>.</li> + +<li>Diet, changes in, <a href="#Page_424">424</a>.</li> + +<li>Divorce, among lower classes, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>; +<ul><li> among higher classes, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>;</li> +<li> effect of recent legislation on, <a href="#Page_374">374</a>, <a href="#Page_439">439</a>;</li> +<li> new laws, <a href="#Page_438">438</a>, <a href="#Page_439">439</a>;</li> +<li> right to children in case of, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_439">439</a>.</li></ul> +</li> + +<li>Dolls, Feast of, <a href="#Page_28">28-31</a>, <a href="#Page_428">428-430</a>; +<ul><li> origin of, <a href="#Page_428">428</a>;</li> +<li> present meaning of, <a href="#Page_430">430</a>.</li></ul> +</li> + +<li>Dress, baby, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>; +<ul><li> court, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>;</li> +<li> in daimiōs' houses, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>;</li> +<li> military, of samurai women, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>;</li> +<li> of lower classes, <a href="#Page_126">126-128</a>;</li> +<li> of pilgrims, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>;</li> +<li> present tendencies, <a href="#Page_457">457</a>;</li> +<li> showing age of wearer, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>.</li></ul> +</li> +</ul> + +<ul> +<li>Education, higher, a doubtful help, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>; +<ul><li> effect on home life, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>;</li> +<li> producing repugnance to marriage, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>.</li></ul> +</li> + +<li>Education of daimiō's daughter, <a href="#Page_177">177-180</a>.</li> + +<li>Education of girls, <a href="#Page_37">37-56</a>; +<ul><li> action and reaction in, <a href="#Page_433">433</a>, <a href="#Page_434">434</a>;</li> +<li> difficulties in new system, <a href="#Page_52">52-56</a>;</li> +<li> fault in Japanese system, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>;</li> +<li> in old times, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>.</li></ul> +</li> + +<li>Embroidered robes, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_456">456</a>.</li> + +<li>Emperor, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151-153</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155-157</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164-166</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>.</li> + +<li>Emperors, after introduction of Chinese civilization, <a href="#Page_143">143-145</a>; +<ul><li> children of, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>;</li> +<li> daughters of, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>;</li> +<li> early retirement of, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>;</li> +<li> in early times, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>;</li> +<li> seclusion of, <a href="#Page_143">143-145</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.</li></ul> +</li> + +<li>Empress, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150-168</a>.</li> + +<li>Empress, Dowager, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</li> + +<li>Engawa, the piazza that runs around a Japanese house, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>.</li> + +<li>Etiquette, court, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>; +<ul><li> in daimiōs' houses, <a href="#Page_177">177-179</a>;</li> +<li> in the home, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>;</li> +<li> instruction in, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>;</li> +<li> of leaving service, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>;</li> +<li> towards servants, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>.</li></ul> +</li> +</ul> + +<ul> +<li>Factory workers, women, <a href="#Footnote_44_44">399 <i>note</i></a>.</li> + +<li>Fairy tales, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>.</li> + +<li>Family, organization of, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_439">439-442</a>.</li> + +<li>Fancy work, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>.</li> + +<li>Father's relation to children, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>.</li> + +<li>Feast of Flags, <a href="#Page_363">363</a>, <a href="#Page_364">364</a>; +<ul><li> of Lanterns, <a href="#Page_358">358-362</a>;</li> +<li> of the Dead, <a href="#Page_358">358-362</a>;</li> +<li> of Dolls, <a href="#Page_28">28-31</a>, <a href="#Page_428">428-430</a>.</li></ul> +</li> + +<li>Festivals, of flowers, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295-297</a>; +<ul><li> of the New Year, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_349">349-358</a>;</li> +<li> temple, <a href="#Page_270">270-278</a>, <a href="#Page_364">364-370</a>.</li></ul> +</li> + +<li>Feudal system, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.</li> + +<li>Feudal times, pictures of, <a href="#Page_190">190-192</a>; +<ul><li> stories of, <a href="#Page_184">184-187</a>.</li></ul> +</li> + +<li>Firemen, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>.</li> + +<li>Flirtation, unknown to Japanese girls, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>.</li> + +<li>Flower arrangement, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>.</li> + +<li>Flower painting, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_432">432</a>.</li> + +<li>Flower shows, <a href="#Page_270">270-272</a>.</li> + +<li>Fortune-telling, <a href="#Page_281">281-285</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331-333</a>, <a href="#Page_470">470</a>.</li> + +<li>Fuji, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>.</li> + +<li>Fukuzawa, his book on the woman question, <a href="#Page_387">387-391</a>; +<ul><li><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_475" id="Page_475">[475]</a></span> +his will, <a href="#Page_345">345</a>.</li></ul> +</li> + +<li>Funeral customs, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339-349</a>.</li> + +<li>Furushiki, a square of cloth used for wrapping up a bundle, <a href="#Page_354">354</a>.</li> +</ul> + +<ul> +<li>Games, battledore and shuttlecock, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>; +<ul><li> at court, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>;</li> +<li> go, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>;</li> +<li> hyaku nin isshu, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>;</li> +<li> shogi, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>.</li></ul> +</li> + +<li><a name="Geisha" id="Geisha"></a>Géisha, a professional dancing and singing girl, <a href="#Page_286">286-289</a>.</li> + +<li>Géisha ya, an establishment where géishas may be hired, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>.</li> + +<li>Géta, a wooden clog, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>.</li> + +<li>Ginza, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>.</li> + +<li><a name="Girlhood" id="Girlhood"></a>Girlhood, <a href="#Page_17">17-34</a>.</li> + +<li>Gohei, a piece of white paper folded and cut in a peculiar manner, one of the sacred symbols of the Shintō faith, <a href="#Page_464">464</a>.</li> +</ul> + +<ul> +<li>Hakama, the kilt-pleated trousers that formed a part of the dress of +every Japanese gentleman, also the skirt worn by school-girls over the +kimono, <a href="#Page_433">433</a>, <a href="#Page_456">456</a>.</li> + +<li>Haori, a coat of cotton, silk, or crêpe, worn over the kimono, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>.</li> + +<li>Hara-kiri, suicide by stabbing in the abdomen, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>.</li> + +<li>Haru, Prince, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_442">442-444</a>, <a href="#Page_446">446-452</a>.</li> + +<li>Haru, Empress, <a href="#Page_155">155-168</a>.</li> + +<li>Héimin, the class of farmers, artisans, and merchants, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>; +<ul><li> class characteristics of, <a href="#Page_229">229-240</a>, <a href="#Page_464">464-468</a>.</li></ul> +</li> + +<li>Hibachi, a brazier for burning charcoal, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>.</li> + +<li>Hidéyoshi. <a href="#Toyotomi"><i>See</i> Toyotomi.</a></li> + +<li>Hinin, a class of paupers, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>.</li> + +<li>Hiyéi Zan, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>.</li> + +<li>Holidays, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>.</li> + +<li>Hotel-keepers, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>.</li> + +<li>Hotels, <a href="#Page_247">247-250</a>.</li> + +<li>Household duties, training for, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>.</li> + +<li>Household worship, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>.</li> + +<li>Hyaku nin isshu, "Poems of a Hundred Poets," the name of a game, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>.</li> +</ul> + +<ul> +<li>Inkyo, a place of retirement, the home of a person who has retired from +active life, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>.</li> + +<li><a name="Instruction" id="Instruction"></a>Instruction, in etiquette, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>; +<ul><li> in flower arranging, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>;</li> +<li> in music, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_431">431</a>;</li> +<li> in painting, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_432">432</a>;</li> +<li> in reading and writing, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>;</li> +<li> in tea ceremony, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>.