Traveller.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 379, 13 August 1903, Page 2

Traveller.

ODD CUSTOMS IN JA%N. ypu-fver< the sort of IrtSeifyour ', Utitiw #ters aoross, IfflSffik fcne ocean are ' leadingf"""Thej games play, the schools they go to, their dresses, and, in fact, their whole lives are just enough different from your own to be interestine to you. %/"■ Little girls are treated much better»ia~ -J&pan than i% China, for in Japan they ? lre o^nsiderSdvjqst'aaSgood as boys, and arelbved jusfcas mucn by their parents as boys are. When a child is born a fest»Vßj i ia;helddnatß'"honou i presents, are gWen td'itt One present ; that is' blways given is some flax thread,' and this Ttfg hffleirthat* Ifte w peraon«»whe*-gi"»e»*ife' wishes him or her a long life. Up to the 11th month the child's head is kept closely shaven, but on the 11th day of "the and the child's head is shaved only in spots. From this time on, until t&e child is 5 years old, the head is shaved in places, but from .then on the hair is allowed to-grow alt bver the head. When it gets long enough it is braided, and for pieces.of bright colored crepe are braided'with it. There is, a., different style of hair dressing for evfery age almost, so that by looking at a Japanese child's head you can tell its age almoßtata glance.si ' (; .,..... v. Both boys and girls wear kimonos, the difference being ouly in the fulness of the ,garments~and tire-length- of-the sleevea. The girl's kimono is fuller than jshe boy's,and its sleeves much longer, sometimes even touching:-.the.. gJCOnnd. ;In cold weather they both wear jackets and tlong, fell trousers, and on exbremely cohLdays they have' their kimonos thickly wadded. Among the nobles the children'wear the undgrgarmento ; all .the time, 'Ther> is also a coat called habi'i, which they jwear over the kimono, and which differs from that only in being shorter and being a'lowed to hang loose. The little children jto&O. 6 *!^? B^ o^^!*9 and these are made wider~a¥they grow— older r until ; aometimes: they are a foot wide. jThe r girls wear long sashes with big.-butterfly bows, whiah are pinned to their shoulders, The boys have smaller sashes. In place, of hats the girls wear parasols, and for rainy weather they have oilskin coats and umbrellas., >They also carry a large flat fan. while the boys carry a folding fan.

:;, They wear socks and clogs, on their feet, but the cjpga are never worn iEdoors. When they enter a house they leave their clogs on the piazza. Girls are" named just- as- the boys are and are s usually given names of a flower or else of something dear to their parents. Kiku, meaning, chrysanthemum, is one of the favourite names' 'vWben you want »youngUady,yQu put the prefix 'o' and the suffix 'San' to her name '—thus 0-Kiku-San mean&:.Mißs;Chrysantbemum.u;. .. ~ ..... , Children are not sent to Bchool until they are .seven years old, and.then they are not forced intheir studies,'but are allowed to go as fast as they can. They used to eife on the floor resting "pn their heels, but for quite a good, many years they have used desk and benches just as we- do here. hj The children think that they are very uncomfortable, though, and are glad to get back where they can sit on the floor, as they prefer. The childreh >; recite ,in concert, which would seem; very funny, indeed to us. They learn something called the Irpha, which,corresponds, very nearly to h pur alphatyetr They' use, hpweTer, our sighs for counting—that ie',l> % 3, etc.— as they were quick to^ee-theadvantageof 'these their own, clumsy, numerical signs. CChartß arid alj&seen \iL the schoolroom, and blackboards, top. Their "writing iiVery different from ours" and very much more difficulti. use soft paper-and a i; brush j .even their ink is different. It is an Indian ink, and theminute it touches the paper it is absorbed, so thstitirrisceesa'ry'to beveryiffccurate about their writing, asa stroke once mad 6 cannot be changed. They hold the paper in one hand and the brush in the other,; and when -writing the' whole arm is in; motion, riot onlyat the wrist, but at the elbow and shoulder aa well. This free, swing of the arm and the,accuracy needed in writing is bo doubt one of the reasons tbat Japanese people are so artistic. ■ In summer a, bell is rung as early as 7 o'clock 'to call-the -children to school, As.in small villages every one lives on one long street, with the houses on both sides, it doesn't takevery Ion? the children to assemble. They" are kept" in school until 12 o'clock. . ■,-.,- ~ .. J■£;vtei?s turinyf story |s J told I about a certain college "in Japan Which a number of years ago decided: to adopt some Western ideas of; living, /jThpj stopped the use of chopsticks for eating purposes and substituted in their place knives and forks. They also ordered beds. When; the beds came there were' no mattresses with them, and so the students had to sleep on the slats with only a rug over them.., It was several weeks before the mistake was found out; but think what the poor students must have suffered in the meantime P ■'■■■>

Tbo little children playjust about the game games that, English children do. Their favourite games are dolls, flying kites, dressing. up, playing house acting (in a very email way) ,-The little girls play with the' boys more' than they do here. The favourite game is battledore and shuttlecock, which not only the children, but the whole family, play, and if anyone allows the shuttlecock to fall to the ground, either all the ,rest run up to him and hit him, with their bats or else they paint strange patterns on his face with their brush and Indian ink: