THE TRAVELLER.

Globe, Volume I, Issue 7, 8 June 1874, Page 2

THE TRAVELLER.

[From "All the Year Round."J The Japanese, as a race, are gradually attracting more and more attention all oyer the world, for, notwithstanding their former rigid exclusiveness, not only are they now admitting much of our western civilisation into their own country, but numbers of their youth are constantly being sent to Europe and the United States of America for educational purposes. Under these circumstances, and because for many centuries the character and habits of the nation have been to the outer world as a sealed book, we venture to hope that a brief account of some of their customs and usageu, with respect to children, may not prove unacceptable to our readers. A Japanese baby need be constitutionally strong, for it is by no means over delicatelj

nurtured ; its mother frequently carries it out in the open air in a state of complete nudity and with its head shnvm. Amongst the lower orders, the women, when at work in the fields and on other occas : ons, may be seen with their infants faslencd, almost like bundles, between their shoulders, so that they may be as little as possible in their way. In the houses they are left In I heir own devices more than with u«, and their is no need to be alarmed about their tumbling clown stairs, and eternally coming to grief against fenders, coal-boxes, mantelpieces, and similar objects of terror to a fond English mother, for such things do not exist in Japan, The thick mats, which constitute almost the only furniture of a Japanese house, are a splendid playground for the small atoms of humanity, for their they can roll and sprawl about to their hearts' delight, without any risk or fear of injury. There they play about with the fat pug dog? and tailless cats, without any restraint and to the great benefit of their tiny frames. They are freely supplied with toys and other infantine amusements, as Japanese parents have the reputation of being very kind to their offspring. One curious custom in connection with a Japanese baby is that some of the clothes that it first wears are made from a girdle which its mother has worn previous to its birth, the material being dyed sky blue for the purpose The Record of Ceremonies says that " twenty-four baby robes, twelve \ of silk and twelve of cotton, must be prepared (for the newcomer); the hems must be dyed j saffron color ; and that when the child has been washed, " its body must be dried with a kerchief of fine cotton unhemmed." For the peace of mind of parents of moderate means, it is devoutly to be hoped that baby robes are less expensive in Japan than in England. I Accounts differ slightly as to when the I Japanese baby receives its first name. Some say that it is on the seventh, while Humbert asserts that it is on the thirtieth day after its birth. According to the latter authority, there is no baptism of the child, properly so called ; it is simply, in certain cases, presented in the temple, which its parents affect, and without any ceremony of purification, The father gives three names to the priest, and he writes them on separate pieces of paper, which are mixed together, and then, with certain incantatory forms, thrown up in the air. The first that falls is the chosen name. This is written out by the priest on consecrated paper and given to the child's parents to preserve. The priests at these times are usually very liberally dealt with by parents in the matter of presents, and they are expected to keep accurate registers of all the children who are thus presented in the temple. This is the only approach to a religious ceremony, in connection with the naming of a child. The occasion is celebrated by family visits and feasts, and the child receives certain presents, "among which," says Humbert, " two fans figure, in the case of a male, and a pot of pomade in that of a female child. The fans are precursors of swords, and the pomade is the presage of feminine charmti. In both cases a packet of flax thread is added, signifying good wishes for a loDg life." Mr Mitford supplies a somewhat different version of the ceremony of naming a child ; for he qnotes a translation of Japanese MS, which says that »' on the seventh day after its birth, the child receives its name ; the ceremony is called the congratulations of the seventh night. On this day some one of the relations of the family, who holds an exalted position, either from his rank or virtues, selects a name for the child, which name he keeps until the time of the cutting of the forelock, when he takes the name which he is to bear as a man. The second name is called the • cap-name' which is compounded of syllables taken from an old name of the sponsor. If the sponsor afterwards change his name, his name-child must also change his name.'

According to ancient custom, baby clothes ought to be left off on the seventy-fifth or the hundred-and-twentieth day after birth, and at the latter date the child (in theory, though not in practice) is weaned. At the ceremony which takes place on this day, " if the child be a boy, it is fed by a gentleman of the family ; if a girl, by a lady." The account of the proceedings on this occasion, as given by the Japanese record of Ceremonies, is decidedly amusing to European mind, but is somewhat too long for quotation here. When he is three years old, the Japanese is invested with a sword belt, and four years later with two diminutive swords, if he belong to the privileged class. The child's head is completely shaved until itis close upon four years old, and then three patches are grown, one at the back and one at each side On this occasion the Record of Ceremonies ordains that " a large tray, on which are a comb, scissors, paper-string, a piece of string for tying the hair in a knot, cotton wool, and the bit of dried fish or seaweed which accompanies presents, one of each, and seven rice straws—these seven articles must be prepared." In another year's time the child is put into the loose troußers peculiar to the privileged class, and he is presented with a "dress of ceremony, on which are embroidered storks and tortoises (emblems of longevity ; the stork is said to live a thousand years, the tortoise ten thousand), fir-trees (which being evergreen, and not changing their colour, are emblematic of an unchangingly virtuous heart), and bamboos (emblematic of an upright and straight mind.' Soon after the child has reached his fifteenth year, a fortunate day is chosen on which the forelock is cut off, and at this period, being considered a man, he is entrusted with sworda of [ ordinary size ; and on this occasion in particular, great family festivities and rejoicings take place in honor of the auspicious event. The lad then comes of age, and, casting away childish things, adopts the dress of a grown man in every particular. Japanese youths are said to be quite equal to the occasion, and, even at this early age, to adapt themselves most readily to the habits of manhood.

At the stages in his life which we have to alluded to, the child has a sponsor, and certain wine-drinking customs and prescribed festivities have to be carefully attended to.

Some Japanese must have a string of Dames, awful to contemplate, if strict custom be alwayß adhered to ; for, besides the name which he receives shortly after his birth, Humbert tells us that "he will take a second on attaining his majority, a third at his marriage, a fourth wheu he shall be appointed to any public function, a fifth when he shall ascend in rank or in dignity, and so on until the last, the name which shall be given him after his death, and inscribed upon his tomb—that by which his memory shall be held sacred from generation to generation."