</li></ul> +</li> + +<li>Inu, a dog, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>.</li> + +<li>Isé, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>.</li> + +<li>Iwafuji, <a href="#Page_210">210-213</a>.</li> + +<li>Iwakura, Prince, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>.</li> + +<li>Iya, a child's word, denoting dislike or negation, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>.</li> + +<li>Iyémitsŭ, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>.</li> + +<li>Iyéyasŭ, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.</li> +</ul> + +<ul> +<li>Japan-China war, <a href="#Page_458">458-462</a>.</li> + +<li>Japanese language, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>.</li> + +<li>Japanese literature, <a href="#Page_147">147-150</a>.</li> + +<li>Jimmu Tenno, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>.</li> + +<li>Jin, benevolence, <a href="#Page_415">415</a>.</li> + +<li>Jingo Kōgō, <a href="#Page_139">139-143</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>.</li> + +<li><a name="Jinrikisha" id="Jinrikisha"></a>Jinrikisha, a light carriage drawn by one or more men, and which will +hold one or two persons, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>.</li> + +<li><a name="Jinrikisha_man" id="Jinrikisha_man"></a>Jinrikisha man, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319-324</a>, <a href="#Page_473">473</a>.</li> + +<li>Jishi, mercy, <a href="#Page_415">415</a>.</li> + +<li><a name="Joro" id="Joro"></a>Jōrō, a prostitute, <a href="#Page_289">289-292</a>, <a href="#Page_406">406-411</a>.</li> + +<li><a name="Joroya" id="Joroya"></a>Jōroya, a house of prostitution, <a href="#Page_290">290-292</a>, <a href="#Page_406">406-411</a>.</li> +</ul> + +<ul> +<li>Kaibara's "Great Learning of Women," <a href="#Page_387">387</a>, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>, <a href="#Page_391">391</a>.</li> + +<li>Kakémono, a hanging scroll, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.</li> + +<li>Kaméido, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>.</li> + +<li>Kami-dana, "god-shelf," the household shrine used by Shintō worshippers, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>.</li> + +<li>Kana, Japanese phonetic characters, <a href="#Footnote_8_8">40 <i>note</i></a>, <a href="#Page_430">430</a>.</li> + +<li>Katsuobushi, a kind of dried fish, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>.</li> + +<li>Kimono, a long gown with wide sleeves and open in front, worn by Japanese of all classes, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>.</li> + +<li>Kisses, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>.</li> + +<li>Knees, flexibility of, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>.</li> + +<li>Kotatsu, a charcoal fire in a brazier or small fireplace in the floor, over which a wooden frame is set, and the whole covered by a quilt, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>.</li> + +<li><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_476" id="Page_476">[476]</a></span> +Koto, a musical instrument, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>.</li> + +<li>Kugé, the court nobility, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>.</li> + +<li>Kura, a fire-proof storehouse, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>.</li> + +<li>Kuruma, a wheeled vehicle of any kind, used as synonymous with <a href="#Jinrikisha">jinrikisha</a>.</li> + +<li>Kurumaya, one who pulls a kuruma. <a href="#Jinrikisha_man"><i>See</i> Jinrikisha man.</a></li> + +<li>Kurushima, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>.</li> + +<li>Kyōtō, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>.</li> +</ul> + +<ul> +<li>Ladies, court, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152-154</a>; +<ul><li> of daimiōs' families, <a href="#Page_175">175-180</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182-184</a>.</li></ul> +</li> + +<li>Loyalty, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>-<a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302-304</a>.</li> +</ul> + +<ul> +<li>Mam ma, a baby's word for rice or food, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>.</li> + +<li>Mamushi, a poisonous snake, <a href="#Page_467">467</a>, <a href="#Page_468">468</a>.</li> + +<li>Manners of children, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>.</li> + +<li>Manzai, exorcists who drive devils out of the houses at New Year's time, <a href="#Page_357">357</a>.