IN OLD JAPAN

Evening Star, Issue 18543, 28 January 1924, Page 5

IN OLD JAPAN

PRIHGE BEGEUT MARRIED. PICTURESQUE CEREMONIES. Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright. TOKIO, January 26. Prince Hirohito was married this morning to Princess Nagako in the secret precincts of tho Imperial Palace, according to the ancient marriage ritual. The spirits of 122 Royal predecessors _ witnessed the union, and gave their blessings to tho Royal pair kneeling before the Shinto altar, , A remarkable procession occurred immediately before the ceremony, the bridal pair, the Royal Family, _ and members of the household engaging m_a curious slow movement towards tho shrine, lasting two hours, while sacred musicians set the time with clappers. Tho ceremony itself was brief. Tho bride carried a fan of gilded wood, with which she touched all things. Prince Hirohito was accompanied by a soeptxo and crown. The Royall couple excliangod bowls of rice and wine after tho ancient custom.

Tremendous crowds greeted tho pair before and after the wedding. Elaborate precautions were taken to miard against any untoward incident, 10,000 soldiers and police lining the route. A salute of 101 guns announced tho completion of tho ceremony, and after the wedding luncheon tho Royal couple led a triumphal procession from the Palace to Amasaka, which has been appointed as their temporary residence. Tho couple will receive tho diplomatic corps on Tuesday, and will visit the Emperor and Empress on Sunday to report their wedding. The public celebration has been postponed owing to tho country’s mourning in connection with tho earthquake. The groom wore a simple dross suit covered by a red cloak with embroideries, and the bride wore a dazzling kimono of purple and scarlet silk, with a chrysantnenmm crest, embroidered, and four outer garments of silk, each more magnificent than the other.—A. a-ndl A.Z. Cable. CELEBRATIONS IN SYDNEY. Australian and N.Z. Press Association. SYDNEY, January 26. The Japanese Royal wedding was celebrated by tho Japanese warships in harbor. They wore decorated with bunting, and fired a Royal salute. THE FUTURE EMPRESS, Tlie Princess Nagailo, the future Empress of Japan, has had a democratic training. Despite the fact that her father is a Prince o! the blood, with a high place in the Imperial Family, and her mother a noblewoman of tho mighty Satsuma clan, her early years were passed in a very humble dwelling in Tokio, a tenroom house sheltering a family of nine persons. Tlitl young Princess in whom the affections of the nation are now being centred was born in 1903, at a time when the clouds of, the approaching RussoJapanese War were darkening every home in Japan. Her father, the Imperial Prince Knni, then a major in the Japanese army, was busy with his military duties, and before his little daughter had celebrated her first birthday ho marched away to the war with his regiment. For nearly two years father and daughter saw nothing of each other, and tho solo care of tho child devolved upon tho mother, the Princess Chika, daughter of the feudal lord of Satsuma.

In January, 1918, Baron Hatano, one of the high and solemn functionaries of tho Imperial Court, journeyed in state from Tokio to the home of Prince Kum on a then unsuspected mission, now known to have been the conveyance of the Imperial wish that the Princess Nagako bo considered as tho future bride of the Imperial heir, then in his eighteenth year. This, naturally, brought about a great change in tho heretofore simple life of the young maiden, and her studies were turned into channels to fit her best for tho great position she is to occupy. It also, later, brought her into the swirl of Court politics and clan intrigue, those mighty ones who feared the supremacy of tho Satsuma influence in the Imperial circle offering objection to tho marriage. One of these was Prince Yamagata, head of the Chosu clan, and so close to the throne that by many he was credited with being tho real ruler of the land. As their reason fur opposing this marriage, it was stated that they had learned that the aunt of die young Princess, the sister of Princess Chika, was blind in one eye; therefore the family blood was a shade imperfect, but a shade that should prevent such blood becoming that of future Sons of Heaven. Japan was divided over this question, and there was a tremendous struggle under the surface. Yamagata was defeated, and offered to surrender all his powers, titles, and honors, an offer which was refused, leaving this still great man a power until hia recent death.

The Imperial bride, while accomplished along purely Japanese lines, with a deep knowledge of Chinese classics, Japanese music and poetry, and the highly polished etiquette required of one in court circles, is also accomplished along modern lines. .She is an expert typist, and an amateur photographer.