The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1888-12-26
WOMEN OF JAPAN.
THEIR POSITION AS WIVES
AND HOUSEHOLD DUTIES.
Acting as Both Hclpmeet and Ser.
want For Their Husbauds-A
Matrimonial Go-B"tween-
The "Onna DaiSaku-"

Matrimonial Go-B"tween-
The "Onna DaiSaku"
The japanese girl can, as a rule, read
and write Japanese, says Frank q. Car
penter in the New York Horld. She
learns all about household matters, and
she takes the whole charge of the house
hold. This is her sphere, and she is
known as the honorable mistress of the
! household. Her husband has no right
to be meddling with the cooking-stove.
She pays the servants and the market
bills. In the case of the poorer mer-
chants she often acts as one of the clerks
in the store and takes the place of the
husband when he is not present. In the
country you will find her often working
in the fields, and at Nikko I saw great
numbers of women who acted as the
leaders of pack-horses carrying copper
and goods up and down the mountains.
Still, think the women here nave an
easier time than those of the lower classes
of Germany or Holland, and you see
fewer labor hardened faces among the
other sex here than you do in many Of
the countries of Europe.
The wife is, however, after all, but
little better than the servant of the
husband, and the ties of marriage and
divorce are here so loose that he can dis
pense with her at pleasure. Marriage in
Japan is not attended with the solemnity
and religious ceremony of the American
wedding. 1t is civil contract, and the
negotiations for it 60 on, as rule,
through the parents. The young man
and woman have no preliminary court.
ship, and the seeing one another for one
or two times is the only chance they
have of deciding whether there is any
compatibility Of temperament. When
Yum Yum has arrived at the age OF ID
or IL her parents instruct one of their
friends or q professional match maker to
look about for a good husband for her.
If they have decided upon the young
man, they mentiol his name and it is the
duty of the friend to speak to the parents
of the prospective bridegroom and
arrange the matter. The gr-between is
called a Nakadachip. He appears in
every Japanese marriage, and it would
be entirely improper for either the BRIDE
groom or the parents to arrange match
without him.. He has charge of every
thing relating to the marriage. He
brings the young people together,
generally at tea-house where both
families meet to have party for the
occasion, and it is at this meeting that
the two often see each other for the first
time. II, as in the case of 1.-The Mikado," "
Yum Yum falls in love at first sight
with her Nanki-Poo, it is all right.
The two giggle and laugh and examine
each other, and few days la.er, the
match being agreed upon, presents pass
between the two parties, and the accept
ance of these presents is understood as
an agreement that the marriage is to
take place. The presents consist of five
tubs of sake or rich wine, of five
articles of food, two rolls of silk, and q
silken girdle. This is, of course, among
the better classes. The lower and poorer
send less amount and poorer quality.
The ceremony proper is made up of the
drinking of sake and the eating of q
dinner together in the presence of the
two families. The bride comes to tue
eroom's house to be married, and she
brings along presents for him and her
prospective parents-in-law. She appears
uron the scene in dress of white, which,
however, she changes before the cere-
mony for one of colors, which is pres
ent to her from the groom. The groom
also gets present of gown from her,
and puts this on. At the drinking OF
the wine the bride gets the first cup, and
there is an almost lncessant drinking
throughout the ceremony.
After marriage the bride or the wife
is swallowed up, as it were, in the family
Of her husband.
Books on the duties of women urge
her to be suDservient to her parents.in-
law. and in times past she was expected
to communicate with her own parents
chiefly by messenger and not to visit
them by any means frequently. The
chief book on woman's training in
Japanese literature is the "Onna
Daigaku," which is taught to all Japan
csc girls, and on which I am told they
base their cond ict. It's founded on the
principle that woman is much the in
1CrlOr Oh I0au dul tuast s1IC - AoIutniiJ
prone to evil. 1t says that nine women
out of ten are suffering from mental dis
orders of intellect, anger and resent
ment, evil speaking, jealousy, and lack
of intellect. The wife should, there
fore. depend upon her husbands in.
structions in all things, and she is sub.
scrvient to her father in like degree be-
fore marriage.
She has, says this book, no right to
show jealousy, and if her husband is
guilty Of impropricties she should gently
reprove him. She should go no place
without her husbands permission, and
a husband has the right to bring concu-
bines into the house if he will. The re.
suit of this is that concubinage prevails
here to large extent, and the men of
Japau have low moral standard in re-
gard to woman. The husband has al.
most absolute control over his wife by
The law of divorce, and lie can get rid OF
her if he will on seven different grounds.
Norwegian Fences.