</li> + +<li><a name="Marriage" id="Marriage"></a>Marriage, <a href="#Page_57">57-83</a>; +<ul><li> ceremony, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_435">435</a>, <a href="#Page_436">436</a>;</li> +<li> feast, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>;</li> +<li> festivities after, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_437">437</a>;</li> +<li> guests, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>;</li> +<li> presents, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_435">435</a>;</li> +<li> registration, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>;</li> +<li> to yōshi, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>;</li> +<li> trousseau, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_436">436</a>.</li></ul> +</li> + +<li>Marumagé, a style of arranging the hair of married ladies, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>.</li> + +<li>Matsuri, a festival, usually in honor of some god, <a href="#Page_274">274-278</a>, <a href="#Page_366">366-370</a>.</li> + +<li>Matsuri, Shobu, feast of flags, <a href="#Page_363">363</a>, <a href="#Page_364">364</a>.</li> + +<li>Méiji (Enlightened Rule), the name of the era that began with the +accession of the present Emperor in 1868, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>.</li> + +<li>Mékaké, a concubine, <a href="#Page_111">111-114</a>.</li> + +<li>Men, old, dependence of, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>; +<ul><li> amusements of, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>.</li></ul> +</li> + +<li>Merchants, <a href="#Page_262">262-269</a>, <a href="#Page_469">469</a>.</li> + +<li>Military service of women, <a href="#Page_188">188-190</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>.</li> + +<li>Missionary schools, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>.</li> + +<li>Miya mairi, the presentation of the child at the temple when it is a +month old. The term is also used to describe the visits to the temple at +the ages of three, five, and seven, <a href="#Page_3">3-6</a>, <a href="#Page_425">425-427</a>.</li> + +<li>Mochi, a kind of rice dumpling, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_352">352</a>, <a href="#Page_353">353</a>.</li> + +<li>Momotaro, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>.</li> + +<li>Mon, a family crest, <a href="#Page_366">366</a>.</li> + +<li>Montsuki, a kimono bearing the crest of the wearer, <a href="#Page_457">457</a>.</li> + +<li>Morality, standards of, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>.</li> + +<li>Mother, her relation to her children, <a href="#Page_99">99-102</a>.</li> + +<li>Mother-in-law, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>; +<ul><li> O Kiku's, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>.</li></ul> +</li> + +<li>Moving, <a href="#Page_335">335-337</a>.</li> + +<li>Mukōjima, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>.</li> + +<li>Music, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_430">430-432</a>.</li> +</ul> + +<ul> +<li>Names, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_423">423</a>.</li> + +<li>Nara, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.</li> + +<li>Né San. <a href="#Ane_San"><i>See</i> Ané San.</a></li> + +<li>New Year, preparation for, <a href="#Page_349">349-356</a>; +<ul><li> festival of, <a href="#Page_25">25-27</a>, <a href="#Page_356">356-358</a>.</li></ul> +</li> + +<li>Nikkō, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>.</li> + +<li>No, a pantomimic dance, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>.</li> + +<li>Norimono, a palanquin, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>.</li> + +<li>Noshi, a bit of dried fish, usually folded in colored paper, given with +a present for good luck, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>.</li> + +<li>Nurses, trained, <a href="#Page_398">398</a>.</li> + +<li>Nursing the sick, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>.</li> +</ul> + +<ul> +<li>O, an honorific used before many nouns, and before most names of women, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>.</li> + +<li>O Bā San, grandmother, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>.</li> + +<li>O Bă San, aunt, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>.</li> + +<li>Obi, a girdle or sash, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_435">435</a>.</li> + +<li>O Bon, the feast of the dead, <a href="#Page_358">358-362</a>.