Connecticut western news., 1872-01-12
Marriages i'm Japan.


 Most of the Japanese marriages, says a visitor, are the result of family ar engagement, prepared long time in advance, end usually characterized by that practical good sense which is one of the national traits. The bride has no dowry, but she receives 0 very rich and complete trousseau. But it is nee. essary that she should have q spotless reputation, 0 gentle and amiable charac' ter, proper education, and skill to con duct household. Pecuniary considera- tions are of secondary importance, and they rarely take the form of money. When father, who has no male child, gives his only or eldest daughter in mar riage, her husband is called the adopted son of the family, takes the same name and inherits the trade or business of his father-in-law.
 The wedding generally takes place when the bridegroom has attained his twentieth year, and the bride is in hel sixteenth. Early in the morning of the appointed day, the trousseau of the lat ter is carried to the bridegroom's house and tastefully arranged in the rooms prepared for the festival. The images of the gods and the patron saints of the two families are also suspended there before a domestic altar adorned witt flowers and heapel with offerings. Lac quered tables support dwarf celars anc figures representing the Japanese Adam and Eve, accompanied by theil venerable attributes, the centenary crane and tortoise. Finally, to complete the tableau by lesson of morals anG patriotism, there are always to be found among the presents a few packages o1 edible sea- weed, musselJ, and dried fish which suggest to the young couple tho primitive nourishment and ancient simplicity of the Japanese people.
 Toward noon, & splendid process ior enters the halls thus prepared; the young wife, clothed and vailed in white, advances, escorted by two bridesmaid neighbors, and friends, in festal cos tunes glittering with brocade, scarlet gauge, and embroidery. The two brides maids perform the honors of the house arrange the guests, order the courses o1 the collation., and flutter from one grout to another to see that all are served They are called the male and female butterfly, which insects they are ex pected to represent in the style and oran ment of their garments.
 "In place of our sacramental Pes, they have recourse to an expressive symbol. Among the objects displayed in the middle of the cricle of guests there is metal vase, shaped like basin and furnished with two spouts. This utensil is elegantly adorned with bands of colored paper. At certain signal, ont of the ladies of honor fills it with saki the other takes it by the handle, lifts il as high as the lips of the kneeling bride and bridegroom, and causes them te drink from it alternately, each from the spout on his or her side, until the liquo, is exhausted. It is thus that, as hus band and wife, they mu sttogether drai1 the cup of conjugal life, each drinking from one side, but botL tasting the sam, ambrosia or the same wormwood.
 l The poor classe >-one may say, the masses of the popu!ation-ar general, free from the social wees which are en couraged among the higher classes by the license allowed to them. The house holds of the shop-keepers, artisans laborers, and cultivators of the soil exact the constant care and toll of tn, father and mother, the union of thei efforts. in order to provide for the need. of their families There are weddet couples who labor and save heroically for years, in order to pay tue expenses of their marriage festival.
 There is one rather amusing custom however, whereby this expense may b' avoided. A couple of respectable people have a daughter, who is acquainted witl Q good young fellow who would be al excellent husband for her, except tha he lacks the necessary means to give he the customary wedding-presents aut keep free table for week, for the tw, fanllles. The parents, coming home from the bath ono fine evening, do no find their daughter at home. They in quire in the neighborhood nobody ha! seen her, but the neighbors offer to assis to find her. The parents accept the offer and the procession, constantly increas ing passes from street to street uni it reaches the dwelling of the lover. I'm latter, protected by his closel screens in vain pretends to be deaf; he is a last obliged to yield to the demands o the crowd. He opens the door, and th' lost daughter in tears, throws herself O the feet of her parents, who threaten he with their malediction.
 Then, the tender-hearted neighbors moved ny the scene, intercede tn mother relents the father remain naughty and inexorable; the intercessiol of the neighbors increases in eloquence anu the young man promises to be tn most faithful of sons-of-law. Finally the resistance of the father is overcome he pardons his daughter, pardons tn : lover, and calls the latter his SOD. Al at once, as if by magic, cups of saki ci, culate among the crowd; every on 7 takes his or her place on the mating ( he room the two outlaws are seated i ) the midst of the circle, drink their bow ; of saki together, the marriage is pro 3 claimed ia the presence of sufficier . number of witnesses, and the polio officer enters it upon his list the ne, 3 morning. 3 Bridal trips are unknown in Japar ) Instead of leaving the newly. wedde pair to themselves, every pretext is en l ployed to overwhelm them with visi . and invitations, always accompanie
 with feasts and prolonged libations.a