JAPANESE FAMILY LIFE

Greymouth Evening Star, 6 September 1938, Page 5

JAPANESE FAMILY LIFE

QUAINT CEREMONIAL. Japanese rarely entertain aliens in their homes. They are somewhat sensitive about differences in tastes and customs and prefer to invite foreign friends and acquaintances to some neutral place, such as a club, or restaurant, whether foreign style or Japanese (writes W.IT.C. in the Christian Science Monitor). This fact made all the more welcome an invita-; lion to tea and dinner at. the home J of the hospitable Mr W., a leading! Kyoto silk manufacturer, who is also; a keen amateur gardener and con-j noisseur of Japanese art. i As we drove up to the house al J the appointed time .in the afternoon we found our host and hostess, with I their eldest son, daughter, danghte”-i in-law. and a retinue of servants, wait-j ing for us at the entrance and bowing to the ground in old-fashioned; .Japanese fashion, which we awkward-! ly attempted to reciprocate. The servants quickly removed our shoes ' (foreigners who are visiting a Japan-,' esc home must always l see that their socks and stockings are free from' embarrassing holes and patches) and; slipped felt slippers over our feet. j Then the family conducted us to their main guest room, which was furnished in foreign style somewhat reminiscent of the Victorian er’. There were several heavy upholstered, sofas and armchairs, with a ro'.m < table and chairs in front of a fire-, plico, in which no fire was burning: | for Japanese, even of the wealthy! class, do not pamper themselves with J heat. Rich carpets were on the' floors and on the walls were emhroid-' cred tapestries and some conventional; landscape oil paintings. On a few; lacquer tables; stood Japanese bric-a-brac. I Every member of the family wore* ceremonial Japanese clothing exceptthe son. who, like most Japanese; young men, had apparently perman-', cntly adopted Western clothes. The; younger women wore beautiful tins.' brightly coloured kimonos. The-r. hair, however, was not dressed in the' older Japanese fashion, hut was 1 ar-! ranged in waves and ringlets. with: benefit, of a. ‘•permanent.” I After we- were seated, the tinsweetcued tea. which is the chief national 1 beverage of Japan. was passed ; around. Throughout the afternoon i and the evening the daughter and J

I daughter-in-law waited on ns, as the familiar mark of deference to a guest, although at least, a dozen servants were visible al. various time o . After a. little conversation we were invited to step out into the garden. i which, in the usual Japanese fashion, -I was visible from almost every room I in the house. i Just outside the door was a large I I artificial pond filled with carp o;j -j strikingly varied colours, green, gold, •'red and purple, with stripes of vari-1 .Jous shades. The Japanese fondness) ’ for taking photographs then appeared,] J chairs were neatly arranged and we ; 'were photographed with the entire ; family. AVe saw another proof of] i-tliis fondness later when, during the] • ; dinner, an album with numerous] ] photographs of Mr AA’. on a trip ! through Europe and America was produced. I ] MINIATURE (’.ARDEN. ■ Tiie garden, over 300 years old. was jlaid out in the conventional Japanese J manner, represent ing a miniature 'landscape, with a brook, several small ' bridges, stones piled in fantastic (.shapes, dwarf trees, flowers aud .shrubs. Pine trees predominated. i since the .lapanese like to preserve ] continuous green in their gardens. Moreover, the pines are supposed to symbolise sturdiness, loyally and

longevity. When we had completed the tour of the garden we were invited into a small house, especially constructed • for the performance of the famous | Japanese social rite of tea ceremony. IAVo all squatted on mats, in Ute hare I little room, the chief decoration of ■ which was a scroll with a specimen of /fine calligraphy liy ihe father of the •present. Premier, Prince Fiimimaro ■Konoye. Our hosts were graceful;! • cur own postures were less at ease. I i The dangliTor-in-lnw performed the. I “ceremony" of preparing and pouring •lite tea with slow, charming, rhythmi-| jcal movements, each of which, to the . iniriated. possess symbolic signifl■cfinco. Tea ceremony is one of the jnosi highly prized feminine social ac’c.mnplishnif i;ts in Japan; and its pe ' formanep, simillo as it seems, requires .years of study and practice before it icah l;o parried out. in proper tradij ticnal fashion. The daughter served jus with little cups of the ceremonial| tea, which in texture and taste sugl gested a thick and bitter pea. soup, l rather than any known brand of tea. Mr W. gave an illustration of how the

o tea should be quaffed, in precisely a! three and a-half sips. . PARE OF' FURNITURE. A trip through the many rooms of i, the house, hare of furniture as Japana ese rooms usually are, but ornamented with scrolls, screen paintings, and ;. vases, ended in the spacious diningroom, where our hosts invited us to Jsit close to the wall hanging of the . room, which is the place of honour q] reserved for guests. Mr and Mrs AV. , sat. opposite us; their son sat in a--3 near-by corner, while Uhe. daughter] -]aud daughter-in-law served. No mem-1 fiber of t.he family except the father 3!and mother ate; and the younger Mr 3 !\A'. explained that, as a mark of cour- , tesy. only the heads of the family ate . with guests. The dinner consisted largely of fish —fried, boiled, baked snirl shredtled —served in dainty lacquer dishes on] beautiful lacquer trays. Interspersed with the fish courses were pickled. : vegetables, soups, Japanese sweet-1 . meats, rice and green tea; altogether] ■ there were about, 2tt courses with! 1 cantaloupe as a AVestern touch at. the ■ end. During the dinner, Mr AV.-set forth his views on the present conflict, ’which weer those of a staunch Japanese nationalist. Japan, he tvas sure,; could defeat not. only China, but also the Soviet. Union, because in those

countries the people and Government ’.ver© one. ’ To an outside spectator there might, have seemed something prescribe!!, . almost, constrained, in this Japanese entertainment, Avhere so Inllc.ll avhs done according to immutable rules. .But for one who was the recipicni of jthis ho?pitality and could feel how 'much genuine goodAvill accompanied, •it Avas easy to realise that for the) j Japanese these elaborate social con- | ventions are quite alive and are cherished as a link in the long chain : of tradition ami form that makes for the unity of the people.