Evening star., 1900-02-17

ments, one over the other, and going
through several changes of clothes before
the wedding is accomplished. In ordinary
Japanese weddings no ring is used and no
promises made by the pair as to fidel-
ity, obedience. etc. The wedding consists
of the drinking of a number of cups of
japanese wine or saki together in certain
way.
1t takes place at the house of the parents
of the groom, and in this case it will be
performed in the palace of the emperor.
The rules of etiquette in such events are
very minute, and everything must be done
Just So The bride gets the first drink and
the groom follows after. The cups in which
the wine is served are very small, and the
princess will drink three of them before the
prince will be served with the same num-
ber After this there is more drinking in
about the same way. the bride always be-
ing served first. This is in contrast to the
custom after marriage, where the huS-
band is always served before the wife. At
the beginning of the wedding ceremonies
the bride is dressed in white, but when the
ceremony is over she retires and changes
her costume for which is a present
from her parents-in-law. At the same time
the groom also changes his attire for one
which has been given to him by the parents
of the bride.
is carried out after the old methods. will
be about as above described, but the BAN
Guet and receptions which follow will be
in European style. The prince imperial
L
will dress in foreign costume and will act
at these celebrations just as is the custom
at the great courts of Europe.
1t may be, however, that modified cere-
mony of marriage, a sort of a cross be-
tween our ceremony and the old Japanese
will be adopted. In this case the services
will be performed before the Shnto Shrine
in the imperial chapel, and one of the high
est of the Shinto priests will officiate.
The TrOusseau and Presents.
Well, no one knows just what it will con-
sist of as yet, but the preparations are go
ing bravely on. The silk mills of Japan
are at work producing their finest stuffs for
the princess, stuffs that will stand alone
and are seldom seen outside of the empire
The empress herself las become interested
in the matter and the costumes are being
made by the imperial dressmakers in the
palace of her majesty. The cutting and
fitting is largely under the direction of the
noble ladies of the court, the sewing being
done by the workwomen. The hats and
bonnets are being made by her majesty's
own milliners. and great part of the
trousseau will be of japanese materials.
At the same time many things are being
imported from Paris, London and Berlin,
so that altogether the brides outfit will be
something wonderful even for these times.
As to it's cost no one can tell. Prince
Kujo himself Is not very rich, but he has
given his daughter 100000 yen, or sJO,0O0.
for the purpose, and to this the emperor
has added 100000 more. This sum is equal
to about $4,000 in gold, and it certainly
should be enough to cover the expenses of
the imperial orange blossoms. If it should
not the princess can draw further on his
majesty, for he has just directed that a
present of 100000 yen, equal to $350,OOO in
gold, be given to her out of the estate of
the late empress dowager, who was her
aunt. This makes her allowance for trous-
seau, pin money, etc., considerably more
than half million in gold, and she GER
tainly should be able to buy some pretty
things for that.
AS to presents, starting out with these
from his maiessy, the imperial bridal couple
will have no end of them. They will come
in every shape and form from all parts OF
the empire and from high and low. There
will be cranes and turtles of solid gold and
solid silver without number. These things
are emblematic of longevity and are very
common as wedding gifts in Japan The
POOR will give well as the rich, and il
the prince and princess are anything like
the emperor and empress they will be de-