HARD TIMES IN JAPAN

Evening Star, Issue 20135, 27 March 1929, Page 2

HARD TIMES IN JAPAN

EFFECT ON MARRIAGE The cruel hands of economic pressure are crushing the fond hope of married happiness out of tho hearts of many a young maiden and youth in Japan, which already has gone through eight years of; liard times. In fact, marriage is now coming to be considered otic of the four great ■“difficulties” of life, the three others being the difficulty of entering higher schools because of the rigid entrance examinations, the difficulty of securing positions, and the difficulty of making a living. All four seem to he equally acute and equally troublesome. “ A man should not spend more than 30 per cent, of his annual income for his wedding expenses,” thinks Mv ’Yoshima Ozunia, principal; of the Ozuma Girls’ High School, one of the leading private girls’ schools in Tokio (according to a statement published in the Tokio ‘ Nippon ’) , In tho past a man often spent from 200 to 250 per cent, of his annual income on Ids wedding, including clothes, banquets, and trips, whereas, Mr Ozuma’a study shows, the average British, French, or American youth rarely spends more than 20 per cent. Mr Ozuma even says that for people belonging to the middle classes or below wedding banquets are superfluous and unnecessary. In former days weddings were mostly held at tho home of tho bridegroom, preceded by a solemn procession _ from the bride’s Jrouse, the bride taking her trousseau with her to her new home. Cups of “sake” of three different sizes arc exchanged at the wedding between the bride and the father or her would-be husband, between the groom, the bride’s father, and the go-betweens. These cups are passed back and forth, so that the bride and the bridegroom have sipped nine times.' The ceremony is called “ san-san-ku-do ” (3-3-9 times). Then sonio auspicious songs are sung by ail elderly gentleman invited to the function. The bride then goes into a separate chamber to change her dress. A’ rich bride will often change her dross three or four times. Often the eating and the drinking in celebration of the happy event last until past midnight. These customs, solemn and picturesque though they may he, are gradually going out of fashion. People are busy, times are hard, and the simple, economical wedding is preferred.