JAPANESE JOTTINGS

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXVI, Issue 5288, 28 May 1904, Page 16

JAPANESE JOTTINGS

The motto of all Japanese of sexea is “Death before dishonour. ’ A Japanese mounts his horse on the' right side, and hxita are hauled up on the beach stern first. . Cremation is spreading in Japan. Every large town has its crematorium, which is under Government inspectio i Among the monuments erected by the Japanese to commemorate their war against China is one to the memory of the horses that fell during the campaign. One of the biggest bells in the world hangs in a temple at Kinto, in Japan. It is peculiar in having a clapper, and is struck outside with an instrument resembling a battering ram. In Japan there are pagodas of considerable height, which have withstood the effects of frequent earthquake shocks for centuries.

The House of Representatives of the •Japanese Parliament consists of 375 members, elected for four years. In the northern parts of Japan' the crow ‘is worshipped! The bird will fly into the huts of the Ainu at meal-times, and is allowed to help itself to whatever it takes a fancy to in the way of food. A Japanese prison is a place of detention, of reformation, and of profitable labour. The prisoners work for nine hours a day. and all are dressed in cotton suits of a peculiar terra-cotta or crushed strawberry colour.

Robbers are tried and convicted by ballot iu some parts of Japan. When a robbery is committed the ruler of the hamlet summons the male population, and they must writ© on a paper the name of f he person they suspect of having committed the crime. one who receives most votes is duly punished. The .Japanese never sleep with the head to the north. That is because the dead, in Japan, ©re always buried with the head in that position. In the sleepingrooms of many of the private houses and hotels, a diagram of the points of the compass is posted upon the ceiling for the convenience of guests. The Japanese snow their appreciation of an actor’s playing in a more substantial manner than by merely applauding. They throw various portions of their dress on the stage and at the end of the performance Ihe favoured person claims the money that the donors re. purchase them with, the prices for the various articles being at fixed rates.