BIBLIOGRAPHY.

Rein’s “Japan” is valuable on these topics; “Advance Japan” has a good chapter on “Diet, Dress, and Manners” (iv.); “A Japanese Interior,” by Miss Alice M. Bacon, gives most interesting glimpses of the inner life of the people; Murray’s “Story of Japan,” chap. ii.; Knapp’s “Feudal and Modern Japan,” vol. i. chap. v. and vol. ii. chap. iv.; and “Japan in History, Folklore, and Art” (Griffis), are useful; Finck in his “Lotos-Time in Japan,” also gives interesting glimpses of these topics; and Miss Bacon’s “Japanese Girls and Women” (revised and illustrated edition) is invaluable concerning family life. Miss Hartshorne’s “Japan and her People” is well worth reading on these subjects. “Japanese Life in Town and Country” (Knox), “Dai Nippon” (Dyer), and “Every Day Japan” (Lloyd) are also valuable.

CHAPTER V
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS

Outline of Topics: Birth and birthdays; marriage; death and funeral; mourning.—Holidays (national, local, class, and religions); the “five festivals”; New Year’s holidays; the other four festivals; floral festivals; religious festivals.—Games; wrestling.—Theatre; scenery and wardrobes; chorus and pantomime; the Nō.—Music; dancing-girls.—Occidentalization.—Folk-lore; superstitions about lucky and unlucky days, hours, ages, years, etc.—Bibliography.

THE three great events in the career of a Japanese are, of course, birth, marriage, and death, each of which is, therefore celebrated with much formality. When a child is born, he or she is the recipient of many presents, which, however, create an obligation that must eventually be cleared off. A very common but honorable present on such an occasion consists of eggs in small or large quantities, according to circumstances. When the first American baby was born in Mito, she was favored with a total of 456 eggs, besides dried fish, toys, Japanese robes, and other articles of clothing, etc., and her parents were favored with universal congratulations, diluted with condolences because the new baby was a girl instead of a boy! Japanese babyhood is blithesome.[54]

The birthday of an individual, however, is not especially observed upon its recurring anniversary; for New Year’s Day is a kind of national, or universal, birthday, from which age is reckoned. And this loss of an individual birthday is also made up to the boys and girls by the two special festivals, hereafter described, of Dolls and of Flags.

The wedding ceremony[55] is quite simple but very formal. The principal feature thereof is the san-san-ku-do (three-three-nine-times); that is, both the bride and the bridegroom drink three times out of each of three cups of different sizes. This ceremony, however, does not affect at all the validity of the marriage; it is purely a social affair, of practically no more importance than the wedding reception in America or England. In Christian circles this convivial ceremony is omitted, and a rite performed by a Christian minister is substituted. As marriage is only a civil contract, its legality rests upon the official registration of the couple as husband and wife; and this formality is often neglected, so that divorce is easy and frequent. And as “matches” are generally made by parents, guardians, relatives, or friends, the mariage de convenance prevails in Japan. But the new Civil Code throws safeguards around the institution of wedlock; and the teachings of Christianity have already caused considerable improvement in the way of elevating marriage from its low standard to a holy rite.

To the fatalistic Japanese death has no terrors, especially as they are a people who seem to take about as much care of the dead as of the living. Funeral ceremonies[56] are very elaborate, expensive, solemn, and yet somewhat boisterous affairs. The Shintō rites are much plainer than Buddhist ceremonies. In the former, the coffin is long and low, as in the West, but in the latter it is small and square, so that the corpse “is fitted into it in a squatting posture with the head bent to the knees.” There are other distinguishing features of the two funerals: the bare shaven heads of Buddhist priests in contrast with the non-shaven heads of Shintō priests; the dark blue coats of the Buddhist pall-bearers in contrast with the plain white garb of the Shintō pall-bearers.

The mourning code of Japan is rather strict, and contains two features: the wearing of mourning garments (which are white), and the abstinence from animal food. The regular dates for visits to the grave are the seventh, fourteenth, twenty-first, thirty-fifth, forty-ninth, and one-hundredth days, and the first, third, seventh, thirteenth, twenty-third, twenty-seventh, thirty-third, thirty-seventh, fiftieth, and one-hundredth years.

As is shown in another chapter (“Japanese Traits”), the Japanese are a merry, vivacious, pleasure-loving people, who are satisfied with a simple life. They give and take frequent holidays, which they enjoy to the fullest extent. The national holidays are numerous, and come as follows every year:—

Four Sides’ Worship, January 1.
First Beginning Festival, January 3.
Emperor Kōmei’s Festival, January 30.
Kigen-setsu, February 11.
Spring Festival, March 22 (about).
Jimmu Tennō Festival, April 3.
Autumn Festival, September 24 (about).
Kanname Festival, October 17.
Emperor’s Birthday, November 3.
Niiname Festival, November 23.