</li> + +<li>Occupations, of the blind, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>; +<ul><li> of the court, <a href="#Page_143">143-150</a>;</li> +<li> of the daimiōs' ladies, <a href="#Page_175">175-180</a>;</li> +<li> of the Empress, <a href="#Page_156">156-160</a>;</li> +<li> of old people, <a href="#Page_120">120-122</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124-128</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>;</li> +<li> of samurai women, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>;</li> +<li> of servants, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308-315</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>;</li> +<li> of women, <a href="#Page_85">85-103</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108-110</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242-256</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279-292</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_310">310-318</a>, <a href="#Page_397">397-402</a>;</li> +<li> of young girls, <a href="#Page_21">21-34</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38-47</a>.</li></ul> +</li> + +<li>O Haru, <a href="#Page_211">211-213</a>.</li> + +<li>Oishi, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>.</li> + +<li>Oji, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>.</li> + +<li>O Jō Sama, young lady, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>.</li> + +<li><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_477" id="Page_477">[477]</a></span> +O kaeri, "Honorable return," a greeting shouted by the attendant upon +the master's or mistress's return to the house, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>.</li> + +<li>O Kaio, <a href="#Page_324">324-326</a>.</li> + +<li>O Kiku's marriage and divorce, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>.</li> + +<li>Okuma, Count, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>; +<ul><li> his speech on education, <a href="#Page_382">382</a>.</li></ul> +</li> + +<li>Old age, privileges of, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>; +<ul><li> provision for, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>.</li></ul> +</li> + +<li>Old men, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>.</li> + +<li>O miyagé, a present given on returning from a journey or pleasure excursion, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>.</li> + +<li>Oni, a devil or goblin, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_466">466</a>.</li> + +<li>Onoyé, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>.</li> +</ul> + +<ul> +<li>Palace, new, <a href="#Page_151">151-153</a>.</li> + +<li>Parents, duties to, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>; +<ul><li> respect for, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>;</li> +<li> disadvantages in Japanese system, <a href="#Page_445">445</a>.</li></ul> +</li> + +<li>Parents-in-law, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>.</li> + +<li>Peasant women, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240-261</a>.</li> + +<li>Peasantry, <a href="#Page_228">228-240</a>.</li> + +<li>Philanthropic efforts, <a href="#Page_415">415-417</a>, <a href="#Page_418">418-421</a>.</li> + +<li>Physical culture in schools, <a href="#Page_433">433</a>, <a href="#Page_453">453-456</a>.</li> + +<li>Physicians' fees, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>.</li> + +<li>Pilgrims, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>.</li> + +<li>Pillow, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>.</li> + +<li>Pleasure excursions, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>.</li> + +<li>"Poems of a hundred poets," <a href="#Page_26">26</a>.</li> + +<li>Poetry, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148-150</a>.</li> + +<li>Presents, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>; +<ul><li> after a wedding, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>;</li> +<li> at betrothal, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_435">435</a>;</li> +<li> at miya mairi, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>;</li> +<li> at New Year's, <a href="#Page_353">353-355</a>;</li> +<li> at O Bon, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>;</li> +<li> at weddings, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>;</li> +<li> how wrapped, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>;</li> +<li> in honor of a birth, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>;</li> +<li> of eggs, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>;</li> +<li> of money, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>;</li> +<li> on returning from a journey, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>;</li> +<li> to servants, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>.</li></ul> +</li> + +<li>Prisoners' Home in Tōkyō, <a href="#Page_413">413</a>.</li> + +<li>Prostitutes. <a href="#Joro"><i>See</i> Jōrō.