Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1891-09-09
FUNNY TOYS OF JAPAN.

Queer Devices For Entertaining and In
struCting the Young.
There are no people so fond of toys as
the Japanese. About one day out of
three Is a holiday In their country and
even their pilgrimages to temples Of
worship are performed in gala costume.
with dancing and sport by the wayside-
Play IL, from their point of view, the
object Of existence, work being the
means TO the end, because It Is neces-
Bary to earn pleasure in order TO find Il
enjoyable. Americans, of course, know
better than this, having ascertained
that the purpose of life IL labor and
that fun in any shape Is waste Of time
The Japanese have the most perfect
kindergarten system in the world In
fact, they originated this method Of In
structing by entertainment instead of
by punishment inflicted Their plav
apparatus for such purpose is elaborate,
but all of 1t is adapted to the infant
mind, which It is designed at once TO
Amuse and to inform. The little ones
Of that nation even become somewhat
interested in mathematics by seeing
and feeling what a pretty thing a cone,
n sphere or cylinder is when cut out
OF wood with lathe. They make out
lines Of solid figures out of straws,
with green pease dried to hold the
doints together, and for the instruction
of the blind fat blocks are provided.
with the Japanese characters raised
upon them.
Even the toys of Japan give instruc
ton to those who play with them. One
sort of play ing cards has printed upon
them 100 scraps of classical poetry by
which the rudimcnts of the art of versi-
fcation are expected to be inculcated
Another set embodics a collection of
old Japanese parallels, by which the
syllabary of the language and moral
maxims at the same time are to be
taught. Another set Is of natural
history cards, to give instruction in the
names and forms of animals, and still
another set, especially intended for
girls, affords examples of women who
have been celebrated for their virtue
and noble qualities.
All these things can be seen in the
museum of the bureau of education at
Eighth and G. streets, of the existence
of which few people in Washington are
aware. In the collection there, which
includes all the educational appliances
OF civilized countries, is n most inter
esting assemblage of Japanese toys.
Many of them are types of playthings
which the youth of western civilization
has adopted from the east For ex-
ample there are kites. but no Yankee
boy can fly such kites, in the shape Of
birds and monsters, as can tho uPchin
of Japan. There are tops also, but the
American school boy has never got
farther in this play art than ''peg-in-a-
ring" whereas his Japanese contem'
porary is acquainted with the science
of spinning many tops together, OF
whistling tops, and so on. So far as
both tops and kites are concerned the
young Caucasian is an ignoramus COM
pared with his oriental rival
Among the babies toys from Japan
At the museum is mouse that feeds
from bowl when a little bamboo
spring is touched, lowering his head
and long tail In quite life-lilce man
ner. Another is small cylinder, into
which one blows through two smaller
reed tubes, three balls of pith being
kept bobbing In bit of a cage over the
cylinder by the breath, while cut in
one of the tubes produces q shrill
whistle. Another Is little man that Is
made 70 jump ~ long gtick bye hRu'