Life in Japan.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIC, Issue 13421, 19 October 1907, Page 1 (Supplement)

Life in Japan.

HOW THE CHILDREN PLAY. It k quite a common thing when travelling in Japan to sw strings of paper fish filled with air that shows up the bright colours fluttering on the breeze. It is not a sign of any special festival; some family is merely rejoicing because a boy has been born. The birth of a girl is notmarked by any special rejoicing; it is considered rather a matter for regret, as in most Oriental countries. The children of Japan find life made, very pleasant for them. They are idolised by their parents, restrictions of any: kind they know not. The Japanese as a nation- are so simple in their manners, so gentle and kindly in their ways, etiquette is so important amongst them that no child could grow up anything except gentle and full of pretty little courtesies. A child always copies its mother, and a Japanese woman is so dainty, so sweet, and. .winning in her ways that she is an excellent model for her little, children. The Japanese baby is simply laid on the flcor of the little frame house,that is panelled with parchment and carpeted with bamboo matting, and there the youngster, lies untroubled, and by no means troublesome. He is not clothed at all; his limbs are left perfectly free; if it is cold a miniature kimono is his only protection. The child of the poorer classes, when-he is sent out, is strapped on the back of a brother or sister of very small stature. As goon as a Japanese boy or gh'l of the humble classes is five or six years old he is regarded as of .an age to act the part oj nurse for the baby. So baby is strapped on his small bearer's back, and that bearer is free to go about his own affairs, as he likes. Baby will be no encumbrance for he is, as a rule, so placid, so plum, and so healthy generally that he simply falls asleep.' It is sometimes rather alarming to see the head of a child fall to the side as his bearer toddles, about on his small-tabbies, or little wooden shoes. The heads, of the babies fall back, suggesting that their spines must be very strong, for tlie average Japanese is firmly knit and straight, in spite of the way he has been permitted to fall about in his infancy. Many of them, however, suffer from weak eyes, and this has been attributed to the custom of allowing the babies to lie for hours with.the sun streaming full on their eyes. The heads of small boys are always kept shaven till they are seven years old. This is supposed to strengthen the Be that as it may they :have abundant strong, healthy, hair. It is rather noteworthy that the Italians, who also go without hair covering, have magnificent heads iof hair. The Japanese boy at a later period has his head'partly shaven' only. Sometimes' little, tufts are leffclH-re and there or perhaps. a tuft-will be left on the crown of the head and two tufts at the ears. Tins last way of arranging the hair-growth makes the children exactly -like the Japanese dolls with which we are all so familiar. The hair of, girls is left to grow all round their faces in a thick fringe, except for a piece on the centre of the head, which is tightly tied up to form a top-knot.- At seven they dress their hair and look like lninature women. A girl of good .family lias to have her hair done twice a week by the hairdresser. It is gummed into just the correct position, and she has to sleep with her head on a bamboo pillow to prevent her hair being made untidy. A girl of the poorer classes can only have her hair done once; in ten days or so. , If she is of neat careful habits she has to be extra careful, for no Japanese girl would ever have untidy hair.. Those merry little folk of all classes are constantly with their parents. On festival days and, round the bazaars; at -the temples/ or theatres you constantly' itee small girls tripping about with a series of tiny flags in their hair representing their favourite actor. Often - they are adding to their treasures of that and other kinds, and' a fond father 'is usually with them ready to pay for the selected trinkets. How happy these families are as they rit for a day, or two days, or three, according to the length of the piece, • in the deep, square, pit-like theatre boxes! Supplies of food are brought: in, and the mother makes tea in a tiny teapot over a hibasha or box of charcoal, and bowls of rice and plates of little scraps of fish are dispensed and eaten, amid .much joyousness and merriment.

A little Japanese girl-cfyild, wearing dainty' crepe kimono of gay colours, with her prettily-dressed bair giving her an air of vast her tiny paper parasol held over her head if the sun is hot as ehe trots along oh her wooden shoes, raised on straps of wood, js the most charming thing in the'world. The Japanese are always bright aud happy, even if it rains and the life of the children is a life of fairyland. It is quite, rare 'to see. a Japanese child look cross, or hear one cry. There is nothing to cry aborit. A child lying with scarcely any clothing on, with none at all if it is hot enough, has nothing to worry about. When the age is reached at which clothing must be- worn, it is all so light, so simple, that little limbs #.re left perfectly free to run about. Their games are pretty much like those of other children. "Hide and seek" with them is just th? same /a;; it is with English children. 'And when he is caught he is tied up and hit,"'a small Japanese boy will tell you, veiy much as an English one woxild do were he ..explaining their game; " '. Little girls keep school, play, with dolls that are miniatures of themselves. "Jun> shagotd," or the policeman game, is a favourite, and when small' boys are seen running about and looking very serious, it is prof able that" the policeman is after them. In some of the country places both boys and girls begin' to work at a veryearly age. They manage a turning-lathe in some of the small mountain villages, where the meet charming wooden articles-, are made.' You may watch a small boy turn a rattle for, a child, and then you may buy it for the merest trifle, such a pretty 'souvenir! It : is' a cope-shaped pieces of wood, flattened at the top. Inside a few stones are put, and then the base of the rattle is covered with quits a thin .strip of wood. On the outside he dashes in a ferocious face in a few bold, black lines, characteristically Japana-©; then he paints the whole thing a brilliant crimson, polishes it with a touch or two with a piece'of wax on the turning lathe, a wire holds a piece of elastic, arid a favourite toy is ready. Little girls often learn massage, and 'very skilful they are. In Japan it is mostly the blind who do massage, and the blind girls find this, a means of earning a living. . . There is a', beautiful school in Tokio, speeiallv. for little pee.ref.6es. No one under a certain rank is admitted, The girls there are of a wonderful sweetness and charm. Their school is thoroughly up-to-date, and they have, opportunities to learn anything they like. In the kindergarten department "the class-rooms are. bright with flowers. These are tended by the children,-and plants in all stages are looked after by them also. In a huge wooden tub there* was a collection of tadpoles, which were to be watched through various stages.,- Large trays filled with silk- | worms at work on mulberry leaves enabled the girls to understand the industry of these, busy little creatures. The .school for peers is*similarly arranged. The present Emperor of Japan was at school 1 there, and anything more wonderfully

organised from an educational point of view it would,bo difficult to cu-nceive. It was the custom of the Empress to payvisits to those schools from time to time. The announcement would be made that ths royal visit was to be paid at a stated hour on a certain day. Special preparations •were made, the school was adorned with furniture from the palace. The Empress, who was patron of the school, after paying her visit presented each teacher with a present, such as a piece of Bilk to make a dixss or a roll of beautiful crepe. Life in sunny Japan is very bright and charming, and' the simple, natural life of the happy children is one of its most lovely feature.