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


DREss-coMFoRTABLE AND HKALrHruL cos
TUNES.
From THE STARS Travelling Commissioner.
TOKYO, August %.
The japanese woman is the crown of 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 linger in Japan. must
be these
Long eyes and closely braided hairs
Good looks are not enough to account for this
prettiness is the rule among Japanese women,
| but think the charm lies chiefy-though to
| attempt rough-and-ready analysis il like dis
| secting a hummng-bird with a 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 so much. II you could take the
| light from the eyes of a Sister of Mercy at her
| 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
| a mass of jet-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 90 much to
say, and she will play SO important part in the
final civilizing of Japan, that must try.
HUSBAND AND WIFE.
The days when 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
classes in remote country districts, but the
French woman's remark, making due allow
ance for its exaggeration, may be repeated by
the women Of Japan-'fille, on nous supprme,
femme, on nous opprime." The expression res
augusta do,ni might have been invented for
Japan. so 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 not met
| 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, rest
in passing through life's wilderness" an
ideal of wifehood is virtually impossible The
ghost OF Confucius forbids, and until that is ex-
orcised it will remain impossible. The very
vocabulary OF romantic love does not exist in
Japanese-d tOrtiOri, 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 dtter Of MARRIAGES. theoretically easier in
Japan than in Chicago, but as 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. 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,
have had in view chiefly the upper class of
the generation that is, and that even in this
there are many examples-among the minis
tiers, for instance-Of husband and 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 I'M
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
Al
BILE attire Of the foreign woman, or shall she
not? 1t Is a 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
SO 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 IL Ii 30 mucn more durable
and never goes out of fashion. 1t 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 a 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
yin,oji, rectangular piece of stuff wrapped
round the loins and reaching to the knee, like
the towel of a shampooer. Over this comes
beautiful garment called the jiban a robe like
a 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 sltitdgi goes over this-all the garments of
a 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
woman the kinaOnO. This may be made
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 hOs0-0bi, wound round several times. |
Round the wearer's waist above this. is worn |
that most striking feature Of Japanese female |
costume the obi This Ia a niece NJ tho fhicl,. |