Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-03-14

u Japan are the children. Taken whole,
j don't think one finds such delightful chill
dren anywhere else in the world. For to the
beauty and grace of childhood, they add the
roguishness, the playfulness and the gentleness
OF puppies or kittens. They are just as self-pos-
sessed-
They are always ideally dressed and have a
considerable amour; of actual beauty, as well
rs 4uaintness in their little faces. as round and
soft a ripe plum To begin with they have
marvellous complexions clear brown skins, as
velvety as peaches, with a rich damask red on
he cheeks. And they have the loveliest little
rosebuds of mouths and the whitest teeth, gen.
orally very regular, though small They have
also beautiful little hands and feet, with a clear
brown skin, slender, well-formed, nervous"
I1Sgers and toes and remarkably good nails.
vOutside these points, they beautifully
ugly, OF quaint Their queer little hickory
nuts of heads are shaved, all except one little
tuft of jet black hair at the top of the head, or
over each ear.
And their ewes are like black beads. with hard
china whites twinkhng behind narrow Sits.
They have the funniest little snubs Of noses and
plump and puppyish figures.
| The Japanese love to dress their children in
strictly Japanese style. in the most becoming
clothes. just as they exhaust their ingenuity in
inventing games and toys for them.
Their dress has always plentiful admixture
OF red Red IL the color of youth in Japan,
but on grand occasions one must go to the
rainbow, or the kaleidoscope, or fireworks to
find parallel The general effect is that of a
long gown open down the front, with long
loose sleeves and a broad sash at the waist The
little girls who are apprenticed for the profess
sion OF geisha (singing girl wear brilliant and
exauisitely- Powered silks, with obes sashes
Of rich, stiff brocade fabulously dear. They
seem to have been rivaled by little daimo
"a.
Little Matsu paIra." aged four or five. wore n
gold hilted short sword in his girdle, while
lad of thirteen, his sword bearer, attended him
to carry the longer badge of rank.
DRIVE TO THE FAIR
1t Is fortunate that nearly all the steeds in
Japan are human. Otherwise we never should
have got to our destination in safety that New
Years day when We took the long drive from
our temporary abode in the Castle of Tokyo to
the fair which was taking place in the grounds
of the great temple of kwanaon at Asakusa.
for the streets were at the mercy of throngs of
ltsle girls in their gayest dresses and sashes.
with powdered faces and carmined lips color
ing said to be IN imitation of a certain kind of
gay beetle) and with a most gorgeous couture
playing at hane-tsuki (battle,lore and shut
tlscock) in pairs or circles. Their shuttlecocks
were tiny feathered balls made OF seeds.
and their battledores made of the light kiri
wood (Paulownia Imperialis). Of which clogs
are made, had backs in all the colors of the
rainbow, raised up with cloth. padded silk.
&C.. to give some popular actor. hero of
romance or singing girl III the most japanese
style of beauty"
One had to pass through hall Of shuttle
cocks. some of them whizzing past you point
blank. like hard volley at lawn tennis, others
dropping just in front Of your nose on a bat
tedors, which skied 1t back again. No horses
would have stood II.
This game is supposed to give the youthful
Japanese belle matchless opportunities for
showing of beauty, figure and dress, and,
strictly speaking. the victor NAV. if she chooses
dlahgure the conquered beauty face with ink
The boys meanwhile We're having top fights
0omA asObe1- Ii il had been windy enough
for their favorite kites it wouldn't have been
calm enough for battledore- These tops were
made Of hard wood with an iron ring around
them. and were wound up and thrown. The
first thrower threw his to spin; the second
threw his to strike the spinning top.
As We drove back the wind had risen. and on
the roof OF every two-story house paterfamilias
xas assisting his boys in flying kites. a psstime
In which the Japanese are particularly adept
THE PAsrIME OF KITE FLYING.
'You go drill ground?' asked Taro eldest
SOM. my Rikisha boy, observing the interest
took in their skill; plenty kite, good kite.
drill ground" nodded and we drove lust
past our hotel to the wind-swept drill ground
lying between the cavalry barracks, the Roku-
meikwan CTokyo Club and the School of the
Mobiles Here Was young Japan with all its
glory with kites flying fabulous heights in the
air, which. when they came down. proved to
be counterfeits of the great brown hawks.
which wheel and wheel over every street OF a
Japanese city, or rectangles Of tough paper
stretched on light split bamboo frames OF about
q couple Of feet square or more. adorned in
rainbow hues with the figures of great heroes
or beautiful women or Chinese dragons. Some
Of them have hummers made of strips of whale
bone; others had ten or twenty feet of their
string at the kite end dipped in a mixture of
gum and pounded glass for kite fights. IL this
Is drawn sharply across the string of rival
kite il cuts il and brings it TO the ground Sir
Edwin Arnold was very fond of giving kite
parties
The girls meanwhile had given up battledore
and were having matches at bouncing a ball
covered with bright silks TO which they kept
mp q grooming accompaniment. which consists
OF stories as old as the hills in a word-play on
the numbers up 10 hundred.
We never had snow enough in Tokyo to see
Darrma Asobi. the children with characteristic
Japanese lrreyerence making snow men in the
shape OF Daruma, the founder of one of the
most important seets in Buddhism. or the
white rabbit, who Is supposed to live in the
-SaGQn and beguile his time with making the
elixiN Of life.
SOME OF THEIR CURIOUS GAMES
And some Of their games very hard for
foreigner 10 identity; such as Senjo Kwannon.
In which child takes another on its back.
facing backward. and pretends to be one of the
Rokubu (devO;ees). who carry a tall narrow
shrine of the Goddess of Mercy. some six feet
high. on their backs for the common people TO
worship land give them gratuity J: aud the
AEiruno 1amagO ducks eggs. in which the
smaller child 10 held cFOsswise the back and
the other children dance round. singing nom
sensical verse: but Kari Asobi ,playing at hunt
ing. aud Mashi Carl hunting grssshoppers
which are put into the quaintezt gauze cages
speak for themselves. do Tamaya Glowing
soap bubbleSl. and lsuka AsObi, playing at war
with toy weapons
Hotaru-gari thunting fire fies) is similar TO
grasshopper hunt. except that they are hunted
~ night and struck down with n circular fan
The interesting part about king-yo (plaving
with gold fish j. that these projections finny
japanese cultivate any number OF tails I'M
10 bali 4 dozen. tao and tlIree-tailed fish being
quite common But the two out-of-sloors
tours-de-forees for children are the tenao
mafsari no asobI-paying at the FEAST of
Isnno. the JAPANESE Neptune, and the bon
matsnri OF feast Of the dead. In the former
The four bigges: boys land Japanese can carry
astonishing weights for their size) carry a big
tub (taro) from the palace of the god and
ofherr carry hons made OF bAsket-work (shishiJ
and huge square paper lanterns on slaves
ttorol. The ehildrens backs are covered with
marvellous dragons and such wild fowl" This
Ii one VI the simmer festivals. taking place in
Jnne- Bnt the bon mat.uri. the festival of the
dead ancestors. in July, IS the most pictur-
.ssque. thing VI the year, for not only do the
chiixlrSp in