</a></li> + +<li>Prostitution, houses of. <a href="#Joroya"><i>See</i> Jōroya.</a></li> + +<li>Purity of Japanese women, <a href="#Page_216">216-219</a>.</li> +</ul> + +<ul> +<li>Reading of women, <a href="#Page_385">385-387</a>.</li> + +<li>Red Cross Society, <a href="#Page_398">398</a>, <a href="#Page_416">416</a>.</li> + +<li>Religion of peasantry, <a href="#Page_464">464-466</a>.</li> + +<li>Retirement from business, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>.</li> + +<li>Retirement of Emperors, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>.</li> + +<li>Revenge, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210-214</a>.</li> + +<li>Revolution of 1868, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>.</li> + +<li>Rice, red bean, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>.</li> + +<li>Rin, one tenth of a sen, or about one half mill, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>.</li> + +<li>Rōnin, a samurai who had lost his master and owed no allegiance to any +daimiō, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>.</li> +</ul> + +<ul> +<li>Sada, Princess, <a href="#Page_449">449-453</a>.</li> + +<li>Sakaki, the Cleyera Japonica, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>.</li> + +<li>Saké, wine made from rice, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>; +<ul><li> white, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>.</li></ul> +</li> + +<li>Salvation Army's attack on jōroya, <a href="#Page_408">408-411</a>.</li> + +<li>Sama, or San, an honorific placed after names, equivalent to Mr., Mrs., or Miss, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>.</li> + +<li>Samisen, a musical instrument, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>.</li> + +<li>Samurai, the military class, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196-227</a>, +<a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>; +<ul><li> character of, <a href="#Page_197">197-207</a>.</li></ul> +</li> + +<li>Samurai girls in school, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>.</li> + +<li>Samurai women, character of, <a href="#Page_207">207-223</a>, <a href="#Page_458">458-460</a>; +<ul><li> present work, <a href="#Page_223">223-327</a>.</li></ul> +</li> + +<li>Satsuma rebellion, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>.</li> + +<li>School system, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_378">378-381</a>; +<ul><li> object of, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>;</li> +<li> statistics of, <a href="#Page_380">380</a>.</li></ul> +</li> + +<li>School, Girls', for Higher English, <a href="#Page_383">383-385</a>; +<ul><li> Mr. Naruse's Female University, <a href="#Page_381">381-383</a>.</li></ul> +</li> + +<li>Schools, missionary, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>.</li> + +<li>Self-possession of Japanese girls, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>.</li> + +<li>Self-sacrifice, <a href="#Page_214">214-219</a>.</li> + +<li>Sen, one hundredth part of a yen, value about five mills, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>.</li> + +<li>Servants, characteristics of, <a href="#Page_209">209-302</a>; +<ul><li> duties of, <a href="#Page_302">302-315</a>;</li> +<li> in employ of foreigners, <a href="#Page_299">299-302</a>;</li> +<li> number employed, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>;</li> +<li> position of, <a href="#Page_302">302-310</a>;</li> +<li> wages, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>.</li></ul> +</li> + +<li>Sewing, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>.</li> + +<li>Shirōzaké, a sweet white saké used at the feast of dolls, <a href="#Page_427">427</a>.</li> + +<li>Shogi, Japanese chess, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>.</li> + +<li>Shōgun, or Tycoon, the Viceroy or so-called temporal ruler of Japan +under the feudal system, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, +<a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231-234</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>; +<ul><li><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_478" id="Page_478">[478]</a></span> +daughter of, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>.</li></ul> +</li> + +<li>Shōgunate, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>.</li> + +<li>Shoji, sliding windows covered with white paper, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>.</li> + +<li>Shopping, <a href="#Page_264">264-268</a>.</li> + +<li>Sho-séi, a student, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>.</li> + +<li>Silk mosaic, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>.</li> + +<li>Silkworms, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>.