THE greatest accomplishment, and the most useful, that the Japanese woman can possess is unquestionably the art of sewing; but the knowledge of needlework is so generally recognised as an indispensable equipment of the housewife, forming as it does an important subject of study in girls’ schools, that it is not often included in the accomplishments recommended in Japanese books for women. The first place among them is given to composition, that is, the art of writing, more particularly, of letter-writing, for in Japan where considerable difference exists between the spoken and written languages, composition has to be specially learnt. In letter-writing, moreover, there are many conventional phrases and turns of expression which must be used though they may not add to the meaning; they give an artificial character to Japanese letters and call for great diligence if one would become a good letter-writer. A skilful and expressive transcription of characters is also looked upon as an art of no mean order. Middle-aged men, especially of the old school, often spend hours on end in writing for practice; and a well-written piece on a kakemono is frequently hung in an alcove in place of a picture and as highly appreciated. Many skilled caligraphists make a respectable living by writing.
A WRITING-TABLE AND BOOK-CASES.
The writing-table is a low piece of board, three feet long and about one wide, supported at either end or a few inches from it by a wooden prop; and the writer, in sitting at the table, puts his knees under it between the props. The paper used for letter-writing is rice-paper in a long roll, which is unrolled as one writes. Most people can write with the roll in their hands, letting the written portion drop as the paper is unrolled. The ink is made by wetting and rubbing the Indian-ink stick on a stone slab with a hollow at the upper end as reservoir for the ink. The pen is a hair-pencil with a bamboo holder. A paper-weight of metal is used to hold the paper down when we write at the table; and the writer sits straight at the table and, dipping the brush in ink, writes with it held almost perpendicularly and lightly touching the paper.
Another literary accomplishment is the composition of odes. These are short verses of thirty-one syllables, made up of two sets of five and seven syllables each, closed by a line of seven syllables. To be expressed within so small a compass, the idea must be at once single and simple. It is commonly an epigrammatic presentation of a mood, it may be, of love, longing, appreciation of nature, or consciousness of the uncertainty of life. Sometimes it is didactic or expresses a moral truth in simple or metaphorical language. Our national anthem is an instance of this form of verse and runs as follows:—
Kimi ga yo wa
Chiyo ni yachiyo ni
Sazare-ishi no
Iwao to narite