Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1888-11-24

/ the
charm Of japan. In the noble lady and her
frailest and most unfortunate sister alike there
is an indefnable something which is fascinat-
ing at first sight and grows only more pleasing
ON acquaintance, so that the very last thing to
fade from the memory Of anybody who has
been fortunate enough to lingSr in Japan, must
be these
| bright vestures faces fair,
Good looks are not enough to account for this;
prettiness is the rule among japanese women,
but think the charm lies chieAy-though to
attempt q rough-and-ready analysis is like dis
secting humming-bird with q hatchet-in an
Unborn gentleness and tenderness and sympa-
thy, the most womanly Of all qualities COM
| bined with what the Roman used to call "a GER
tain propriety" of thought and demeanor, and
used to admire 80 much. II you could take the
gracious task, the smile Of maiden looking
over the seas for her lover, and the heart of an
unspoiled child, and materialize them into a
winsome and healthy little body, crowned with
q mass Of tet-black hair and dressed in bright
rustling silks, you would have the typical ia
panese woman. To write Of her life and
thoughts and habits and future Developments,
one must show much temerity, or else be with
"divine affection bold, !" but there is 30 much to
say, and she will play so important part in the
| L
HUSBAND AND WIFE.
| The days when q Japanese wife stained her
teeth black on her wedding day and shaved
her eyebrows when the first baby was born,
are long past, except perhaps among the lower
French woman's remark, making due allow
ance for its exaggeration, may be repeated by
the women of Japan-"ille, on nous supprime,
femme, on nous oPprime." The expression res
augusta do'ni might have been invented for
Japan, 80 narrow of necessity is the wife's
home life. The husband mixes with the world,
the wife does not; the husband has been some
what inspired and his thoughts widened by his
intercourse with foreigners, the wife has noSmet
them; the husband has more or less acquaint-
ance with western learning, the wife has none.
Affection between the two, within the limits
which unequal intellectually ruthlessly pre-
| scribes, there well may be, but the love which
| comes OF perfect intimacy Of mutual knowl-
edge and common aspiration, there can rarely
be. "A companion in solitude, father in ad-
| vice, mother in all seasons Of Distress q rest
in passing through ife's widerness"-such an
ideal Of wifehood is virtually impossible. The
ghost Of Confucus forbids, and until that is ex-
orcised. 1t will remain impossible. The very
japanese fortiori, there is little of the fact.
You could not translate the love letters of Alb
elard or Fichte into Japanese.
Marriage is a civil contract, without religious
or official ceremony. The ceremonies, which
are elaborate, are confined to the families and
friends OF the contracting parties, and the legal
| recognition takes the form of registration in
the government records Divorce again-the
pis oUer OF marriages. theoretically easier in
japan than in Chicago, but a matter of fact
the Intervention Of the families protects the
wife from injustice or caprice in all cases where
husband and wife are respectable enough to
have any family ties at all. The higher you
ascend socially the more hostile and influential
are the forces arrayed against divorce. A wo-
man may also sue for divorce from her hus-
band.
1t must be distinctly understood that in
writing above about Japanese women and wives
l have had in view chiefly the upper class Of
the generation that is, and that even in this
tiers, for instance-of husbandan wife living on
precisely the terms OF English and American
upper-class couples. The generation that is
growing up will be very different. Not only
will the men of it be more western, but the
women also. As girls they will have been to
schools like our schools at home; they will
have learned English and history and geogra-
ply and science and foreign music, perhaps
even something of politics and political econ
Omy. They will know something Of society
as we use the term, and will both seek it and
make it. The old home-life will become un-
bearable to the woman and she will demand
the right Of choosing her husband Just as much
as he chooses her. Then the rest will be easy
QUESTION OF DRESS.
The great question before the Japanese
woman at present is the question of dress. Shall
she give up her own beautiful and beloved cos
tune, and adopt the strange and uncomforta-
BILE attire OF the foreign woman or shall she
not? 1t is very serious question indeed for
her and for her country, and no wonder, as a
Japanese friend has just written to me, that
1.-The ladies, who are not accustomed to de-
cision, cannot but feel great pain in their bosom
how to make best" The arguments are very
conflicting. On the one hand, there is the
empress own example and her order that no
lady shall appear at court in other than
foreign dress. Then there is the natural de-
sire not to appear old-fashioned before their
fellows. The desire of their husbands is also in
many cases on the side of foreign dress, and
80 are the public appeals Of many influential men,
such as the minister OF education. However,
there are certain undoubted advantages Of for
eign dress over Japanese, such as greater free
dom OfmOvement and greater ease and modesty
in sitting upon chairs. But on the other side ia
panese women have infinitely too much taste
not to see that their own dress is far more
beautiful. They know, too, that it is much less
expensive because it ia SO much more durable
and never goes out of fashion. It is likewise
evident to most of them that generations of
training will be needed before Japanese women
can wear the artificial foreign dress as cleverly
and elegantly as European and American la
dies. Then, too, the public appeal to the
women of Japan signed by Mrs. Cleveland
Mrs. Garfield, and a score Of the leading ladies
of the United States trusting that they are ..too
patriotic to endanger the health Of q nation
and to abandon what is beautiful and suitable
in their national costume and to waste money
on foreign fashions" has naturally made q
great impression upon them.
THE DRESS OF A JAPANESE WOMAN
Of the middle or upper classes begins with the
yumoji, rectangular piece of stuff wrapped
round the loins and reaching to the knee, like
the towel Of shampOoer. Over this comes a
beautiful garment called the iibdn a robe like
q perfectly simple bath-gown with square
sleeves, fitting closely to the body and gener-
ally made Of delicate and pale colored silk
Grape. In winter an additional garment called
the shitdgi goes over this-all the garments of
japanese woman after the first peticoat are
identical in shape and fit into one another like
q nest OF boxes. In summer over the jiban
comes the outer dress, called for either man or
woman the kinlOno This may be made
of pretty cotton stuffs or cotton Grape for
household wear, or Of silk Grape or silk or
the richest embroidery and brOcade for full
dress and ceremonial occasions It is tied at
the waist with long sash of soft silk Grape,
called the hOso-obi, wound round several times.
Round the wearer's waist, above this. is worn
that most striking feature of Japanese female
costume, the Obi. This il q piece of the thick
est silk or brOcade about IL feet long and 80
inches wide. and may cost anywhere from five to
$500. 1t is the pride of the Japanese woman,
and magnificent obi is the Japanese equiva-
lent for the conventional diamonds which a
lover gives his mistress with US. The tying of
,~1sSe n