</li> + +<li>Soba, a kind of macaroni made of buckwheat, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>.</li> + +<li>Soroban, an abacus, <a href="#Page_266">266-268</a>.</li> + +<li>Sumida River, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>.</li> +</ul> + +<ul> +<li>Tabi, a mitten-like sock, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>.</li> + +<li>Ta ta, a baby's word for sock or tabi, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>.</li> + +<li>Taiko Sama. <a href="#Toyotomi"><i>See</i> Toyotomi.</a></li> + +<li>Tea, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>; +<ul><li> ceremonial, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_432">432</a>.</li></ul> +</li> + +<li>Tea-gardens, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.</li> + +<li>Tea-houses, <a href="#Page_250">250-255</a>.</li> + +<li>Teachers, pay of, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>; +<ul><li> women as, <a href="#Page_398">398</a>.</li></ul> +</li> + +<li>Teaching. <a href="#Instruction"><i>See</i> Instruction.</a></li> + +<li>Teeth, blackened after marriage, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>.</li> + +<li>Temple, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>.</li> + +<li>Tengu, a monster in Japanese folklore, <a href="#Page_466">466</a>, <a href="#Page_468">468</a>.</li> + +<li>Theatre, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292-294</a>.</li> + +<li>Titles used in families, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>.</li> + +<li>Toes, prehensile, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.</li> + +<li>Toilet apparatus, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>.</li> + +<li>Tōkaidō, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>.</li> + +<li>Tokonoma, the raised alcove in a Japanese room, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>.</li> + +<li>Tokugawa, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>.</li> + +<li><a name="Tokyo" id="Tokyo"></a>Tōkyō, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69-71</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>.</li> + +<li>Tōkyō Mail, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>.</li> + +<li>Tombs, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>.</li> + +<li><a name="Toyotomi" id="Toyotomi"></a>Toyotomi Hidéyoshi, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>.</li> + +<li>Training-schools for nurses, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_398">398</a>.</li> + +<li>Trousseau, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_436">436</a>.</li> + +<li>Tsuda, Miss Umé, <a href="#Page_viii">viii</a>, <a href="#Page_458">458</a>.</li> +</ul> + +<ul> +<li>Utsunomiya, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>.</li> + +<li>Uyéno Park, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>.</li> +</ul> + +<ul> +<li>Virtue, Japanese and Western ideas of, <a href="#Page_215">215-219</a>.</li> + +<li>Visits, after marriage, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>; +<ul><li> in honor of a birth, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>;</li> +<li> New Year's, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>;</li> +<li> to a house of mourning, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>;</li> +<li> to parents, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>;</li> +<li> to tombs, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>.</li></ul> +</li> + +<li>Voice in singing, <a href="#Page_430">430-432</a>.</li> +</ul> + +<ul> +<li>Wakamatsu, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_457">457</a>.</li> + +<li>Wedding. <a href="#Marriage"><i>See</i> Marriage.</a></li> + +<li>Widows, childless, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>.</li> + +<li>Wife, childless, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>; +<ul><li> duties of, <a href="#Page_85">85-99</a>;</li> +<li> in great houses, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>;</li> +<li> relation to husband, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>;</li> +<li> relation to parents-in-law, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>;</li> +<li> social relations, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>.</li></ul> +</li> + +<li>Woman question, new feeling about, <a href="#Page_371">371-373</a>.