Some of the national holidays need a few words of explanation. Kigen-setsu, for instance, was originally a festival in honor of the ascension of Jimmu, the first Emperor, to the throne, and was thus the anniversary of the establishment of the Old Empire; but it is now observed also as the celebration of the promulgation of the constitution (Feb. 11, 1889), and is thus the anniversary of the establishment of the New Empire. The Jimmu Tennō Festival of April 3 is the so-called anniversary of the death of that Emperor. The Kanname Festival in October celebrates the offering of first-fruits to the ancestral deities, and the Niiname Festival in November celebrates the tasting of those first-fruits by the Emperor. The Spring and Autumn Festivals in March and September are adaptations of the Buddhist equinoctial festivals of the dead, and are especially observed for the worship of the Imperial ancestors. The Emperor Kōmei was the father of the present Emperor, and reigned from 1847 to 1867. “Four Sides’ Worship” naturally suggests worship from the four principal directions. This and the “First Beginning Festival” make the special New Year’s holidays.

Besides these, there are a great many local, class, and religious holidays, including Sunday, so that comparatively few persons in Japan are kept under high pressure, but almost every one has frequent opportunities to relax from the tension of his occupation or profession. Even the poorest, who have to be content with a hand-to-mouth existence, take their occasional holidays.

The five great festivals of the year fall on the first day of the first month (New Year’s Day), the third day of the third month (Dolls’ Festival), the fifth day of the fifth month (Feast of the Flags), the seventh day of the seventh month (Festival of the Star Vega), and the ninth day of the ninth month (Chrysanthemum Festival). These are now officially observed according to the Gregorian calendar, but may also be popularly celebrated according to the old lunar calendar, and would then fall from three to seven weeks later. And there are not a few people who are perfectly willing to observe both calendars and thus double their number of holidays!

The greatest of these is the New Year’s holiday or season, which is often prolonged to three, five, seven, or even fifteen days. The practice of making calls and presents still prevails, and, though quite burdensome, illustrates the thoughtfulness, good cheer, and generosity of the people.[57]

NEW YEAR’S GREETING

The Dolls’ Festival is the one especially devoted to the girls; and the Feast of Flags is set apart for the boys. The Festival of the Star Vega commemorates a tradition concerning two starry lovers on opposite sides of the Milky Way, or River of Heaven. The Chrysanthemum Festival seems to have been overshadowed by the Emperor’s Birthday.

There are also many “flower festivals,” such as those of viewing the plum, cherry, wistaria, iris, morning-glory, lotus, maple, etc.[58]

One of the most important of the Buddhist festivals is that in honor of the spirits of the dead; it is called Bon-matsuri and comes in the middle of July. Buddha’s birthday in April is also observed. There is a Japanese Memorial Day, celebrated twice a year in May and November, when immense crowds flock to the shrines called Shōkonsha, and pay their homage to the spirits of those who have died for their country. Moreover, space would fail to tell of the numerous local shrines and temples, Shintō and Buddhist, where the people flock annually or semi-annually, to “worship” a few minutes and enjoy a picnic for the remainder of the day. And, in Christian circles, Christmas, Easter, and Sunday-school picnics are important and interesting occasions.

The common games are chess, go (a very complicated game slightly resembling checkers), parchesi, and cards. Flower-cards and poetical quotations are old-style, but still popular; while Occidental cards, under the name of torompu (“trump”) are coming into general use. Children find great amusement also with kites, tops, battledore and shuttlecock, snow-men, dolls, cards, etc.[59] The chief sports of young men are wrestling, rowing, tennis, and baseball. In the great American game they have become so proficient that they frequently win against the Americans and British who make up the baseball club of the Yokohama Athletic Association!

Professional wrestling-matches[60] continue to draw large crowds to see the huge masses of flesh measure their strength and skill. Jūjutsu is a kind of wrestling in which skill and dexterity are more important than mere physical strength.[61] Sleight-of-hand performers and acrobats are quite popular.

The theatre[60] is a very important feature in the Japanese world of amusements, and still remains about the only place where Old Japan can be well studied. Theatrical performances in Japan are, of course, quite different from those in the Occident, and seem very tedious to Westerners, partly because they are so long and partly because they are unintelligible. When the writer attended the theatre in Mito, the play began, thirty minutes late, at 3:30 P. M., and continued, without interruption, until almost midnight. Then, according to custom, a short supplementary play of almost an hour’s duration followed, so that it was about one o’clock when he finally reached home. The Japanese, however, are accustomed to this “sweetness long drawn out,” and either bring their lunches or slip out between acts to get something to eat and drink, or buy tea and cake in the theatre.

