The Indianapolis journal., 1890-12-14

is on the door or on little lacquer pedestals
that necessary objects or vases OF flowers
are placed.
To the mistress of the house luxury con-
sists in the very excess Of that cleanliness
of which spoke above, and which is one of
the incontestable qualities of the Japanese
people. 1t Is everywhere the custom TO un-
shoe before entering house. and nothing
which one never walks without tine socks
with divided toes. The woodwork itself Is
white, neither painted nor vanished. keep
ing as its sole ornamentation among women
of true taste the imperceptible veins OF the
young pine.
The religion of the Japanese women must
appear very complicated and confused to
their little giddy brains when even the
most learned priests OF their country lose
themselves in their cosmogonies. their sym
bols. their metamorphOses of gods In that
millenary chaos upon which the buddhism
of India has SO strangely foisted itself
without destroying anything. Their most
serious cult seems to be that of their de-
gods possess in each household perfumed
altar. before which the living pray long at
morning and night, without. however, be-
lieving absolutely In the immortality OF the
soul. and In the persistence of the human
ego as understood by our Occidental re-
ligious.
Withal, they are assiduous in their at
tendance at all the pilgrimages. which are
constant, at all the ceremonies and festivals
in the temples.
During the fair season they come i'm smil-
ing troops, two or three times month,
from all corners of the country to pagodas
deliciously situated in the country, cover
ing the little roads, the little bridges, with
the incessant passing of their marIne-blue
dresses. and with the wide shells of their
black ead-dresses.
In the big cities, on almost every summer
evening. there is pilgrimage to some
q god so ancient that nobody remembers
exactly his role in the world. After busi-
ness Of all kinds, with it's bargaine and
bartars has been suspended, after the in
Vulnerable petty trades have stopped their
monotonous noise. when the myriads of
little houses and shops begin to put mp
their light shutters, the women dress them
selves. ornament their hair with their most
extravagant pins, and set out, holding at
the end of flexible sticks great painted
lanterns. The streets are filled to overflow
ing with little persons, ladies or mousmis,
walking slowly in sandals and exchanging
charming courtesies. With an immense
murmur Of hutterlng fans, of rustling silks
and of laughing chatter, at dusk, by the
light of the moon. or beneath the starry
night they ascend to the pagoda, where
gigantic gods with horrible masks await
them. half hidden behind bars of gold, in
the incredible magniicence of the sanctu-
aries. They throw pieces OF money TO the
priests; they pray prostrated and clapping
their hands with sharp blows. clack. clack,
as though their fingers were of wood. But
most of the time they are chattering, turn
ing around, thinking of something else
attempting to escape by laughter from the
fear of the supernatural.
AT excessive heights above all Japanese
women, the invisible Empress. till within
recent years, was enthroned like goddess.
But she, the sovereign, has descended little
by little from her empyrean. She shows
herself at present. she receives. she speaks,
and she even lunches-with the tips of her
lips it is true. She has abandoned her
IT. magnificent canals strewn with strange
blazons her wide head-dress, that look ed
like an idols. and her enormous fans. She
| sends, alas! to Paris or London for her cor
| sets, her dresses and her bonnets.