</li> + +<li>Women, general reading of, <a href="#Page_386">386</a>; +<ul><li> in the city, <a href="#Page_279">279-298</a>;</li> +<li> new openings for, <a href="#Page_397">397-402</a>;</li> +<li> occupations of, <a href="#Page_85">85-103</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108-110</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242-256</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279-292</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_310">310-318</a>, +<a href="#Page_397">397-402</a>;</li> +<li> position of, <a href="#Page_17">17-22</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65-68</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76-88</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99-118</a>, +<a href="#Page_120">120-124</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216-219</a>, +<a href="#Page_223">223-227</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242-247</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_371">371-378</a>, <a href="#Page_438">438-440</a>;</li> +<li>property rights of, <a href="#Page_374">374-378</a>;</li> +<li> publications for, <a href="#Page_385">385-391</a>;</li> +<li> purity of, <a href="#Page_216">216-219</a>;</li> +<li> the new woman in old surroundings, <a href="#Page_392">392-397</a>.</li></ul> +</li> + +<li>Women, old, appearance of, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>; +<ul><li> examples of, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126-129</a>, <a href="#Page_467">467-469</a>;</li> +<li> in Japanese pictures, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>.</li></ul> +</li> + +<li>Written language, proposed reforms in, <a href="#Page_430">430</a>.</li> +</ul> + +<ul> +<li>Yamato Daké, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>.</li> + +<li>Yasaku, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>; +<ul><li> marriage and divorce of, <a href="#Page_69">69-73</a>.</li></ul> +</li> + +<li>Yasé, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>.</li> + +<li>Yashiki, a daimiō's mansion and grounds, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, +<a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>.</li> + +<li>Yedo. <a href="#Tokyo"><i>See</i> Tōkyō.</a></li> + +<li>Yōshi, an adopted son, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>.</li> + +<li>Yoshiwara, a district in Tōkyō given over to disreputable houses, <a href="#Page_409">409</a>.</li> +</ul> + +<ul> +<li>Zodiac, Chinese signs of the, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>.</li> + +<li>Zori, a straw sandal, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>.</li> +</ul> + +<div class="tn"> +<h2>Transcriber's Note:</h2> + +<p>Except where index entries and the body of the text did not match, +irregularities in hyphenation (e.g. kwankoba and kwan-ko-ba), italics, +and spellings (e.g. vendors and venders) have not been changed. Except +where noted below, inconsistent accents (e.g. jōroya vs. jōrōya) have +been retained.</p> + +<p>The following corrections and changes were made:</p> + +<ul> +<li><a href="#Page_120">p. 120</a>: marumage to marumagé (The <i>marumagé</i>, the style of headdress of +married ladies)</li> +<li><a href="#Page_175">p. 175</a>: daimios' to daimiōs' (and daimiōs' houses)</li> +<li><a href="#Page_351">p. 351</a>: kakemonos to kakémonos (the kakémonos and curios)</li> +<li><a href="#Page_383">p. 383</a>: Meiji to Méiji (thirty-fourth year of Méiji)</li> +<li><a href="#Page_427">p. 427</a>: miyage to miyagé (the <i>o miyagé</i> to be purchased)</li> +<li><a href="#Page_428">p. 428</a>: shirozaké to shirōzaké (The <i>shirōzaké</i> (white <i>saké</i>))</li> +<li><a href="#Page_429">p. 429</a>: accents added to Shōguns, Shōgun's, and Shōgunate</li> +<li><a href="#Page_437">p. 437</a>: oufit to outfit (But this outfit)</li> +<li><a href="#Page_440">p. 440</a>: heimin to héimin (<i>héimin</i>, or plebeian)</li> +<li><a href="#Page_473">p. 473</a>: Bé-bé to Bé bé (Index entry)</li> +<li><a href="#Page_475">p. 475</a>: Index entry for "Girlhood, 17-34." added (Index entry +"Childhood. <i>See</i> Girlhood." originally pointed to non-existent entry)</li> +<li><a href="#Page_475">p. 475</a>: Iyemitsŭ to Iyémitsŭ (Index entry)</li> +<li><a href="#Page_475">p. 475</a>: Iyeyasŭ to Iyéyasŭ (Index entry)</li> +<li><a href="#Page_476">p. 476</a>: fireproof to fire-proof (Index: Kura, a fire-proof storehouse)</li> +<li><a href="#Page_476">p. 476</a>: Jo to Jō (Index: O Jō Sama, young lady)</li> +<li><a href="#Page_477">p. 477</a>: Onouyé to Onoyé (Index entry)</li> +<li><a href="#Page_478">p. 478</a>: folk-lore to folklore (Index: Tengu, a monster in Japanese +folklore)</li> +</ul> +</div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Japanese Girls and Women, by Alice Mabel Bacon + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JAPANESE GIRLS AND WOMEN *** + +***** This file should be named 32449-h.htm or 32449-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/2/4/4/32449/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, S.D., and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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