The wardrobes and the scenery are elaborate and magnificent. The former are often almost priceless heirlooms handed down from one generation to another. Changes of wardrobe are often made in the presence of the audience; an actor, by dropping off one robe (which is immediately carried away by a small boy), entirely metamorphoses his appearance. One convenient arrangement of the scenery is that of the revolving stage, so that, as an old scene gradually disappears, the new one is coming into view. The supernumeraries, moreover, though theoretically invisible, are distinctly present, but seem to distract neither players nor audience. The female parts are usually taken by men dressed as women; and animals are represented by either men or wooden models.

The orchestra plays an exceedingly important part in a Japanese drama. It consists of the samisen (a guitar of three strings), the fue (flute), and the taiko (drum). It plays, not between the acts to entertain the spectators, but, like the Greek chorus, during the scene, to direct and explain the drama. Pantomime is an important element in the play and exceedingly expressive. The pantomimic actions are guided by the orchestra and the singers of the chants that furnish necessary explanations. Japanese plays are mostly historical, though some depict life and manners. It is quite interesting to note that in 1903 an adapted translation of “Othello” was put on the Japanese stage with marked success.

The Nō “dances,” as they are sometimes called, were at first “purely religious performances, intended to propitiate the chief deities of the Shintō religion, and were acted exclusively in connection with their shrines.” But they were afterwards secularized and popularized, as lyric dramas. They are comparatively brief, and occupy only about an hour in performing. They are now given chiefly as special entertainments in high society or court circles to extraordinary guests.[62]

Music, especially in connection with dancing, furnishes another common means of amusement. The chief instruments of the old style are the koto, a kind of lyre; the samisen, already described; the kokyū, a sort of fiddle; lutes, flutes, fifes, drums, etc.; while the violin, organ, and piano are coming into general use. These instruments, moreover, are now being manufactured by the Japanese. Individuals, bands, and orchestras, trained under foreign supervision, furnish music, both instrumental and vocal, for private and public entertainments; and concerts in European style are becoming very popular.

It used to be that no evening entertainment was considered complete without the dancing-girls (geisha),[63] whose presence is never conducive to morality. But a strong effort is now being made, even in non-Christian circles, to banish these evil features of social entertainments. The Occidental mixed dances have not yet met with great favor, except that in the court circle, which is cosmopolitan, quadrilles, waltzes, etc., are encouraged.

The manners and customs, especially in the large cities, are undergoing considerable Occidentalizing, which results at first in an amusing mixture, or a queer hybrid. This is particularly true of social functions in official or high life. It is, of course, true that the great mass of the people, the “lower classes,” are not yet to any great extent affected by the social changes in the world above their reach and ken, and still conduct their social intercourse more Japonico, that is, in the approved methods of their ancestors; but in the life of the middle and upper classes, and especially in official functions, the influence of Occidental manners and customs is quite marked.

Japanese literature is immensely rich in stories of adventure, most interesting historical and biographical incidents, folk-lore, and fairy tales. All of these are quite familiar to the Japanese child, whether boy or girl, whose mind feasts upon, and delights in, the heroic and the marvellous. The youth and the adults, also, are not at all averse to such mental pabulum, and flock, for instance, to the hall of the professional story-teller, who regales them with fact and fiction ingeniously blended. Yoshitsune, Benkei, Momotarō, Kintarō, and others are common heroes of folk-lore and fiction; while “The Tongue-Cut Sparrow,” “The Matsuyama Mirror,” “The Man who Made Trees Bloom,” are examples of hundreds of popular fairy tales. Japanese folk-lore is an instructive and most interesting subject, which must, however, be now dismissed with references.[64]

To an audience of Athenians on Mars Hill, Paul said: “Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are altogether superstitious.” One might likewise stand before an audience of Japanese and say: “Ye men of Nippon, I perceive that in all things ye are altogether superstitious.” For most faithfully and devoutly do the mass of the people still worship their innumerable deities, estimated with the indefinite expression “eight hundred myriads”; and most firmly do they continue to believe in the efficacy of charms and amulets and to hold to inherited superstitious ideas. It is only where the common school and Christianity have had full sway that these “foolish notions” disappear. And while we have not space for a methodical study of Japanese superstitions, we ought at least to present, even in a desultory manner, some illustrations, culled at random from various sources.[65]

The days of each month were named, not only in numerical order, but also according to the animals of the Chinese zodiac. And the latter names were perhaps more important than the numerical ones, because, according to these special names, a day was judged to be either lucky or unlucky for particular events. “Every day has its degree of luck for removal [from one place to another], and, indeed, according to another system, for actions of any kind; for a day is presided over in succession by one of six stars which may make it lucky throughout or only at night, or in the forenoon or the afternoon, or exactly at noon, or absolutely unlucky. There are also special days on which marriages should take place, prayers are granted by the gods, stores should be opened, and signboards put up.” Dr. Griffis informs us in “The Mikado’s Empire,” that “many people of the lower classes would not wash their heads or hair on ‘the day of the horse,’ lest their hair become red.” On the other hand, this “horse day” is sacred to Inari Sama, the rice-god, who employs foxes as his messengers; and “the day of the rat” is sacred to Daikoku, the god of wealth, who, in pictures, is always accompanied by that rodent. As for wedding days, Rev. N. Tamura says: “We think it is very unfortunate to be married on the 16th of January, 20th of February, 4th of March, 18th of April, 6th of May, 7th of June, 10th of July, 11th of August, 9th of September, 3d of October, 25th of November, or 30th of December, also on the grandfather’s or grandmother’s death day.” These dates are probably applicable to only the old calendar. “Seeds will not germinate if planted on certain days” (Griffis).

The hours were named, not only according to the numerical plan, but also according to the heavenly menagerie in the following way:—

1.Hour of the Rat11 P. M.-1 A. M.
2.Hour of the Ox1-3 A. M.
3.Hour of the Tiger3-5 A. M.
4.Hour of the Hare5-7 A. M.
6.Hour of the Dragon7-9 A. M.
6.Hour of the Serpent9-11 A. M.
7.Hour of the Horse11 A. M.-1 P. M.
8.Hour of the Goat1-3 P. M.
9.Hour of the Monkey3-5 P. M.
10.Hour of the Cock5-7 P. M.
11.Hour of the Dog7-9 P. M.
12.Hour of the Boar9-11 P. M.

The “hour of the ox,” by the way, being the time of sound sleep, was sacred to women crossed in love for taking vengeance upon a straw image of the recreant lover at the shrine of Fudō.

“After 5 P. M. many people will not put on new clothes or sandals” (Griffis). From “Superstitious Japan”: “If one swallows seven grains of red beans (azuki) and one go of sake before the hour of the ox on the first day of the year, he will be free from sickness and calamity throughout the year; if he drinks toso (spiced sake) at the hour of the tiger of the same day, he will be untouched by malaria through the year. On the seventh day of the first month if a male swallows seven, and a female fourteen, red beans, they will be free from sickness all their lives; if one bathes at the hour of the dog on the tenth day [of the same month], his teeth will become hard.”

There are also superstitions about ages. Some persons, for instance, “are averse to a marriage between those whose ages differ by three or nine years. A man’s nativity also influences the direction in which he should remove; and his age may permit his removal one year and absolutely forbid it the next.” There are also critical years in a person’s life, such as the seventh, twenty-fifth, forty-second, and sixty-first[66] years for a man, and the seventh, eighth, thirty-third, forty-second, and sixty-first[66] years for a woman. There is a similar story to the effect that a child born (or begotten?) in the father’s forty-third year is supposed to be possessed of a devil. When such a child is about one month old, it is, therefore, exposed for about three hours in some sacred place. Some member or friend of the family then goes to get it, and bringing it to the parents, says: “This is a child whom I have found and whom you had better take and bring up.” Thus having fooled the devil, the parents receive their own child back.

From Inouye’s “Sketches of Tōkyō Life” we learn that aged persons provide against failing memory by passing through seven different shrine gates on the spring or autumn equinox. An incantation against noxious insects, written with the infusion of India ink in liquorice water on the eighth day of the fourth moon, Buddha’s birthday, will prevent the entrance of the insects at every doorway or window where it is posted. January 16 and July 16 were and are special holidays for servants and apprentices, and considered sacred to Emma, the god of Hades. At the time of the winter solstice doctors would worship the Chinese Esculapius. “The foot-wear left outside on the night of the winter equinox should be thrown away; he who wears them will shorten his own life. If you cut a bamboo on a moonlight night, you will find a snake in the hollow of it between the third and fourth joints.” “During an eclipse of the sun or moon, people carefully cover, the wells, as they suppose that poison falls from the sky during the period of the obscuration.” “If on the night of the second day of the first moon, one dreams of the takara-bune (treasure-ship), he shall become a rich man.” The first “dog day” and the third “dog day” in July are days for eating special cakes. “The third dog day is considered by the peasantry a turning-point in the life of the crops. Eels are eaten on any day of the bull [ox] that may occur during this period of greatest heat.” The author was once warned by a Japanese woman that he must not take medicine or consult a doctor on New Year’s Day, because such acts would portend a year of illness.